Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/204/364
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 14:33:39+00:00

Document:
Argued: December 5 and 6, 1906.
This is a proceeding in the nature of a criminal information in the district court of the United States for the western district of Pennsylvania against the Union Bridge Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania, owning and controlling a bridge across the Allegheny river near where it joins the Monongahela river to form the Ohio river,the Allegheny river being a navigable waterway of the United States, having its source in New York and being navigable in both New York and Pennsylvania.
Stating the matter generally, the Secretary of War found the bridge to be an unreasonable obstruction to the free navigation of the Allegheny river, and required the Bridge Company to make certain changes or alterations in order that navigation be rendered reasonably free, easy, and unobstructed. These alterations, it was charged, the company wilfully failed and refused to make. Hence the present information against it. There was a verdict of guilty, followed by a motion in arrest of judgment, which motion being overruled, the company was sentenced to pay a fine of $5,000. To review that order this writ of error is prosecuted.
The information was based on § 18 of the river and harbor act of March 3d, 1899, which provides: '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 controlling 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 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.
Legislation similar in its general character can be found in river and harbor acts passed at previous sessions of Congress. Act of 1884 (23 Stat. at L. 133, 148, chap. 229, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 3532); act of April 11th, 1888 (25 Stat. at L. 400, 424, 425, chap. 860, §§ 9, 10); and act of September 19th, 1890 (26 Stat. at L. 426, 453, chap. 907, §§ 4, 5). Finally, we have the act of March 23d, 1906 (34 Stat. at L. 84, chap. 1130, §§ 4, 5), which covers the same ground as the act of 1899 under which the present information was filed.
The matter was referred by the Secretary of War to the proper officers of the Engineer Corps of the Army for examination and report. Such examination was had upon notice to the Bridge Company, and, under date of December 8th, 1902, Capt. Sibert, cap tain of engineers, who conducted the examination, reported and recommended to the Chief of Engineers that the company be given notice to make certain alterations in its bridge.
In the opinion of the district court, delivered on a motion in arrest of judgment, it was said: 'The obstruction here involved consists of a bridge over the Allegheny river just above its junction with the Monongahela at Pittsburgh. The Allegheny river rises in Pennsylvania, flows north into New York state, and thence back into Pennsylvania. The latter state, by act of March 21, 1798 (3 Smith's Laws, p. 320), enacted the Allegheny, from the New York state line to its mouth, a navigable stream, and the state of New York, by act of March 31, 1807, did likewise in its counties of Genesee and Allegheny. The Allegheny is the principal branch of the Ohio, its volume being six times greater than that of the Monongahela. It is included in the general plan for the improvement by the national government of local interstate waterways and the harbor of Pittsburg. The government has built, or has now in process of construction, a system of locks and dams on the Allegheny which will slackwater the stream for 27 miles from its mouth. The Davis Island dam, situate 5 miles below Pittsburg, on the Ohio river, raises the water in the Allegheny and Monongahela at their junction 6 feet above their normal depths, and backs its water to the first dams of the Allegheny and Monongahela slackwater systems respectively. These waters form the harhor of Pittsburg, the importance of which harbor will be appreciated from the fact that the tonnage in water transportation passing from it the past year exceeded that of the Suez canal for the same period. From its size, interstate relation, and its being a part of this really great harbor, it will be seen that the Allegheny answers the requirement of a navigable stream (The Montello United States v. The Montello, 11 Wall. 411, 20 L. ed. 191), and is also one over which the national government has assumed jurisdiction. The Union bridge is a pier-supported, wooden structure; it crosses from Pittsburg to Allegheny City; and is the first bridge on the Allegheny.' 143 Fed. 378.
Assistant to the Attorney General Purdy for defendant in error.
The first principal question raised by the defendant is whether the 18th section of the river and harbor act of March 3d, 1899, is in violation of the Constitution of the United States as delegating legislative and judicial powers to the head of an executive department of the government. This question, the government contends, has been determined in its favor by the principles heretofore announced by this court, and need not be discussed as if now presented for the first time. In its judicial as well as legal aspects the question is of such importance as to justify a full reference to prior decisions.
