542 HIGH COURT OF CHANCERY.

HORACE ABBOTT ET AL. -)

vs. I

THE BALTIMORE AND [ JULY TBRM, 1850.
RAPPAHANNOCK STEAM PACKET (
COMPANY ET AL. )

(PB.10WTT OF SEAMEN'S CLAIM FOR WA.&ES—LIABILITY OF OWNER TOK ST3PPUB8—
CONTRACTS OF CORPORATIONS.J

THE crew of a steamboat, plying between the ports of adjoining states, upon
navigable tide water, have a right to proceed for wages due them, by libel
in the District Court of the United States, and have a lien on the vessel, her
tackle and furniture, for such wages.

This right to libel the vessel in the admiralty courts for wages, extends to
every officer and man who assists in navigating her, except the captain.

The officers and seamen have a triple security for their wages, they may have
recourse to the vessel, the owner, and the master.

The seamen's claim for wages, follows the ship and. its proceeds, in whose
hands soever they may come, is preferred to all other demands, and consti-
tutes a sacred lien, which continues as long as a single plank of the ship re-
mains, and extends to the whole amount of compensation due the seamen.

The owner is liable for the necessary supplies for the vessel furnished by order
of the master, and if he seeks to escape such liability, he must show, by satis-
factory proof, that the credit was given to others.

If the owner can make out, by evidence, that the credit was given to themaster
alone for such supplies; if it appears, that there was a special promise taken
from him and relied upon, the owner will not be liable.

Corporations can make no contracts which are not necessary, either directly
or indirectly, to effect the objects of their creation, and a corporation itself,
may, in ah action brought against it upon such contract, deny its power to
enter into it.

The act of 1829, ch. 42, incorporated the defendant, "for the purpose of estab-
lishing and conducting a line of steamboats and stages, orcarriages, between
Baltimore and Fredericksburg, and the several ports and places on the Rap-
pahannock, and on the rivers and waters of the Chesapeake bay, for the con-
veyance of passengers, and transportation of merchandise and other arti-
cles." The company entered into an obligation to aid in an improvement,
the purpose of which, was to open the Rappahannock river, and render it
navigable to the basin, in, or near Fredericksburg. HELD—

That the proposed improvement, being above the Virginia tennmus of the route
between which, and Baltimore, the boats were to run, for that reason was
not within the authority conferred upon the company by its charter. And
even if it had been between the termini, it would not have been within the
powers granted by the act of incorporation.

[In this case, a bill was filed by the complainants on the 13th
of October, 1846, alleging the indebtedness of the Steam Packet