United States of America v. State of Michigan

Decision Date01 June 1903
Docket NumberO,No. 11,11
Citation47 L.Ed. 1103,23 S.Ct. 742,190 U.S. 379
PartiesUNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Complainant , v. STATE OF MICHIGAN, Defendant . riginal
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

The United States, by leave of court, duly filed in this court its original bill in equity against the state of Michigan, to which bill the defendant has filed a demurrer substantially for want of equity, and also because it appears therefrom that the complainant has been guilty of gross laches in regard to the matters therein set forth. It will be most convenient to set forth the bill, with the exception of some portions thereof which do not seem to be material, and it is as follows:

'To the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, in Equity:

'Philander C. Knox, Attorney General of the United States of America, for and in behalf of said United States, brings this bill of complaint against the state of Michigan, and thereupon your orator complains and says:

'First.

'That the said state of Michigan, for some years previous to the date first hereinafter mentioned, was desirous of procuring the construction of a canal and lock in the Saint Marys river, at or near Saint Marys falls, where Lake Superior empties into said river, and did at various times, by joint resolutions of the legislature thereof, importune the Congress of the United States to construct such a canal and lock on the Michigan side of said river, and was able, through the influence of its senators and representatives in Congress from said state, with the co-operation and influence of other states which might become directly affected in a desirable manner, to cause and procure said Congress to pass a law, which became operative on the 26th day of August, 1852, appropriating to the state of Michigan 750,000 acres of land, to be afterwards selected, to construct such ship canal and lock. Said act is in terms as follows:

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be, and is hereby, granted to said state the right of locating a canal through the public lands known as the military reservation at the falls at Saint Marys river in said state, and that four hundred feet of land in width, extending along the line of such canal, be, and the same is hereby, granted, to be used by said state, or under the authority thereof, for the construction and convenience of such canal, and the appurtenances thereto and the use thereof is hereby vested in said state forever for the purposes aforesaid and no other: Provided, That in locating the line of said canal through said military reservation the same shall be located on the line of the survey heretofore made for that purpose, or such other route between the wates above and below said falls as, under the approval of the Secretary of War, may be selected. And provided further, That said canal shall be at least one hundred feet wide, with a depth of water twelve feet, and the locks shall be at least two hundred and fifty feet long and sixty feet wide.

"Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That there be, and hereby is, granted to the said state of Michigan, for the purpose of aiding said state in constructing and completing said canal, seven hundred and fifty thousand acres of public lands, to be selected in subdivisions, agreeably to the United States surveys, by an agent or agents, to be appointed by the governor of said state, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, from any lands within said state subject to private entry.

"Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said lands hereby granted shall be subject to the disposal of the legislature of said state for the purposes aforesaid and no other; and the said canal shall be and remain a public highway for the use of the government of the United States, free from toll or other charge upon the vessels of said government engaged in the public service, or upon vessels employed by said government in the transportation of any property or troops of the United States.

"Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That if the said canal shall not be commenced within three, and completed within ten, years, the said state of Michigan shall be bound to pay to the United States the amount which may be received upon the sale of any part of said lands by said state, not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, the title to the purchasers under said state remaining valid.

"Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the legislature of said state shall cause to be kept an accurate account of the sales and net proceeds of the lands hereby granted, and of all expenditures in the construction, repairs, and operating of said canal, and of the earnings thereof, and shall return a statement of the same annually to the Secretary of the Interior; and whenever said state shall be fully reimbursed for all advances made for the construction, repairs, and operating of said canal, with legal interest on all advances until the reimbursement of the same, or upon payment by the United States of any balance of such advances over such receipts from said lands and canal, with such interest, the said state shall be allowed to tax for the use of said canal only such tolls as shall be sufficient to pay all necessary expenses for the care, charge, and repairs of the same.

"Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That before it shall be competent for said state to dispose of any of the lands to be selected as aforesaid, the route of said canal shall be established as aforesaid, and a plat or plats thereof shall be filed in the office of the War Department, and a duplicate thereof in the office of the Commissioner of the General Land Office.

"Approved, August 26, 1852.' [10 Stat. at L. 35, chap. 92.]

'And you orator further shows that the legislature of the state of Michigan afterwards passed an act providing for the construction of a ship canal around the falls of Saint Mary, the same being number thirty-eight of the session laws of the state of Michigan for the year 1853. By this act the appropriation of land made by Congress as aforesaid was accepted, with all conditions therein expressed attached, and made obligatory upon the state of Michigan. By its said act, also, the governor was authorized to appoint a board of five commissioners and an engineer for the purpose of looking after the construction of said canal and lock; provisions were made relative to the contract proposed to be entered into for the construction of the canal; the expenses of surveying, locating, and constructing the same; the manner in which the expenses attendant upon such construction should be paid, which was substantially out of the lands so appropriated by Congress; the keeping of accounts connected with such construction; the turning out of lands to the contractor and subcontractor; and other matters connected with such work, such act being in terms as follows:

"Section 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That the act of Congress entitled 'An Act Granting to the State of Michigan the Right of Way and a Donation of Public Land for the Construction of a Ship Canal Around the Falls of Saint Mary, in Said State,' approved August 26, 1852, is hereby accepted, and all conditions expressed in said act are hereby agreed to and made obligatory upon the state of Michigan.

"Sec. 2. For the purpose of carrying out the objects of said act the governor is hereby authorized, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to appoint five commissioners and an en- gineer, who shall prepare a plan for the construction of said canal in conformity with the provisions of said act of Congress and this act, to be approved by the governor, and who shall have the entire and absolute control and supervision of the construction of said canal.

* * * * *

"Sec. 3. The said commissioners shall receive proposals for the construction of said canal, agreeable to said plan, and, in deciding upon said proposals, are required to take into consideration the responsibility of the person or persons offering to contract for the same, and his or their ability to carry into effect the object and intention of 'said act of Congress, by constructing said canal in the best and most expeditious manner; and said commissioners, in making said contract, shall require good and ample security for the performance thereof.

* * * * *

"Sec. 5. . . . The cost of locating the said canal, and all expenses of every kind incidental to the supervision of the construction and completion of said canal, shall be reimbursed by the contractors as fast as ascertained, and shall be paid by them into the state treasury, and under the direction of said commissioners. When and as fast as the lands shall have been selected and located, an accurate description thereof, certified by the persons appointed to select the smae, shall be filed in the office of the commissioner of the state land office, whose duty it shall be to transmit to the Commissioner of the General Land Office a true copy of said list, and to designate and mark upon the books and plats in his office the said lands as Saint Mary canal lands.

"Sec. 6. The commissioners shall require said canal to be constructed and completed within two years from making the contract; and, on the completion of the same within said period to their satisfaction and acceptance, and the satisfaction of the governor and engineer, they shall have a certificate thereof, to be signed by the commissioners, governor, and engineer, and filed in land office. Thereupon it shall be the duty land office. Tereupon it shall be the duty of the said commissioner of the state land office forthwith to make certificates of purchase for so much of said lands as by the terms of the contract for the construction of said canal are to be conveyed for the purpose of defraying its costs and the expenses hereinbefore provided, which...

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