DAMAGE - The loss caused by one
person to another or to his property, either with
the design of injuring him, with negligence and carelessness,
or by inevitable accident. The loss which some one
has sustained, and the gain which he has failed to
make.
He who has caused the damage is bound to repair it
and, if he has done it maliciously, he may be compelled
to pay beyond the actual loss. When damage occurs
by accident, without blame to anyone, the loss is
borne by the owner of the thing injured; e.g., if
a horse run away with his rider, without any fault
of the latter, and injures the property of another
person, the injury is the loss of the owner of the
thing. When the damage happens by the act of God or
inevitable accident, e.g., by tempest, earthquake
or other natural cause, the loss must be borne by
the owner.
DAMAGES - The financial compensation
awarded to someone who suffered an injury or was harmed
by someone else's wrongful act.
The indemnity given by law, to be recovered from
a wrong doer by the person who has sustained an injury,
either in his person, property, or relative rights,
in consequence of the acts of another.
Damages are given either for breaches of contracts
or for tortious acts.
Damages for breach of contract may be given, for
example, for the non-performance of a written or verbal
agreement, or of a covenant to do or not to do a particular
thing.
As to the measure of damages, the general rule is
that the delinquent shall answer for all the injury
which results from the immediate and direct breach
of his agreement, but not from secondary and remote
consequences.
In estimating the measure of damages sustained in
consequence of the acts of a common carrier, it frequently
becomes a question whether the value of the goods
at the place of embarkation or the port of destination
is the rule to establish the damages sustained. It
has been ruled that the value at the port of destination
is the proper criterion. But contrary decisions have
taken place.
Damages for tortious acts are given for acts against
the person, such as an assault and battery against
the reputation, e.g., libels and slander; against
the property, e.g., trespass, when force is used;
for the consequential acts of the tort-feasor, e.g.,
when a man, in consequence of building a dam on his
own premises, overflows his neighbor's land; against
the relative rights of the party injured, e.g., for
criminal conversation with his wife.
No settled rule or line of distinction can be marked
out when a possibility of damages shall be accounted
too remote to entitle a party to claim a recompense;
each case must be ruled by its own circumstances.
Damages For Torts Are Either Compensatory Or Vindictive.
By compensatory damages is meant such as are given
morely to recompense a party who has sustained a loss
in consequence of the acts of the defendant, and where
there are no circumstances to aggravate the act, for
the purpose of compensating the plaintiff for his
loss; e..g., where the defendant had caused to be
seized property of A for the debt of B, when such
property was out of A's possession, and there appeared
reason to believe it was B's.
Vindictive damages are such as are given against
a defendant who, in addition to the trespass, has
been guilty of acts of outrage and wrong which cannot
well be measured by a compensation in money; e.g.,
where the defendant went to A's house, and with insult
and outrage seized upon A's property, for a debt due
by B, and carried it away leaving A's family in distress.
In cases of loss of which have been insured from
maritime dangers, when an adjustment is made the damages
are settled by valuing the property, not according
to prime cost, but at the price at which it may be
sold at the time of settling the average.