It would seem too clear to admit of serious doubt that the statute under which the Secretary of War proceeded is in entire harmony with the principles announced in former cases. In no substantial, just sense does it confer upon that officer, as the head of an executive department, powers strictly legislative or judicial in their nature, or which must be exclusively exercised by Congress or by the courts. it has long been the policy of the government to remove such unreasonable obstructions to the free navigation of the water ways of the United States as were caused by bridges maintained over them. That such an object was of common interest and within the competency of Congress, under its power to regulate commerce, everyone must admit: for commerce comprehends navigation, and therefore to free navigation from unreasonable obstructions is a legitimate exertion of that power. Gibbons v. Odgen, 9 Wheat. 1, 189, 190, 6 L. ed. 23, 68, 69. As appropriate to the object to be accomplished, as a means to an end within the power of the national government, Congress, in execution of a declared policy, committed to the Secretary of War the duty of ascertaining all the facts essential in any inquiry whether particular bridges, over the water ways of the United States, were unreasonable obstructions to free navigation. Beyond question, if it had so elected, Congress, in some effective mode and without previous investigation through executive officers, could have determined for itself, primarily, the fact whether the bridge here in question was an unreasonable obstruction to navigation, and, if it was found to be of that character could, by direct legislation, have required the defendant to make such alterations of its bridge as were requisite for the protection of navigation and commerce over the water way in question. But investigations by Congress as to each particular bridge alleged to constitute an unreasonable obstruction to free navigation, and direct legislation covering each case, separately, would be impracticable, in view of the vast and varied interests which require national legislation from time to time. By the statute in question Congress declared in effect that navigation should be freed from unreasonable obstructions arising from bridges of insufficient height, width of span, or other defects. It stopped, however, with this declaration of a general rule, and imposed upon the Secretary of War the duty of ascertaining what particular cases came within the rule prescribed by Congress, as well as the duty of enforcing the rule in such cases. In performing that duty the Secretary of War will only execute the clearly-expressed will of Congress, and will not, in any true sense, exert legislative or judicial power. He could not be said to exercise strictly legislative or judicial power any more, for instance, than it could be said that executive officers exercise such power when, upon investigation, they ascertain whether a particular applicant for a pension belongs to a class of persons who, under the general rules prescribed by Congress, are entitled to pensions. If the principle for which the defendant contends received our approval the conclusion could not be avoided that executive officers, in all the departments, in carrying out the will of Congress, as expressed in statutes enacted by it, have, from the foundation of the national government, exercised, and are now exercising, powers as to mere details, that are strictly legislative or judicial in their nature. This will be apparent upon an examination of the various statutes that confer aothority upon executive departments in respect of the enforcement of the laws of the United States. Indeed, it is not too much to say that a denial to Congress of the right, under the Constitution, to delegate the power to determine some fact or the state of things upon which the enforcement of its enactment depends, would be 'to stop the wheels of government' and bring about confusion, if not paralysis, in the conduct of the public business.
To this may be added the consideration that Congress, by the act of 1899, did not invest the Secretary of War with any power in these matters that could reasonably be characterized as arbitrary. He cannot act in reference to any bridge alleged to be an unreasonable obstruction to free navigation without first giving the parties an opportunity to be heard. He cannot require any bridge of that character to be altered, even for the purpose of rendering navigation through or under it reasonably free, easy, and unobstructed, without giving previous notice to the persons or corporations owning or controlling the bridge, specifying the changes recommended by the Chief of Engineers, and allowing a reasonable time in which to make them. If, at the end of such time, the required alterations have not been made, then the Secretary is required to bring the matter to the attention of the United States district attorney in order that criminal proceedings may be instituted to enforce the act of Congress. In the present case all the provisions of the statute were complied with. The parties concerned were duly notified and were fully heard. Nor is there any reason to say that the Secretary of War was not entirely justified, if not compelled, by the evidence, in finding that the bridge in question was an unreasonable obstruction to commerce and navigation as now conducted.
