Opinion of the Court. in connection with article 2743 (2714) of the Civil Code of Louisiana. But before proceeding to the particular examination of these articles, some other general considerations should be adverted to. The ordinary rules of interpretation of statutes are applicable to the Louisiana Code. The Code itself lays down as rules for "the application and construction of laws," that "where the words of a law are dubious, their meaning may be sought by examining the context, with which the ambiguous words, phrases and sentences may be compared, in order to ascertain their true meaning;" that "laws in pari materia, or upon the same subject matter, must be construed with a reference to each other; what is clear in one statute may be called in aid to explain what is doubtful in another;" and that "the most universal and effectual way of discovering the true meaning of a law, when its expressions are dubious, is by considering the reason and spirit of it, or the cause which induced the legislature to enact it." Arts. 16-18 (16-18); Code of 1808, prel. tit. arts. 16-18. In the same spirit Chief Justice Eustis said: "A statute must be construed with reference to its object, to the legislation and system of which it forms a part, in order to ascertain its true meaning and intent; and if its purpose and well ascertained object are inconsistent with the precise words of a part, the latter must yield to the paramount and controlling influence of the will of the legislature resulting from the whole." Commercial Bank v. Foster, 5 La. Ann. 516, 517. And in Childers v. Johnson, 6 La. Ann. 634, 638, the court said: "It is a sound rule of interpretation, in construing an article of the Code with reference to a, subject matter, to take into view the general system of legislation upon the subject matter, contained in the same work; and where a provision of the Code is invoked in derogation of the common rule regulating the subject matter, the intention so to derogate should be clear and beyond reasonable doubt. If an interpretation can be given to the particular article, which, without doing violence to its terms, will make it harmonize with the general rules and the other provisions of the Code regulating the subject matter, such interpretation should be adopted." Opinion of the Court. It is to be remembered that the Louisiana Code, as it was originally enacted in 1808, and as it was again promulgated in 1825, and remained in force until 1870, was in French as well as in English. The Code of 1808, enacted before the admission of the State of Louisiana into the Union, was entitled "A Digest of the Civil Laws now in force in the Territory of Orleans, with alterations and amendments adapted to its present system of government;" and the act of March 31, 1808, c. 29, declaring and proclaiming it to be in force in that territory, was published in both languages, and provided that “if, in any of the dispositions contained in the said digest, there should be found any obscurity or ambiguity, fault or omission, both the English and French texts shall be consulted, and shall mutually serve to the interpretation of [the] one and the other."1 2 Martin's Digest, 98, 99. The Constitution of the State of Louisiana, ever since its admission into the Union, has provided that all laws shall be promulgated in the language in which the Constitution of the United States is written. Constitutions of 1812, art. 6, § 15; 1845, art. 103; 1852, art. 100; 1864, art. 103; 1868, art. 103. The constitutions of 1845 and 1852 also contained provisions, that "the secretary of the senate and clerk of the house of representatives shall be conversant with the French and English languages, and members may address either house in the French or English language;" that "the Constitution and laws of this state shall be promulgated in the English and French languages;" and that any amendment of the Constitution, proposed by the legislature, should be published in French and English before being submitted to the vote of the people. Constitutions of 1845, arts. 104, 132, 140; 1852, arts. 101, 129, 141. These provisions were omitted in the constitutions of 1864 and 1868; and the Code of 1870 was promulgated in English only. But it is a familiar canon of interpretation, that all former 1 In French: "Si, dans quelqu'une des dispositions contenues dans ledit digeste, il se trouve quelque obscurité ou ambiguité, ou quelque faute ou omission, les deux textes Anglais et Français seront consultés pour s'interpréter mutuellement." Opinion of the Court. statutes on the same subject, whether repealed or unrepealed, may be considered in construing the provisions that remain in force. Bank for Savings v. Collector, 3 Wall. 495; Ex parte Crow Dog, 109 U. S. 556, 561. The reasons are no less strong for referring to former statutes, embodied in a code of laws, to aid in the interpretation of that code. Bank of Louisiana v. Farrar, 1 La. Ann. 49, 54; United States v. Bowen, 100 U. S. 508, 513; Myer v. Car Co., 102 U. S. 1, 11; Northern Pacific Railroad v. Herbert, 116 U. S. 642; Baldwin v. Franks, ante, 678. And the Supreme Court of Louisiana has always held that in construing those parts of the Code which reënact provisions originally enacted in both languages, both texts may be taken into consideration to aid in ascertaining their meaning as parts of one law; and obscurities or ambiguities in the English text have often been cleared up by referring to the greater precision of the French text; although, if the two texts cannot be reconciled, the English must prevail. Hudson v. Grieve, 1 Martin, 143; State v. Dupuy, 2 Martin, 177; Breedlove v. Turner, 9 Martin, 353; Chretien v. Theard, 2 Martin (N. S.) 582; Bord v. Borel, 3 Louisiana, 30; Durnford v. Clark's Estate, 3 Louisiana, 199, 202; State v. Moore, 8 Rob. La. 518; State v. Mir, 8 Rob. La. 549; State v. Ellis, 12 La. Ann. 390; State v. Judge of Eighth District Court, 22 La. Ann. 581; Lafourche v. Terrebonne, 34 La. Ann. 1230, 1233. This accords with the judgment of this court in a case arising under the treaty of 1819, by which Spain ceded Florida to the United States, which was drawn up in Spanish as well as in English; the English part declaring that grants of lands previously made by the king of Spain "shall be ratified and confirmed to the persons in possession;" and the corresponding clause of the Spanish part declaring that such grants "shall remain ratified and confirmed" to the persons in possession. 