SELECTION OF CASES ON INSURANCE. BY EUGENE WAMBAUGH, LL.D., PROFESSOR OF LAW IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY. CAMBRIDGE: THE HARVARD LAW REVIEW PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION. 1902. PREFACE. THIS Collection has been prepared for the purpose of enabling the careful student, whether he be beginner or practitioner, to ascertain from the original sources, by his own labor, what are the doctrines of Insurance; but although the collection assumes that the reader has already mastered the more elementary branches of law, experience as a teacher of Insurance suggests that it may be well to give four pieces of advice: first, that Insurance is not, as is sometimes hastily assumed, a mere application of Contracts and Agency, but is a separate subject, having peculiar doctrines. of its own upon each of the topics used herein as titles to chapters, the peculiarities being due partly to the special purpose and dangers of the transaction and partly to the fact that the subject did not have its origin in England, but was of Continental birth and is a part of the Law Merchant; second, that Marine, Fire, and Life Insurance are not separate sciences, but are simply the chief applications of one science, and that consequently it is impossible to understand one of these branches without studying the others; third, that in deciding Insurance cases, rather more frequently than in deciding cases on other subjects, judges have been prone to use inartistic and inaccurate language, and that consequently it is important to ascertain exactly what was the problem presented, and exactly how it arose, and to lay stress upon what the court did and not merely upon what the judges said; and fourth, that the solution of the questions presented in the reported cases or in one's daily practice may depend not upon general principles but upon the special words of the policy. The order of the chapters has been determined partly by theory and partly by experience in teaching; but an instructor may find it advisable to change the order from year to year, for an occasional change appears to bring new and valuable views of the relation of topics and of the essential cohesiveness of the whole subject. In reprinting cases, the arguments of counsel have usually been omitted. All other departures from the original reports have been explained in the notes, in order that the reader may see whether the cases have been so edited as to diminish their authority. The citations in the notes are not exhaustive, but have been selected because of supposed usefulness. Those marked "acc." or "contra" are intended to start the reader towards ascertaining for himself whether the doctrines in the text are sustained by the weight of authority. Those marked "see" are believed to throw light upon those doctrines by discussion or by interesting application. Those marked "compare are supposed to conflict, at first sight, with the doctrines in the text, but to be reconcilable with them by the taking of proper distinctions. At the end of many of the sections will be found lists for the use of persons wishing more than an elementary knowledge; for in dealing with such a subject as Insurance it seems proper to keep in mind the wants both of the specialist and of the general practitioner, and in a book intended as this is for general use, it is quite impossible to print all the cases needed by the specialist. Parts of the collection have appeared from time to time throughout the last four years; and now that the work is published in final form, the editor, knowing that there have been many omissions, both intentional and accidental, is reminded, as often in this long task, of a consoling sentiment attributed to Plato: "As it is the commendation of a good huntsman to find game in a wide wood, so it is no imputation if he hath not caught all." JUNE 23, 1902. EUGENE WAMBAUGH. |
