Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/319/266/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 04:32:16+00:00

Document:
1. Upon this appeal under § 25 of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, the Circuit Court or Appeals complied with the requirement that it dispose of the matter "upon the record, without regard to the awards or findings theretofore made," and fix the value. P. 319 U. S. 272.
2. In a proceeding to condemn lands under § 25 of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, the burden of establishing their value rests upon the respondent landowner. P. 319 U. S. 273.
upon the ground of their special adaptability, when united with other tracts owned by him and with tracts owned by strangers, for use in forming a multiple-dam hydroelectric plant which he projected.
(1) That, in order to permit consideration of such special adaptability, there must be a reasonable probability of the condemned tract's being thus combined with other tract in the near future; otherwise the special use would be too remote and speculative to have any legitimate effect upon the valuation. P. 319 U. S. 275.
(2) The landowner's privilege to use the power of eminent domain -- granted by the State in which the lands were situate, but not exercised, and revocable by the State -- may not be considered in determining whether there is a reasonable probability that the lands condemned could be so united with other tracts into the projected power plant in the reasonably near future. Without the power to condemn, the chances of incorporating lands as contemplated by the project are too remote and slim to have any legitimate effect on the valuation. P. 319 U. S. 276.
4. In condemning lands for a federal project, the United States is not required to make compensation for the loss of a business opportunity, dependent upon their owner's privilege to use the state power of eminent domain in acquiring other lands, where such privilege has not been exercised and is revocable by the State, and where the State need not make such compensation were it the sponsor of the project and the taker of the lands in question. P. 319 U. S. 284.
Certiorari, 314 U.S. 594, to review a judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals which affirmed with modifications a judgment of the District Court, 33 F.Supp. 519, in a condemnation case.
This case arises out of condemnation by the United States on behalf of the Tennessee Valley Authority of about 12,000 acres of land in North Carolina lying in and along the Hiwassee River, a major tributary of the Tennessee. The land involved in the case was owned by the respondent Southern States Power Company, a North Carolina corporation, and by its wholly owned subsidiary, the Union Power Company, a Georgia corporation. Since condemnation, the Southern States Power Company has assigned its property interest and rights arising out of these proceedings to the respondent W. V. N. Powelson, its sole stockholder. For convenience, Powelson and Southern States will be referred to interchangeably as "respondent."
of the lands involved in this case, as distinguished from the total investment in them, [Footnote 1] was $277,821.56.
The property condemned includes the Murphy dam and hydroelectric plant on the Nottely River and about 12,000 acres of land along the Hiwassee River in North Carolina. Of these, some 2,000 acres have been cleared and cultivated. The remaining area is rough and mountainous, consisting in large part of rock surface, mountain peaks, and gorges. Much of the land was inaccessible at the time of the taking, there being practically no highways thereon, although there were some cartways.
property condemned, viz., at the site of the Hiwassee dam, which, taken alone, was not considered commercially feasible for power development. The Commission found that the land condemned was suitable for use as the site of a hydroelectric power plant; that such use furnished the basis for its greatest inherent value, and that it had a value of $1,437,000, [Footnote 6] though its cost was only $277,821.56. The Commission awarded $253,000 in addition as severance damages in respect of lands not condemned but remaining in the ownership of Southern States and Union Power.
Both parties sought review of the award before the three-judge District Court for which § 25 of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act makes provision. The District Court reduced the value of the land condemned to.$976,289.40, and severance damages to $211,791.23, $100,000 of which was for the Murphy distribution system. Interest was added from the filing of the initial declarations of taking. United States v. Southern States Power Co., 33 F.Supp. 519. The Circuit Court of Appeals excluded severance damages for the taking of the Murphy plant on the Nottely River, and also excluded the $18,907.02 awarded as severance damages with respect to land held by Union Power unless, within thirty days after the mandate was filed in the District Court, that corporation should be made a party so as to become bound by the judgment. With these modifications, it affirmed the judgment of the District Court. United States v. Powelson, 118 F.2d 79. The case is here on a petition for writ of certiorari which we granted because of the public importance of the issues raised.
I. A preliminary question relates to the scope of review by the Circuit Court of Appeals under § 25 of the Act.
"to examine into the value of the lands sought to be condemned, to conduct hearings and receive evidence, and generally to take such appropriate steps as may be proper for the determination of the value"
"shall pass de novo upon the proceedings had before the commissioners, may view the property, and may take additional evidence. Upon such hearings, the said judges shall file their own award, fixing therein the value of the property sought to be condemned, regardless of the award previously made by the said commissioners."