The propositions are combated by the government, which contends that the alterations or changes required to secure navigation against an unreasonable obstruction is not a taking of private property for public use within the meaning of the Constitution, and that the cost of such alterations or changes is to be deemed incidental only to the exercise of an undoubted function of the United States, when exerting, through Congress, its power to regulate commerce among the states, and therefore navigation upon the water ways on and over which such commerce is conducted.
A leading case upon this subject is Gibson v. United States, 166 U. S. 269, 271, 41 L. ed. 996, 998, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 578, 579, et seq. Congress, by the river and harbor acts of 1884 and 1886 (23 Stat. at L. 133, 147, chap. 229, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 3524, 24 Stat. at L. 316, 327, chap. 929), authorized and directed the improvement of the Ohio river, and made appropriations to effect that object. Under the authority of the Secretary of War, and the Engineer Corps of the Army, a dike was constructed in that river for the purpose of concentrating the water-flow in the main channel of the river, near Neville island. The dike began at a certain point on the island. Its construction substantially destroyed the landing on and in front of a farm, owned by Mrs. Gibson, on that island, preventing, during most of the year, free egress and ingress from and to such farm to the main or navigable channel of the river. At the time of the construction of the dike that farm was in high state of cultivation, well improved, with a dwelling house, barn, and outbuildings. It had a frontage of a thousand feet on the main navigable channel, and the owner had a landing there which was used in the shipping of products from and supplies to her farm, and was the only one from which such products and supplies could be shipped. Before the construction of the dike the farm, by reason of the use to which it was put, was worth $600 per acre. The obstruction caused by the dike reduced its value to $150 or $200 per acre, resulting in damages to the owner in excess of $3,000. Suit was brought against the United States in the court of claims to recover such damages. That court found, as a conclusion of law, that the owner was not entitled to recover.
Do the principles announced in the above cases require us to hold, in the present case, that the making of the alterations of its bridge specified in the order of the Secretary of War will be a taking of the property of the Bridge Company for public use? We think not. Unless there be a taking, within the meaning of the Constitution, no obligation arises upon the United States to make compensation for the cost to be incurred in making such alterations. The damage that will accrue to the Bridge Company, as the result of compliance with the Secretary's order, must, in such case, be deemed incidental to the exercise by the government of its power to regulate commerce among the states, which includes, as we have seen, the power to secure free navigation upon the water ways of the United States against unreasonable obstructions. There are no circumstances connected with the original construction of the bridge, or with its maintenance since, which so tie the hands of the government that it cannot exert its full power to protect the freedom of navigation against obstructions. Although the bridge, when erected under the authority of a Pennsylvania charter, may have been a lawful structure, and although it may not have been an unreasonable obstruction to commerce and navigation as then carried on, it must be taken, under the cases cited, and upon principle, not only that the company, when exerting the power conferred upon it by the state, did so with knowledge of the paramount authority of Congress to regulate commerce among the states, but that it erected the bridge subject to the possibility that Congress might, at some future time, when the public interest demanded, exert its power by appropriate legislation to protect navigation against unreasonable obstructions. Even if the bridge, in its original form, was an unreasonable obstruction to navigation, the mere failure of the United States, at the time, to intervene by its officers or by legislation and prevent its erection, could not create an obligation on the part of the government to make compensation to the company if, at a subsequent time, and for public reasons, Congress should forbid the maintenance of bridges that had become unreasonable obstructions to navigation. It is for Congress to determine when it will exert its power to regulate interstate commerce. Its mere silence or inaction when individuals or corporations, under the authority of a state, place unreasonable obstructions in the water ways of the United States, cannot have the effect to cast upon the government an obligation not to exert its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce except subject to the condition that compensation be made or secured to the individuals or corporation who may be incidentally affected by the exercise of such power. The principle for which the Bridge Company contends would seriously impair the exercise of the beneficent power of the government to secure the free and unobstructed navigation of the water ways of the United States. We cannot give our assent to that principle. In conformity with the adjudged cases, and in order that the constitutional power of Congress may have full operation, we must adjudge that Congress has power to protect navigation on all water ways of the United States against unreasonable obstructions, even those created under the sanction of a state, and that an order to so alter a bridge over a water way of the United States that it will cease to be an unreasonable obstruction to navigation will not amount to a taking of private property for public use for which compensation need be made.
