President, Managers and Company of the Monongahela Bridge Company v. United States

• Decision Date: 21 February 1910
• Docket Number: No. 91,91
• Citation: 30 S.Ct. 356,54 L.Ed. 435,216 U.S. 177
• Parties: PRESIDENT, MANAGERS, AND COMPANY OF THE MONONGAHELA BRIDGE COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. UNITED STATES
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

216 U.S. 177

30 S.Ct. 356

54 L.Ed. 435

PRESIDENT, MANAGERS, AND COMPANY OF THE MONONGAHELA BRIDGE COMPANY, Plff. in Err.,

v UNITED STATES.

No. 91.

Argued January 19, 1910.

Decided February 21, 1910.

Messrs. D. T. Watson and James H. Beal for plaintiffs in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 178-184 intentionally omitted] Solicitor General Bowers for defendant in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 184-185 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Harlan delivered the opinion of the court:

This is a criminal information by the United States under § 18 of the river and harbor act of March 3d, 1899, against the president, managers, and company of the Monongahela Bridge Company, a Pennsylvania corporation.

That section is as follows: 'That whenever the Secretary of War shall have good reason to believe that any railroad or other bridge now constructed, or which may hereafter be constructed, over any of the navigable water ways of the United States, is an unreasonable obstruction to the free navigation of such waters, on account of insufficient height, width of span, or otherwise, or where there is difficulty in passing the draw opening or the draw span of such bridge by rafts, steamboats, or other water craft, it shall be the duty of the said Secretary, first giving the parties reasonable opportunity to be heard, to give notice to the persons or corporations owning or controling such bridge so to alter the same as to render navigation through or under it reasonably free, easy, and unobstructed; and, in giving such notice, he shall specify the changes recommended by the Chief of Engineers, that are required to be made, and shall prescribe, in each case, a reasonable time in which to make them. If, at the end of such time, the alteration has not been made, the Secretary of War shall forthwith notify the United States district attorney for the district in which such bridge is situated, to the end that the criminal proceedings hereinafter mentioned may be taken. If the persons, corporation, or association owning or controlling any railroad or other bridge shall, after receiving notice to that effect, as hereinbefore required, from the Secretary of War, and within the time prescribed by him, wilfully fail or refuse to remove the same, or to comply with the lawful order of the Secretary of War in the premises, such persons, corporation, or association shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars; and every month such persons, corporation, or association shall remain in default in respect to the removal or alteration of such bridge shall be deemed a new offense, and subject the persons, corporation, or association so offending to the penalties above prescribed: Provided, That in any case arising under the provisions of this section an appeal or writ of error may be taken from the district courts or from the existing circuit courts direct to the Supreme Court, either by the United States or by the defendants.' 30 Stat. at L. 1121, 1153, chap. 425, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 3545.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and a motion in arrest of judgment was made upon various grounds, the principal one being that the section of the above act of 1899 was unconstitutional, null, and void. That motion was denied, and a motion for new trial having been overruled, the defendant was adjudged to pay to the United States a fine of $1,000 and the costs of prosecution. From that judgment the case comes directly to this court under the authority of the proviso in the above act. § 18.

It is essential to a clear understanding of the questions raised by the bridge company that we state certain facts disclosed by the record.

The bridge company was incorporated under an act passed by the general assembly of Pennsylvania in 1830; and in 1833, by authority of that commonwealth, it constructed the bridge in question over the Monongahela river. The structure is known as the Brownsville bridge, between the towns of West Brownsville and Bridgeport. The charter of the company provided, among other things, that 'the erection of said bridge shall not obstruct the navigation of said river so as to endanger the passage of rafts, steamboats, or other water craft.' Pa. Laws, 1829-30, p. 105.

On the 29th of April, 1903, the Secretary of War, Mr. Root, was petitioned by numerous companies and individuals to have an investigation made of the bridge 'as to its obstruction of navigation,' and if it was found to be an obstruction of that character, 'to have the means provided to compel it to be raised or equipped in such a way to relieve river people from the obstruction, making the height necessary to allow free navigation.' The petition proceeded: 'The coal in pools, one, two, three and four below Brownsville has been practically exhausted, and the Pittsburg district will, at no distant date, be forced to get its supply above Brownsville, in the fifth pool. The petitioners recognize how impossible it will be to build or improve lock No. 3 unless the elevation of the Brownsville bridge be made at once.' This petition was referred by the Chief of Engineers to Major Sibert of the Corps of Engineers, for investigation and report. The latter officer reported, amoung other facts, that '. . . 4. The height of this bridge is such that the average of the boats engaged in interstate commerce between the states referred to above [Pennsylvania and West Virginia] are prevented from passing under the bridge at a stage of water materially less than that which floods the walls of the locks of the Monongahela river. 5. A bridge that prevents the use of the locks owned by the government of the United States until the same are placed out of service by means of high water is, in the opinion of this office, an unreasonable obstruction to navigation. . . . 7. This bridge is an old, covered, wooden bridge, constructed some time between 1830 and 1840. 8. In the opinion of this office, this bridge is one that certainly requires action under § 18, river and harbor act of March 3, 1899. 9. It is therefore respectfully recommended that it be proceeded against in the manner specified under the law referred to above, both on account of insufficient height and length of span, and that, in the notice for a hearing in the case of this bridge, the changes proposed be such as to give a least clearance 52 feet under a channel span of 400 feet wide; the length of side spans to be determined from the developments at the hearing. It is considered that one and one-half years is a reasonable time in which to make the necessary changes in this bridge.' The Chief of Engineers indorsed that report and recommended that the papers be returned to Major Sibert, with instructions to hold a public hearing, after due notice to interested parties, as required by the law and the orders of the War Department.

Under date of May 23d, 1904, Major Sibert made a report to the Chief of Engineers, from which it appears that the parties interested were given a hearing, all parties being present. That report stated: '3. These hearings, as this office understands it, were held for the purpose of securing and forwarding such information as would enable the Secretary of War to decide whether or not there is good reason to believe that the bridge in question is an unreasonable obstruction to navigation. 4. Stripped of all unnecessary verbiage the question for determination is: Is there good reason to believe that a bridge that prevents the better class of towboats actually navigating the Monongahela river, the commerce of which stream is about 10,000,000 tons annually, from passing under it for 17.7 days per year, and prevents the packets actually navigating said stream from passing under it for 52.1 days per year, all as determined by the official records kept by the United States, an unreasonable obstruction to navigation? The above days are days that the boats in question cannot pass under the bridge, but can pass through the locks that the government of the United States has provided for their use. Would a railroad company consider that there was good reason to believe that its traffic was unreasonably obstructed by another highway if its passenger and express business were absolutely stopped for 52.1 days per year and its freight business so stopped for 17.7 days per year, when the same could be overcome at a reasonable cost to the obstructing highway, which latter highway was the last built? . . . This office is of the opinion that the following should constitute the grounds upon which a conclusion should be reached as to whether or not any particular bridge unreasonably obstructs navigation: 1st. Every bridge should be so constructed as to permit the passage under it or through it, with reasonable safety, of the average-sized boat actually navigating the stream, at all practical stages of water. 2d. Any bridge that does not permit the passage of such boat at such stages of water needlessly obstructs the use of the river highway, and exists under conditions that are not reasonable, since it is impracticable to raise or lower a stream, and it is always practicable to either build a bridge high enough and of sufficient width of span to allow the passage of such boats at such times as...