"shall, upon the hearing on said appeal, dispose of the same upon the record without regard to the awards or findings theretofore made by the commissioners or the district judges, and such circuit court of appeals shall thereupon fix the value of the said property sought to be condemned."
It is contended that the Circuit Court of Appeals did not perform the functions which § 25 placed upon it. That court stated that § 25 permitted it to consider the findings under review "in the light of the record." 118 F.2d page 83. It gave weight to the opportunity of the commissioners and judges who took the testimony to see and hear the witnesses. But, while it adverted to those circumstances and findings, and modified and "affirmed" the judgment of the three-judge court, we cannot say that it did not perform the functions which Congress gave it under § 25.
"on the record, without regard to the awards or findings theretofore made," and to fix the value. But it need not blind itself to the special advantages of the tribunals below in evaluating the evidence. A trial de novo with the fresh taking of evidence is not required. An independent revaluation of the property condemned is contemplated. And that requirement was met here.
II. Sec. 25 of the Act authorizes awards covering "the value of the lands sought to be condemned." The storm center of this controversy is whether water power value may be included in respondent's award.
It is argued on behalf of petitioner that, even though the Hiwassee River is nonnavigable throughout this part of its course, compensation for the loss of any supposed power value is no more permissible than in case of a navigable stream. It is pointed out that United States v. Chandler-Dunbar Co., 229 U. S. 53, held that there is "no private property in the flow" of a navigable stream. United States v. Appalachian Power Co., 311 U. S. 377, 311 U. S. 427. And it is contended that, although the Hiwassee River is nonnavigable at the points in question, the flow at those places has such a direct and immediate effect upon the navigable portion of the river farther downstream as to give the United States the same plenary control over both the navigable and nonnavigable portions of the river (United States v. Appalachian Power Co., supra; Oklahoma v. Atkinson Co., 313 U. S. 508), thereby bringing into play the rule of the Chandler-Dunbar case. Cf. United States v. Kelly, 243 U. S. 316. We do not stop to consider that question. For, if we assume, without deciding, that rights in the "flow" of a nonnavigable stream created by local law are property for which the United States must pay compensation when it condemns the lands of the riparian owner, the water power value which respondent sought to establish cannot be allowed.
of 3.75 mills per kwh, and a selling price of 6.34 mills per kwh for all the energy produced. On the basis of those assumptions, an assumed net return was computed. That assumed net return was capitalized at a given rate and a portion of that sum, i.e., $7,500,000, was allocated to the lands in question. Petitioner challenged most of those assumptions. It introduced evidence that the cost of the four-dam project would be higher than respondent assumed; that the total annual fixed charges of the project would exceed those estimated; that the production of energy would be less, the cost per kwh would be greater, and the sale price per kwh would be lower than respondent estimated. The Commissioners, the District Court, and the Circuit Court of Appeals found, on the basis of respondent's estimates of the four-dam project, that the lands had a water power value, and that their availability for power purposes constituted the chief element of their value and the basis for the highest value in the property. All agreed, however, that respondent's estimate of $7,500,000 was too high. And, as we have noted, the District Court and the Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the fair market value of the lands for power purposes was some $976,000.
for that purpose in the reasonably near future. Olson v. United States, 292 U. S. 246, 292 U. S. 255. In absence of such a showing, the chance of their being united for that special use is regarded "as too remote and speculative to have any legitimate effect upon the valuation." McGovern v. New York, supra, p. 229 U. S. 372.
Respondent seeks to avoid that difficulty by reliance on the power of eminent domain granted by North Carolina. The argument is that the means of effecting a combination of lands is not important -- it is whether the land owner had a reasonable chance of doing it. This Court, however, held in the McGovern case that, in estimating that chance or probability, "the power of effecting the change by eminent domain must be left out." 229 U.S., p. 229 U. S. 372. And that view was followed in New York v. Sage, 239 U. S. 57, 239 U. S. 61. Respondent attempts to distinguish those cases on the ground that, since the landowners in question did not have the power of eminent domain, they were merely denied recovery for a value dependent upon a combination which they could not reasonably expect to effect. But the thrust of the rule is deeper. If the owner's claim against the sovereign were increased by reason of the power of eminent domain, then the very existence of the right of condemnation would confer on the owner "a value for which he must be paid when the right is exercised." Hale, Value to the Taker in Condemnation Cases, 31 Col.Rev. 1, 13.
