10. Reciprocal Duties.—
The real differences between rules of law applicable to land and sea travel result from their own peculiar circumstances. Thus, the relation of passenger and ship necessarily implies something more than mere ship room and personal existence on board. For the time being the ship's company and the passengers constitute a community by themselves and remote from the rest of the world. There must be a certain amount of mutual toleration and concession. The situation requires, indeed, not mere toleration but respectful treatment,—"That decency in demeanor which constitutes the charm of social life, that attention which mitigates evils without reluctance, and that promptitude which administers aid to distress." (Chamberlain v. Chandler, 3 Mason 242; Western States, 151 Fed. 929.) The passengers must be prepared to submit on proper occasions to the authority of the master, which may, indeed, occasionally become despotic where the safety of the ship is involved. He may compel passengers to work at the pumps, for example, in the face of actual danger (1 Parsons' Shipping and Admiralty, 637) or even to risk their lives if the common safety requires it (Boyce v. Bayliffe, 1 Campbell, 58). Of course this power must be judiciously exercised and if it is overstepped the law will afford redress. The old case of Prendergast v. Compton, 8 C. & P. 454, is illustrative; the defendant was master of a ship from Madras for London, in the days when long voyages around the Cape were common. The plaintiff was a passenger whose table manners were distasteful to the other members of the master's table; he first attempted to correct them by mild suggestions and remonstrances, but the plaintiff responded by threatening to cane the master, who thereupon excluded him from the cabin and otherwise subjected him to discipline during the voyage. On arrival in port the plaintiff brought this action and the case affords an interesting discussion of the subject; the question was finally left to a jury who concluded that the master had exceeded his authority and allowed the plaintiff twenty-five pounds as damages.
The maritime law required a high degree of care for the protection of the passenger from personal injury. A ship must answer for such damages as might have been avoided by the exercise of unusual diligence and extraordinary skill. Although not technically an insurer, a presumption against a ship will be heavy in such cases, and ordinarily damages will follow unless it can be shown that the injury was entirely due to the passenger's own fault.[15]