" He was
always commencing suits for sailors who had wrongs to redress, and
particularly for steerage passengers who complained that they had not
had sufficient accommodations and proper fare. He generally took their
cases on speculation, and succeeded very often in forcing large
sums from vessels libelled, as he was generally careful to bring his
actions so as to arrest the vessels on the eve of their departure,
when the payment of a few hundred dollars was a much cheaper mode of
proceeding for the captains than detention even for a few days.
But in one of his suits in the United States District Court, in the
year 1869, brought for a steerage passenger against a vessel from
Australia, the captain declined to be blackmailed and defended
himself. When the matter came on for hearing, Hastings was found to
have no cause of action, and the case was thereupon dismissed by Judge
Hoffman. Hastings then appealed to the United States Circuit Court,
and that court affirmed the judgment of the District Court. This
happened as I was about leaving for Europe; and I left supposing that
I had heard the last of the case.
During my absence, Hastings moved Judge Hoffman, of the United States
District Court, from whose decision the appeal had been taken, to
vacate the decision of the United States Circuit Court. This, of
course, Judge Hoffman refused.
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