"that Ohio retained the power as against one of its creatures, to revoke any such right to appropriate property until it had been acted upon by acquiring the property authorized to be taken."
"to appropriate any of the land or any of the water rights which might otherwise have come under the development described in its certificate of incorporation."
Id., pp. 246 U. S. 249-250.
by the Fifth Amendment is in issue. See, for example, Omnia Co. v. United States, 261 U. S. 502, 261 U. S. 508-509. We do not see why the protection given to "private property" under the Fifth Amendment imposes upon the United States a duty to provide a higher measure of compensation for these lands than would be imposed by the Fourteenth Amendment upon the state if it were the taker. [Footnote 10] Nor has any reason based on considerations of equity and fair dealing been advanced for justifying a higher measure of compensation in the instant case because the lands are being taken for a public project sponsored by the United States, rather than by North Carolina. The warrant or authority for putting the United States at such a disadvantage is not apparent.
not follow that that "prior right" was "private property," within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment, which was taken by the United States.
of eminent domain are not being appropriated. And there is no basis for raising an estoppel against the United States, as there was thought to be in Monongahela Navigation Co. v. United States, 148 U. S. 312. See Omnia Co. v. United States, supra, pp. 261 U. S. 513-514. The landowner is, to be sure, deprived of a preferential advantage which was an incidental attribute of the public authority with which the state endowed him. But that advantage had no higher dignity than a promise of a gratuity. It had not been availed of to develop an existing and going enterprise which the United States appropriated. Respondent's project was only a speculative venture -- a promotional scheme wholly in futuro. Thus, we conclude that respondent had no interest under his unexercised power of eminent domain which rises to the estate of "private property" within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment. Cf. 55 U. S. Delaware & R. Canal Co., 14 How. 80, 55 U. S. 94.
"No recovery therefor can be had now as for a taking of the business. There is no finding as a fact that the government took the business, or that what it did was intended as a taking. If the business was destroyed, the destruction was an unintended incident of the taking of land."
267 U.S. p. 267 U. S. 345. That .which is not "private property" within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment likewise may be a thing of value which is destroyed or impaired by the taking of lands by the United States. But, like the business destroyed but not "taken" in the Mitchell case, it need not be reflected in the award due the landowner unless Congress so provides.
It is no answer to say that the evidence as to the profits from respondent's hypothetical four-dam project was introduced not as the basis of an award for loss of profits or business, but only as a basis for estimating the true water power value of the property. The computation of those profits assumes the very existence of the projected enterprise which the power of eminent domain alone could make possible and which these condemnations frustrated. We repeat that an allowance of any such value would entail a payment for the loss of a business prospect based on an unexercised power of eminent domain. As we have said, no reason based on precedent or principle appears why respondent's privilege to use the power of eminent domain should be treated as "private property" within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment, so as to give rise to a private claim against the public treasury. Nor is there any indication that Congress adopted in this regard a more liberalized standard of compensation than would be provided under the Fifth Amendment.
state where the property is located might destroy or diminish that value through an appropriate exercise of its police power. It is manifest that such is not the case. A state may, of course, destroy or diminish values by an assertion of its police power without the necessity of making compensation for the loss. Hamilton v. Kentucky Distilleries Co., supra; Block v. Hirsch, 256 U. S. 135, 256 U. S. 156. While such a change will not be presumed (United States v. River Rouge Imp. Co., 269 U. S. 411), the possibility or probability of such action, so far as it affects present values, is a proper subject for consideration in valuing property for purposes of a condemnation award. See Reichelderfer v. Quinn, 287 U. S. 315, 287 U. S. 323. We do not disturb those general principles. The United States no more than a state can be excused from paying just compensation measured by the value of the property at the time of the taking merely because it could destroy that value by appropriate legislation or regulation. But we have here a unique situation. The power of eminent domain which respondent seeks to have reflected in the valuation is largely unexercised, and need not be reflected in the measure of compensation if the state which conferred the privilege were the taker of the lands. If these numerous tracts had already been united by respondent through the power of eminent domain into a power project, distinct problems would be posed, as Sears v. Akron, supra, indicates. Then, the United States would be acquiring a business, not simply frustrating a promotional scheme. We merely hold that the United States, in absence of a specific statutory requirement, need not make compensation for the loss of a business opportunity based on the unexercised privilege to use the power of eminent domain where the state need not do so were it the sponsor of the public project and the taker of the lands. The constitutional obligation of the United States to make compensation does not extend so far.
