The master of a tugboat met his death on the waters of the Ohio river through the negligence of a pilot employed to navigate the tug. The personal representative brought suit against the owner under the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, § 33 (41 Stat. 1007, 46 U.S.C. § 688 (46 USCA § 688)) for the recovery of damages. The trial court sustained a demurrer to the complaint on the ground that a 'master' is not a 'seaman' within the meaning of the statute. The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed the judgment for the owner. 334 Mo. 396, 67 S.W.(2d) 47. The case is here on certiorari. 292 U.S. 617, 54 S.Ct. 641, 78 L.Ed. 1475.
The statute is set forth at large in opinions of this Court. Panama R. Co. v. Johnson, 264 U.S. 375, 383, 44 S.Ct. 391, 68 L.Ed. 748; Cortes v. Baltimore Insular Line, 287 U.S. 367, 371, 53 S.Ct. 173, 77 L.Ed. 368. It gives to 'any seaman' injured in the course of his employment and in case of the death of such seaman to his personal representatives, a cause of action similar to that given by the statutes of the United States to railway employees. In the enforcement of the statute a policy of liberal construction announced at the beginning has been steadily maintained. Early in the history of the act, the question came up whether it gave a remedy to stevedores. We decided that it did. 'It is true that for most purposes, as the word is commonly used, stevedores are not 'seamen." International Stevedoring Co. v. Haverty, 272 U.S. 50, 52, 47 S.Ct. 19, 71 L.Ed. 157. None the less, verbal niceties were bent to the overmastering purpose of the act to give protection to workers injured upon ships. 'Words,' we said, 'are flexible.' International Stevedoring Co. v. Haverty, supra, at page 52 of 272 U.S., 47 S.Ct. 19. Later decisions of this Court have been conceived in a like spirit (Jamison v. Encarnacion, 281 U.S. 635, 50 S.Ct. 440, 74 L.Ed. 1082; Uravic v. F. Jarka Co., 282 U.S. 234, 51 S.Ct. 111, 75 L.Ed. 312; Cortes v. Baltimore Insular Line, supra, at page 375 of 287 U.S., 53 S.Ct. 173), and other courts have followed suit.
The problem for solution here stands out upon this background.