The general theory upon which the law allows damages for the violation of a civil right is based upon the doctrine that where a civil injury has been sustained the law provides a remedy that should be commensurate to the injury sustained.2

Compensation is the fundamental principle governing the award of damages.3 Damages are given as an indemnity to the person injured, not as a punishment to the wrongdoer.

An exception to this rule, however, is found in the case of torts accompanied by fraud, gross negligence, malice or oppression; in such cases exemplary damages are sometimes awarded as a punishment to the offender.4

1 Hale on Damages, p. 1. In Finch vs. Hermans, 5 Luz. Leg. Reg. (Pa.), 125: "damage was denned to be the loss caused by one person to another, either to his person, property, or relative rights, through design, carelessness, or default, while 'damages' are the indemnity recoverable by the injured party from the party who has caused the injury."

2 Rockwood vs. Allen, 7 Mass., 254; Bartholomew vs. Bentley, 15 Ohio, 659, 45 Am. Dec, 596.

3 Sears vs. Conover, 42 N. Y., 113; Rice vs. Stone, 1 Allen (Mass.), 566.

4 Emblem vs. Myers, 6 Hurl. & N., 54; Day vs. Woodworth, 13 Howard, 363. See Section 6 on Exemplary Damages.