It is true that this result will reduce an award which the Circuit Court of Appeals noted was approximately equal to respondent's total investment in the lands acquired for its project, plus 3% interest. But the Fifth Amendment allows the owner only the fair market value of his property; it does not guarantee him a return of his investment. Minnesota Rate Cases, 230 U. S. 352, 230 U. S. 454; Brooks-Scanlon Corp. v. United States, 265 U. S. 106, 265 U. S. 123; Olson v. United States, supra, p. 292 U. S. 255.
The result is that respondent's privilege to use the power of eminent domain may not be considered in determining whether there is a reasonable probability of the lands in question being combined with other tracts into a power project in the reasonably near future. If the power of eminent domain be left out of account, the chances of making the combination appear to be too remote and slim "to have any legitimate effect upon the valuation." McGovern v. New York, supra, p. 229 U. S. 372. Respondent therefore has not established the basis for proof of the water power value which was asserted.
The judgment is reversed, and the cause is remanded to the Circuit Court of Appeals for proceedings in conformity with this opinion.
The sum of $1,061,942.53 had been invested by respondent through 1935 in the entire 22,000 acres of land owned by it. Of this sum, Powelson personally contributed $586,196.21. The total expenditure included $188,271.86 for lands not condemned, $73,412.68 for taxes, $82,480.81 for New York office expense, $94,074.71 for legal expenses, $14,321.68 for traveling expenses, $64,358.46 for construction of transmission lines for and operation of the Murphy plant, $194,487.50 for interest and amortization as respects the bonds on the Murphy plant, and expenditures for surveying, engineering studies, advertising, and furniture.
A rival, the Hiawassee River Power Company, organized under the general laws of the State, proceeded to acquire lands and rights by contract, deed, and condemnation, and threatened to construct a hydroelectric plant on the Hiwassee River which would interfere with the development projected by Carolina-Tennessee. Carolina-Tennessee engaged in a long litigation to establish its rights as against its rival. That litigation established the prior and dominant right of respondent's predecessor to develop the water power in this territory, and sustained its claim to condemn the land and water rights of the Hiawassee River Power Company. Carolina-Tennessee Power Co. v. Hiawassee River Power Co., 171 N.C. 248, 88 S.E. 349; 175 N.C. 668, 96 S.E. 99; 186 N.C. 179, 119 S.E. 213; 188 N.C. 128, 123 S.E. 312.
See also 46 Stat. 1421, 40 U.S.C. § 258a; § 4(h)(i) of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933, 48 Stat. 58-61, 16 U.S.C. § 831c(h)(i).
The theory was that the projected reservoirs would store water during the wet season, and that the power would be sold neighboring utilities during the dry season. The name given that type of power is said to derive from the fact that Lexington Water Power Co. sold the output of its Saluda plant to Duke Power Co. on a similar basis.
"It is common knowledge that public service corporations and others having that power [eminent domain] frequently are actual or potential competitors not only for tracts held in single ownership, but also for rights of way, locations, sites, and other areas requiring the union of numerous parcels held by different owners. And, to the extent that probable demand by prospective purchasers or condemnors affects market value, it is to be taken into account."
Cf. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Chicago, 166 U. S. 226, 166 U. S. 233, 166 U. S. 241, arising under the Fourteenth Amendment.
"This power of eminent domain is conferred upon corporations affected with public use not so much for the benefit of the corporations themselves, but for the use and benefit of the people at large."
And see Long Island Water Supply Co. v. Brooklyn, 166 U. S. 685; Cincinnati v. Louisville & Nashville R. Co., 223 U. S. 390; Pennsylvania Hospital v. Philadelphia, 245 U. S. 20; Brooks-Scanlon Corp. v. United States, 265 U. S. 106; De Laval Steam Turbine Co. v. United States, 284 U. S. 61. In the Monongahela case, the United States condemned a lock and dam constructed at the invitation of the United States and operated by the owner under a franchise from Pennsylvania. This Court held that the special facts of the case required that the franchise or going concern value of the enterprise be included in the compensation payable to the owner. It was said, in the first place, that the franchise granted to the company by Pennsylvania was a valuable property right, since it was a contract under the rule of Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 4 Wheat. 518, and protected against impairment by the state. Secondly, the Court noted that the United States did more than destroy the business; it appropriated the enterprise for public purposes. Moreover, as was stated in Omnia Co. v. United States, supra, pp. 261 U. S. 513-514, the Monongahela case "rested primarily upon the doctrine of estoppel, as this Court has in several cases since pointed out."
