The Jersey City news., 1892-02-20
Chief Justice BeasleY's
Opinion in the South
Cove Controversy.
The ACT CONSTITUTIONAL
1t Created a Public Trust Which
the Municipal Authorities
Could Not Dispose of.
The CITY SUSTAINED At EvERI POINT.
Special to the JERSEY ctr Nsws.

Special to the JERSEY City Neys.
TRENTON, Feb. 20 1s92.-Chief Justice
Beasley this morning filed his opinion in
the case of Jersey City against The
American Dock and Improvement Com
pany, which is the suit for the recovery
of possession of the South Cove.
The syllabus of the opinion follows:--
"a statute declaring that the State
doth hereby grant to the Mayor and
Aldermen of Jersey City "a certain defined
tract of land under tide water passes
the title in presente without
acceptance upon the part of the city. The
title to such granted lands being
In the act devoted for the creation
of public wharves is infeasible
except by statute and cannot be
lost and impaired by the acts or neglect
of the municipality. The lands thus set
apart are removed from the domain of
the Riparian Commissioners. A convey
ance of them by such officials is a mere
nullity."
The opinion begins by setting forth the
I,
which gave the land in dispute to the
city for the purpose OF establishing there
on wharves and basins. The Chief JUS
tice then goes on to say:--
TEXT OF THE OPINION.
Before leaving the act and in this
connection the first objection interposed
by the defendant may here be disposed
OF. The objection stated that under the
provision In the act for wharves and also
for basins the act Is in con-
fict with the first provision Of
the State constitution, which requires
that every law shall embrace but one OBJ
ject. Upon this point it is enough
to say that that subject was
considered in the case of the Easton and
Amboy Railroad Company VS.. the Cen
trail Railroad Company of New Jer-
sey. % Vroom 81, and the Court
then concluded that the in
spection in question had no
legal basis. We then thought as we
think now, that the act embraces but one
purpose and one scheme; therefore the
act is constitutional.
"Viewing it in this light the act vested
at the time it became law the tract in
question forever in the Mayor and Alder
men of Jersey City. That the statute had
this immediate force is not questioned for
the reason that it's words The said State
doth hereby grant. etc., in fee simple Is
susceptible of no other meaning. 1t
was In this sense that these words were
interpreted by this Court in the case
just cited. and while it is thus
clear that Legislative conveyance
of an estate in fee in present is thus made,
it is equally clear that it had not the
force of vesting in the city this tract as
Its private property.
THE CITY THE TRUSTEE OF THE PEOPLE.
"The municipality was made the re-
cipient and custodian of it exclusively
for public uses. The purpose is
expressly declared in the preamble
above cited and 1t is likewise
expressed in all It's regulations and pro-
visions. The proposition is self-evident.
Being invested there with :he fee and
holding the premises in trust
for the public, the conclusion
so decisive Of most of the issues in this
case necessarily results that the munich
palty was and is devoid Of all capacity to
impair the interests thus committed to its
keeping. The grant had been made to it
without its assent, 1t was not necessary
for it to accept 1t. 1t had not
the competency to refuse to exc
cute the duties with regard to
it, which law making power had seen at
in the plentitude of its authority to i'm
pose upon it. The principal interest
in the property had been given
to the public and consequently
the city could not alien it nor could it be
taken in execution for the payment of the
municipal debt.
NO RIGHT TO ALIEN TO LAND.
'In my opinion it is entirely clear that
such an interest as this could in no wise
be impaired by legislation or by
the acts or neglect Of the muni-
cipai body to which it had been
confided. Unless the Legislature itself
iutertered it would remain forever unal-
terably devoted to the purposes
that had been the motive for
its creation. These equal rules
are too thoroughly estaDusned TO JUSTIFY
the citation of any authority showing their
prevalence. Regarding then this
grant to Jersey City as possessed Of the
nature and qualifications thus i'm
parted to it. and considering it
in the facts present in the
records before US 1t does not seem to me
that any legal question of considerable
difficulty or obstruseness remains for
solution"
The remainder of the decision is OF
purely technical nature and of little in
terest to anyone except members of the
legal profession.
rerren Land and Building Association.
A meeting OF the Bergen Land, Build
ing and Loan Association was held last
night at No. 144 Ocean avenue. Paul
Sury,s bond as treasurer was accepted.
The Board elected William H. Speir, Jr..
solicitor. and after transacting some
routine business adjourned to meet to-
night to receive dues.
For the first time in the history OF tne
orpanization tue Bruins faction was de-
featel, Tney ran Werner Bruins for
Solicitor. The first five ballots stood