Mattie Jackson v. United States

• Decision Date: 16 June 1913
• Docket Number: No. 720,720
• Citation: 230 U.S. 1,57 L.Ed. 1363,33 S.Ct. 1011
• Parties: MATTIE W. JACKSON et al., Appts., v. UNITED STATES
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

230 U.S. 1

33 S.Ct. 1011

57 L.Ed. 1363

MATTIE W. JACKSON et al., Appts.,

v UNITED STATES.

No. 720.

Submitted January 10, 1913.

Decided June 16, 1913.

Messrs. Holmes Conrad and Waitman H. Conaway for appellants.

Assistant Attorney General Thompson and Mr. J. Harwood Graves, Assistant Attorney, for appellee.

Mr. Chief Justice White delivered the opinion of the court:

This suit was brought to recover from the United States the value of property asserted to have been totally destroyed or rendered completely valueless as the result of certain public work 'done in pursuance of the acts of Congress authorizing it, for the public benefit, under the direction of the Mississippi River Commission and the Secretary of War and the United States engineers.' And it was charged that under the circumstances stated and the facts alleged, the property had been taken by the United States for public use 'within the meaning of the constitutional provision,' and it was averred that there was consequently imposed 'on the United States an implied obligation to make compensation for the property so taken and destroyed.'

It becomes necessary to give a brief description of the topography of the country in which the property in question is situated, in order to make clear its relation to the public work which it is asserted constituted a taking within the meaning of the Constitution.

The valley of the Mississippi river may in a broad sense be said to commence at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and to extend from there to the mouth of the river at the Gulf of Mexico. The river, however, in its course to the ocean, does not run through the center of the vast fertile and alluvial plains which, in a comprehensive and generic sense, constitute the delta of the Mississippi. On the contrary, the situation of the river in this respect varies, occasioned by the fact that, at divers places, the upland or hill country approaches to or constitutes the bank of the river. The difference in this regard is marked between the west and the east banks. The west bank is divided into four great basins,—the St. Francis basin, which extends from Cape Girardeau to Helena; the White River basin, which extends from Helena to the mouth of the Arkansas; the Tensas basin, which extends from the mouth of the Arkansas to the mouth of the Red river; and the Atchafalaya basin, extending from the mouth of the Red river to the Gulf. Practically in the long sweep from Helena, where St. Francis basin ends and the White River basin begins, to the ending of the Atchafalaya basin at the Gulf, there is no real topographical distinction between the basins, the west bank of the river in that great distance consisting of alluvial country having generally a very wide though varying expanse. The division into basins, putting out of view the St. Francis basin, is therefore merely the result of a consideration of the watershed of each basin, all the water, however, from each ultimately finding its way to the Gulf of Mexico, either through the Mississippi river, or in the lower basins in part, at least, by the means of streams flowing independently of the Mississippi river to the Gulf of Mexico. On the east bank the situation is different. In the long stretch from Cairo, Illinois, to a point a short distance below Memphis, generally speaking, the hills and uplands border the river and constitute its bank. From the point below Memphis to which we have referred, to Vicksburg, Mississippi, this is not the case, and there is a great basin known as the Yazoo basin, which, aside from peculiarities of its own, may be said to possess the same general characteristics as the basins on the west bank of the river. From Vicksburg where the uplands come to the river and constitute its bank, down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the hills or uplands permanently recede from the river, a different condition from that which exists on the west bank obtains. As we are concerned only with the situation below Natchez, we put out of view any statement concerning the east bank between Vicksburg and Natchez, and refer only to the conditions existing on the east bank between Natchez and Baton Rouge.

From Natchez, where the hills or uplands constitute the bank of the river, to Baton Rouge, the line of hill or upland does not follow the course of the river, but recedes therefrom for a certain distance and then again abuts on the river, this process being repeated from point to point until Baton Rouge is reached. Of necessity, therefore, be- tween the point of each departure of the uplands from the river to the point of reapproach, there is an area of alluvial country bounded on the west by the river and constituting its bank, on the east by the hills, which, as it were, like a festoon or semicircle inclose the alluvial area between the river, the base of the uplands or hills, and the points of departure from and approach to the river, as above stated.