See Bothwell v. United States, 254 U. S. 231; Joslin Co. v. Providence, 262 U. S. 668, 262 U. S. 675; Atwater & Co. v. United States, 275 U. S. 188; United States v. Carver, 278 U. S. 294; Mullen Benevolent Corp. v. United States, 290 U. S. 89.
See Sharp v. United States, 191 U. S. 341, 191 U. S. 348-350; San Diego L. & T. Co. v. Neale, 88 Cal. 50, 58-63, 25 P. 977; Matter of City of New York, 118 App.Div. 272, 275, 103 N.Y.S. 441; New York Central R. Co. v. Maloney, 234 N.Y. 208, 218, 137 N.E. 305; Sparkill Realty Corp. v. State, 268 N.Y.192, 197 N.E.192; Burt v. Wigglesworth, 117 Mass. 302, 306; Hamilton v. Pittsburg, B. & L.E. R. Co., 190 Pa. 51, 57, 42 A. 369. Cf. United Gas Co. v. Railroad Commission, 278 U. S. 300, 278 U. S. 317-318.
THE CHIEF JUSTICE, MR. JUSTICE ROBERTS, MR. JUSTICE FRANKFURTER, and I understand the Court to hold that property physically adaptable to power purposes, taken by the Federal Government for power purposes, among others, is to be valued as worthless for power purposes as matter of law because its projected development might be defeated if the State should revoke the power of eminent domain admittedly possessed by the owner at the time of the taking. We think it denies proper effect to State law and policy in effect at the time of taking.
a corporation and gave it extensive powers, including the right of eminent domain. [Footnote 2/2] The corporation acquired, partly by purchase and partly by condemnation, the dam sites, bed of the stream, riparian lands, and key properties necessary to the development. The right to acquire by condemnation any additional lands needed was never repealed or withdrawn, but, on the other hand, was confirmed by the state courts in a series of litigations. [Footnote 2/3] There is no finding or evidence that forfeiture, repeal, or impairment of these rights has been considered or threatened by the State or is even remotely probable, even if legally possible.
the power of eminent domain, it holds as matter of law that the project was not feasible to execute, and that the lands assembled for power purposes, admittedly physically adaptable to the use and taken by the Government for that purpose, have no power utilization value. This seems to us not easily reconciled with the respect due to local law in a matter of the kind.
Determination of the value of property, particularly as affected by a prospective use, always involves some element of prophecy and some estimation of probabilities. No court that we know of has ever proposed, and we do not propose, to value the power of eminent domain either separately or as an ingredient of property taken. Its existence should be considered only for the purpose of determining the most advantageous probable usefulness of the property as it affects its value. The legal principles governing the solution of the fact questions are laid down in Olson v. United States, 292 U. S. 246. Of course, any uncertainty or limitation as to the right to condemn property or evidence of probable impairment, forfeiture, or withdrawal of it would be weighed with other evidence in arriving at a judgment as to the feasibility of the project and value of the property. This Court has said that a possibility of exercise by a governing body of its power to make changes affecting values is a proper subject for consideration in fixing values. Reichelderfer v. Quinn, 287 U. S. 315, 287 U. S. 323. But never until now has it held that the law requires present values to be determined as if legally possible, but factually improbable, changes have already taken place.
But, in all such cases, the compensation payable should be the value of the property at the time of taking, allowing for any influence that these contingencies might exert, which would depend upon their probability.
No previous decision of this Court supports or authorizes disregard of a presently existing state right of eminent domain in a federal taking of property. In McGovern v. New York, 229 U. S. 363, and New York v. Sage, 239 U. S. 57, the condemnation was by an agency of the State, and the condemnees did not have, and showed no probability of obtaining, such power from the State.
"Nor are we called upon to determine to what extent the commencement of the acquisition of needed property in preparation for the power development, or even actual commencement of construction, would have vested in the company the right to complete the development."