Independent of the grounds upon which we thus place our decision, it is appropriate to observe that the conclusion reached finds support in the charter of the Bridge Company and in the law of Pennsylvania, as declared by its highest court. The charter of the company, as we have seen, expressly warned the company that its bridge must not obstruct navigation,that is, in legal effect, navigation as it then was, or might be, at any subsequent time. In Dugan v. Bridge Co. 27 Pa. 303, 309, 311, 67 Am. Dec. 464, we have the case of a bridge company on which was conferred the franchise to erect and maintain a toll-bridge across Monongahela river, coupled, however, with the condition that such bridge should not be erected 'in such manner as to injure, stop, or interrupt the navigation of such river by boats, rafts, or other vessels.' The supreme court of Pennsylvania interpreted these words as meaning that 'the bridge was to be so built as not to injure, stop, or interrupt the navigation, either then or now, whether in its infancy or full growth.' The same general question arose in Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Illinois, 200 U. S. 589, 50 L. ed. 607, 26 Sup. Ct. Rep. 348. This court held that the adjudged cases 'negative the suggestion of the railway company that the adequacy of its bridge and the opening under it for passing the water of the creek at the time the bridge was constructed determine its obligations to the public at all subsequent periods. In Cooke v. Boston & L. R. Corp. 133 Mass. 185, 188, it appeared that a railroad company had statutory authority to cross a certain highway with its road. The statute provided that if the railroad crossed any highway it should be so constructed as not to impede or obstruct the safe and convenient use of the highway. And one of the contentions of the company was that the statute limited its duty and obligation to provide for the wants of travelers at the time it exercised the privilege granted to it. The court said: 'The legislature intended to provide against any obstruction of the safe and convenient use of the highway for all time; and if, by the increase of population in the neighborhood, or by an increasing use of the highway, the crossing, which, at the outset, was adequate, is no longer so, it is the duty of the railroad corporation to make such alteration as will meet the present needs of the public who have occasion to use the highway.' In Lake Erie & W. R. Co. v. Cluggish, 143 Ind. 347, 42 N. E. 743, the court said (quoting from Lake Erie & W. R. Co. v. Smith, 61 Fed. 885): 'The duty of a railroad to restore a stream or highway way which is crossed by the line of its road is a continuing duty; and if, by the increase of population or other causes, the crossing becomes inadequate to meet the new and altered conditions of the country, it is the duty of the railroad to make such alterations as will meet the present needs of the public.' So, in Indiana ex rel. Muncie v. Lake Erie & W. R. Co. 83 Fed. 284, 287, which was the case of an overhead crossing lawfully constructed on one of the streets of a city, the court said: 'If, by the growth of population or otherwise, the crossing has become inadequate to meet the present needs of the public, it is the duty of the railroad company to remedy the defect by restoring the crossing so that it will not unnecessarily impair the usefulness of the highway." Some stress was laid in argument upon the fact that compliance with the order of the Secretary of War will compel the Bridge Company to make a very large expenditure in money. But that consideration cannot affect the decision of the questions of constitutional law involved. It is one to be addressed to the legislative branch of the government. It is for Congress to determine whether, under the circumstances of a particular case, justice requires that compensation be made to a person or corporation incidentally suffering from the exercise by the national government of its constitutional powers.
FEDERAL RADIO COMMISSION v. NELSON BROS. BOND & MORTGAGE CO. (Station WIBO). SAME v. NORTH SHORE CHURCH (Station WPCC). FEDERAL RADIO COMMISSION et al. (Station WJKS) v. NELSON BROS. BOND & MORTGAGE CO. (Station WIBO). SAME v. NORTH SHORE CHURCH (Station WPCC).
DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA, & WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
SOUTHERN PAC. CO. et al. v. OLYMPIAN DREDGING CO.
CINCINNATI, INDIANAPOLIS, & WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. CITY OF CONNERSVILLE.
LOUISVILLE BRIDGE COMPANY, Appt., v. UNITED STATES.

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