These various areas constitute, in the nature of things, minor basins having their own watershed. And between Natchez and Baton Rouge there are five of these minor basins, one between Natchez and Ellis Cliffs, 16 miles below Natchez, another between Ellis Cliffs and Fort Adams, 39 miles below Ellis Cliffs, a third between Fort Adams and Tunica, 17 miles below Fort Adams, and two others between Tunica and Bayou Sara, 23 miles below Tunica, and from Bayou Sara to Baton Rouge, a distance of 35 miles. These subordinate basins are included in a general local levee district known as the Homochitto district. A full and accurate statement concerning these basins, of their relation to levee building, and overflow, will be found in Document No. 1010, House of Representatives, 63d Congress, third session, being a letter of the Secretary of War transmitting to the House of Representatives a full report of a survey made by direction of Congress, by the Mississippi River Commission, of these basins. Of the basin between Ellis Cliff and Fort Adams, the report of the commission makes the following statement:

'Between Ellis Cliffs and Fort Adams, a distance of 39 miles by river, lies a basin whose protection from floods is greatly complicated by the presence of lakes, streams, and swamps.

'It has a total area of 59,412 acres, including 9,781 acres of cleared and 49,631 acres of wooded land, the assessed value of which is $204,739.

'The systematic protection of the basin as a whole is impracticable without including drainage work of large proportions.

'It will be observed that there is a large amount of cleared land which is now being cultivated, although meagerly protected from floods by small private levees.

'Owing to the extent of swamp lands the cultivated area could not be greatly extended by the construction of a levee along the river front.

'The benefits to be derived from the construction of a levee are relatively small as compared with the cost, and the work cannot be recommended.'

In February, 1894, the appellants or their predecessors in title, for whom they have been substituted on the record, filed their petition in the court of claims against the United States, alleging themselves to be the owners of various tracts of land in Adams county, Mississippi, composing three plantations. It was alleged as follows:

'2. That before and prior to the year 1890, said plantation, from its natural situation, was comparatively high and exempt from overflow from the waters of the Mississippi river, except at long intervals, and the occurrence of such overflows did not materially affect its productive capacity or its value.

'That said plantation was highly improved, well stocked with laborers and tenants, yielded yearly large crops of cotton, corn, and other products, and was worth the sum of $50,000.

'3. That about the year 1883 the officers and agents of the United States, in pursuance of the act of Congress creating the Mississippi River Commission, and of the subsequent acts for the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi river, adopting the so-called Eads' plan, projected, and have constructed, and are constructing, a system of public works for the purpose of so confining the waters of the river between lines of embankment, or levees, as to give increased elevation and velocity and force to the current in order to scour and deepen the channel, and have thus caused an increased and abnormal elevation of at least 4 feet to the waters of the river at the high water or flood stage; and for said purposes have adopted and made use of systems of public and private levees, originally constructed for the reclamation of overflowed lands, on the west bank from the highlands of Arkansas to the mouth of the Red river, and from the mouth of the Red river to the Passes, and on the east bank from the highlands of Tennessee to the mouth of the Yazoo river, and from Baton Rouge to the Passes; but from the mouth of the Yazoo river to Baton Rouge, instead of adopting and constructing levees, have made use of the highlands skirting the river for said purpose, and have thus placed the plantations of petitioners, and others similarly situated, between the lines of embankment, and exposed to the full force of the currents of the river, with such increased and abnormal flood level.

'And are so raising, enlarging, strengthening, adding to, and constructing such levees, as to cause the plantations of petitioners, and others so situated, to be flooded annually by the waters of the river, and to destroy the crops growing and grown thereon, and to drown the live stock, and to undermine and wash away the buildings, fences, and other improvements, and to fill up the drains and ditches, and to wash off the soil, and to cover the lands with sand and gravel, and to render them unfit for cultivation, and to entirely destroy their value.

'4. That in pursuance of the said plan for the improvement of the navigation of the river, the said officers and agents of the United States have...