These cases do not decide what would have been respondent's rights if North Carolina, rather than the United States, had instituted the present condemnation proceedings, thereby expressing her unwillingness to have the respondent carry the project through to completion. They are wholly inapposite to the question we are called upon to decide, which is whether North Carolina's expressed and undoubted willingness that the respondent should do so, and, to that end, should exercise her sovereign power of eminent domain, may be considered along with all other facts bearing upon the question of the prospects of completion.
at any time. The Court sustained credit for the benefits, pointing out that "there was nothing in the evidence indicating any probability that the Government would at any time abrogate or curtail this right in any respect." 269 U.S. at 269 U. S. 420.
We think the same rule should apply against, as for, the Government, and that the property in question was entitled to the benefits at the time being extended by State authority in the absence of evidence of probability that they would be abrogated or curtailed. We do not think that, because the power of eminent domain may have been revocable by the State, it follows as matter of law that it must be treated as nonexistent, and we dissent from a reversal based on such grounds.
". . . Riparian rights in a stream or water course attach to, but to no more than so much of the flow thereof as may be required or used consistently with this section, for the purposes for which such lands are, or may be made adaptable, in view of such reasonable and beneficial uses; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be construed as depriving any riparian owner of the reasonable use of water of the stream to which his land is riparian under reasonable methods of diversion and use, or of depriving any appropriator of water to which he is lawfully entitled. . . ."
"The right to divert the unappropriated waters of any natural stream to beneficial uses shall never be denied. Priority of appropriation shall give the better right as between those using the water for the same purpose; but when the waters of any natural stream are not sufficient for the service of all those desiring the use of the same, those using the water for domestic purposes shall have the preference over those claiming for any other purpose, and those using the water for agricultural purposes shall have preference over those using the same for manufacturing purposes."
"All flowing streams and natural water courses shall forever remain the property of the state for mining, irrigating and manufacturing purposes."
"The people shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise all the rights of fishery, and the privileges of the shore, to which they have been heretofore entitled under the charter and usages of this state. But no new right is intended to be granted, nor any existing right impaired, by this declaration."
"All existing rights to the use of any of the waters in this State for any useful or beneficial purpose are hereby recognized and confirmed."
"The State of Washington asserts its ownership to the beds and shores of all navigable waters in the state up to and including the line of ordinary high tide in waters where the tide ebbs and flows, and up to and including the line of ordinary high water within the banks of all navigable rivers and lakes: Provided, that this section shall not be construed so as to debar any person from asserting his claim to vested rights in the courts of the state."
"The use of the waters of this state for irrigation, mining, and manufacturing purposes shall be deemed a public use."
"The state shall have concurrent jurisdiction on all rivers and lakes bordering on this state so far as such rivers or lakes shall form a common boundary to the state and any other state or territory now or hereafter to be formed, and bounded by the same, and the river Mississippi and the navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St.Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the state as to the citizens of the United States, without any tax, impost or duty therefor."
See also Kaukauna Water Power Co. v. Green Bay Canal Co., 142 U. S. 254, 142 U. S. 272; cf. International Paper Co. v. United States, 282 U. S. 399.
Carolina-Tennessee Power Co. v. Hiawassee River Power Co.,171 N.C. 248, 88 S.E. 349; 175 N.C. 668, 96 S.E. 99; 186 N.C. 179, 119 S.E. 213; 188 N.C. 128, 123 S.E. 312; Hiawassee River Power Co. v. Carolina-Tennessee Power Co., 252 U. S. 341; 267 U. S. 267 U.S. 568.
See examples and citation of cases in Reichelderfer v. Quinn, supra, at 287 U. S. 319.
1. O owns a dock projecting into a navigable stream in State S. The Federal Government may destroy it or require its removal without payment of compensation (United States v. Chicago, M., St. P. & P. R. Co., 312 U. S. 592), but it does not appear likely that it will do so, and the dock is a commercially valuable property. S acquires the dock by condemnation, and seeks to avoid payment by relying upon the power of the Federal Government to destroy its value.
2. O owns a distillery in State S. S acquires it by condemnation, and resists payment by asserting the existence of the Federal Government's power to enact a prohibition law, and thereby destroy or diminish the value of the distillery without the payment of compensation. Hamilton v. Kentucky Distilleries Co., 251 U. S. 146.

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