8 Stat. 258, 259. Chief Justice Marshall said: "The treaty was drawn up in the Spanish as well as in the English language. Both are originals, and were unquestionably intended by the parties to be identical." "If the English and the Spanish parts can, without violence, be made to agree, that construction which establishes this conformity ought to prevail. Opinion of the Court. If, as we think must be admitted, the security of private property was intended by the parties; if this security would have been complete without the article, the United States could have no motive for insisting on the interposition of the government in order to give validity to the titles which, according to the usages of the civilized world, were already valid. No violence is done to the language of the treaty by a construction which conforms the English and Spanish to each other. Although the words 'shall be ratified and confirmed' are properly the words of contract, stipulating for some future legislative act; they are not necessarily so. They may import that they shall be ratified and confirmed' by the force of the instrument itself. When we observe that in the counterpart of the same treaty, executed at the same time by the same parties, they are used in this sense, we think the construction proper, if not unavoidable." United States v. Percheman, 7 Pet. 51, 88, 89. Upon a comparison of the English text with the French of so much of the Louisiana Code as bears upon this case, the greater uniformity and precision of the French text, and its striking resemblance to the Code Napoleon, make it quite clear that the French is the original and the English the translation. Moreover, in the concluding article 3556 (3522) of verbal definitions, the French words in the Code of 1825 are arranged alphabetically, with the English equivalent opposite each one, regardless of its own alphabetical order. In the French column, "Cas fortuits" are defined as "Evénemens occasionés par une force à laquelle on ne peut pas résister," or events caused by a force that one cannot resist; opposite to which in the English column is, "Fortuitous event is that which happens by a cause which we cannot resist." But on turning back to the other articles, we find the French "cas fortuit" rendered in English in various ways; as "unforeseen event," as "unforeseen accident,"2 as "fortuitous event," 3 as "fortuitous accident,” 4 as "accident,"5 and as "chance." In one place, “cas fortuit ou force majeure" is rendered "fortuitous event or 1 Art. (2667). 2 Art. (2756). 3 Arts. (2290) (2445) (2511). 4 Art. (2216). 5 Arts. (2714) (563). 1 Arts. (571) (2870) (2871) (2872). Opinion of the Court. irresistible force," 1 and in another, "accidental and uncontrollable events; "2 thus treating the two alternative expressions as synonymous. In the concluding article, also, “Force” is defined, both in French and in English, as "the effect of a power which cannot be resisted;" and "Force majeure," vis major, as "un fuit, un accident que la prudence humaine ne peut ni prévoir ni empêcher," or a fact or accident which human prudence can neither foresee nor prevent—with a corresponding definition of the English equivalent, "Superior force." "Force majeure" is also rendered in different places "unfore seen events," "overpowering force," and "force," 5 only; "événement de force majeure" as "accident;"6 and “accidens de force majeure" as "inevitable accident." It cannot be doubted, therefore, that the words "unforeseen event" and "accident," as used in the articles now under consideration, have the meaning of "fortuitous event" or "irresistible force." The Louisiana Code, following the French law and the Code Napoleon, recognizes two kinds or degrees of what, under various but equivalent names, has been called vis major, cas fortuit, irresistible force, inevitable accident, or unforeseen event; the one, ordinary, which might have been foreseen by any man of common prudence as not unlikely to happen at some time; the other, extraordinary, which could not have been foreseen, or expected to occur at any time. The distinction is clearly stated by Domat, and more fully brought out by the commentators on the Code Napoleon; and, as those commentators have clearly shown, the words "prévus ou imprévus,” as used in speaking of express stipulations by the tenant, literally, "foreseen or unforeseen," respectively mean in this connection those which could have been foreseen as likely to happen, and those which could not have been so foreseen. Domat, pt. 1, lib. 1, tit. 4, sect. 4, no. 6; Troplong, nos. 204, 211, 756; 4 Duvergier, no. 182; 6 Marcadé, 508. The concurrent opinions of the French jurists upon the meaning of the French Code are of the greatest weight in the interpretation of similar pro5 Art. (2917). 7 Art. (2686). 6 Art. (783). 1 Art. (1927). 2 Art. (2725). 3 Art. (2687). |