Collins v. Society for Relief of Distressed & Decayed Pilots
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia: No. 78, to July Term 1871. This was an action of debt, commenced November 30th 1870, by “ The Society for the relief of distressed and decayed Pilots, their widows and children,” against Walter Collins. It was brought under the 5th and 6th sections of the Act of March 24th 1851, Pamph. L. 229, 2 Br.
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Error to the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia: No. 78, to July Term 1871. This was an action of debt, commenced November 30th 1870, by “ The Society for the relief of distressed and decayed Pilots, their widows and children,” against Walter Collins. It was brought under the 5th and 6th sections of the Act of March 24th 1851, Pamph. L. 229, 2 Br. Purd. 1316, 1317, pi. 28, 29. The sections are as follqws:— “ Sect. 5. That every vessel arriving from or bound to any foreign port or place, and every other vessel of the burthen of one hundred tons or upwards, sailing from or bound to any port…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered, March 6th 1873, by
Sharswood, J.
Three contentions have been made in this case, which it will be necessary to consider, but they can be disposed ,of briefly.
The first is that the plaintiffs below were not entitled, upon the true construction of the sixth section of the Act of March 24th 1851, Pamph. L. 229, to recover the penalty of full pilotage demanded in their declaration. The established canon of interpre-. tation, that penal statutes must receive a strict construction, has .been invoked in support of the argument. It is not pretended, however, that…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Cooley v. Board of Wardens of Port of Philadelphia Ex Rel. Soc. for Relief of Distressed PilotsSupreme Court of the United States · 1852
3Cited by3 opinions
- Commonwealth v. HaldemanSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1926
- Bergner & Engel Brewing Co. v. KoenigSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1906
- The Lida FowlerDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania · 1902