Escanaba Lake Michigan Transp Co v. City of Chicago
| Decision Date | 05 March 1883 |
| Citation | 107 U.S. 678,27 L.Ed. 442,2 S.Ct. 185 |
| Parties | ESCANABA & LAKE MICHIGAN TRANSP. CO. v. CITY OF CHICAGO. * |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Homer Cook, A. T. Britton, and J. H. McGowan, for appellant.
Frederick S. Winston, Jr., for appellee.
The Escanaba & Lake Michigan Transportation Company, a corporation created under the laws of Michigan, is the owner of three steam-vessels engaged in the carrying trade between ports and places in different states on Lake Michigan and the navigable waters connecting with it. The vessels are enrolled and licensed for the coasting trade, and are principally employed in carrying iron ore from the port of Escanaba, in Michigan, to the docks of the Union Iron & Steel Company on the south fork of the south branch of the Chicago river, in the city of Chicago. In their course up the river and its south branch and fork to the docks, they are required to pass through draws of several bridges constructed over the stream by the city of Chicago, and it is of obstructions caused by the closing of the draws, under an ordinance of the city, for a designated hour of the morning and evening during week-days, and by a limitation of the time to 10 minutes during which a draw may be left open for the passage of a vessel, and by some of the piers in the south branch and fork, and the bridges resting on them, that the corporation complains; and to enjoin the city from closing the draws for the morning and evening hours designated, and enforcing the 10 minutes limitation, and to compel the removal of the objectionable piers and bridges, the present bill is filed.
The river and its branches are entirely within the state of Illinois, and all of it, and nearly all of both branches that is navigable, are within the limits of the city of Chicago. The river, from the junction of its two branches to the lake, is about three-fourths of a mile in length. The branches flow in opposite directions and meet at its head, nearly at right angles with it. Originally the width of the river and its branches seldom exceeded 150 feet; of the branches and fork it was often less than 100 feet; but it has been greatly enlarged by the city for the convenience of its commerce.
The city fronts on Lake Michigan, and the mouth of the Chicago river is near its center. The river and its branches divide the city into three sections: one lying north of the main river and east of its north branch, which may be called its northern division; one lying between the north and south branches, which may be called its western division; and one lying south of the main river and east of the south branch, which may be called its southern division. Along the river and its branches the city has grown up into magnificent propertions, having a population of 600,000 souls. Running back from them on both sides are avenues and streets lined with blocks of edifices, public and private, with stores and warehouses, and the immense variety of buildings suited for the residence and the business of this vast population. These avenues and streets are connected by a great number of bridges, over which there is a constant passage of foot passengers and of vehicles of all kinds. A slight impediment to the movement causes the stoppage of a crowd of passengers and a long line of vehicles.
The main business of the city, where the principal stores, warehouses, offices, and public buildings are situated, is in the southern division of the city; and a large number of the persons who do business there reside in the northern or the western division, or in the suburbs.
While this is the condition of business in the city on the land, the river and its branches are crowded with vessels of all kinds, sailing craft and steamers, boats, barges, and tugs, moving backwards and forwards, and loading and unloading. Along the banks there are docks, warehouses, elevators, and all the appliances for shipping and reshipping goods. To these vessels the unrestricted navigation of the river and its branches is of the utmost importance; while to those who are compelled to cross the river and its branches the bridges are a necessity. The object of wise legislation is to give facilities to both, with the least obstruction to either. This the city of Chicago has endeavored to do.
The state of Illinois, within which, as already mentioned, the river and its branches lie, has vested in the authorities of the city jurisdiction over bridges within its limits, their construction repair, and use, and empowered them to deepen, widen, and change the channel of the stream, and to make regulations in regard to the times at which the bridges shall be kept open for the passage of vessels.
Acting upon the power thus conferred, the authorities have endeavored to meet the wants of commerce with other states and the necessities of the population of the city residing or doing business in different sections. For this purpose they have prescribed as follows: That 'between the hours of 6 and 7 o'clock in the morning, and half past 5 and half past 6 o'clock in the evening, Sundays excepted, it shall be unlawful to open any bridge within the city of Chicago;' and that 'during the hours between 7 o'clock in the morning and half past 5 o'clock in the evening, it shall be unlawful to keep open any bridge within the city of Chicago for the purpose of permitting vessels or other crafts to pass through the same, for a longer period at any one time than 10 minutes, at the expiration of which period it shall be the duty of the bridge-tender or other person in charge of the bridge to display the proper signal, and immediately close the same, and keep it closed for fully 10 minutes for such persons, teams, or vehicles as may be waiting to pass over, if so much time shall be required; when the said bridge shall again be opened (if necessary for vessels to pass) for a like period, and so on alternately (if necessary) during the hours last aforesaid; and in every instance where any such bridge shall be open for the passage of any vessel, vessels, or other craft, and closed before the expiration of 10 minutes from the time of opening, said bridge shall then, in every such case, remain closed for fully 10 minutes, if necessary, in order to allow all persons, teams, and vehicles in waiting to pass over said bridge.'
The first of these requirements was called for to accommodate clerks, apprentices, and laboring men seeking to cross the bridges, at the hours named, in going to and returning from their places of labor. Any unusual delay in the morning would derange their business for the day, and subject them to a corresponding loss of wages. At the hours specified there is three times, so the record shows, the usual number of pedestrians going and returning that there is during other hours of the day.
The limitation of 10 minutes for the passage of the draws by vessels seem to have been eminently wise and proper for the protection of the interests of all parties. Ten minutes is ample time for any vessel to pass the draw of a bridge, and the allowance of more time would subject foot-passengers, teams, and other vehicles to great inconvenience and delays. It is to this 10 minutes limitation, and to the assignment of the morning and evening hour to pedestrians and vehicles, that the complainant principally objects. He insists that the navigation of the river and its branches should not be thus delayed; that the rights of commerce by vessels are paramount to the rights of commerce by any other way. But in this view the complainant is in error. The rights of each class are to be enjoyed without invasion of the equal rights of others. Some concession must be made on every side for the convenience and the harmonious pursuits of different occupations. Independently of any constitutional restrictions, nothing would seem more just and reasonable, or better designed to meet the wants of the population of an immense city, consistently with the interests of commerce, than the 10 minutes rule, and the assignment of the morning and evening hours which the city ordinance has prescribed.
The power vested in the general government to regulate interstate and foreign commerce involves the control of the waters of the United States which are navigable in fact, so far as it may be necessary to insure their free navigation, when by themselves or their connection with other waters they form a continuous channel for commerce among the states or with foreign countries. The Daniel Ball, 10 Wall. 557. Such is the case with the Chicago river and its branches. The common-law test of the navigability of waters, that they are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, grew out of the fact that in England there are no waters navigable in fact, or to any great extent, which are not also affected by the tide. That test has long since been discarded in this country. Vessels larger than any which existed in England when that test was established, now navigate rivers and inland lakes for more than a thousand miles beyond the reach of any tide. That test only becomes important when considering the rights of riparian owners to the bed of the stream, as in some states it governs in that matter.
The Chicago river and its branches must, therefore, be deemed navigable waters of the United States, over which congress, under its commercial power, may exercise control to the extent necessary to protect, preserve, and improve their free navigation. But the states have full power to regulate within their limits matters of internal police, including in that general designation whatever will promote the peace, comfort, convenience, and prosperity of their people. This power embraces the construction of roads, canals, and bridges, and the establishment of ferries, and it can generally be exercised more wisely by the states than by a distant authority. They are the first to see the importance of such means of internal communication, and are more deeply concerned than others...
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