State ex rel. Ellis v. Gerbing

Citations

• 56 Fla. 603

Syllabus

<p>1. The navigable waters in the State and the lands under such waters including the shore or spaces between ordinary high and low water marks, are the property of the State or of the people of the State in their united or sovereign capacity. Such lands are not held for purposes of sale or conversion into other values, or for reduction into several or individual ownership, but for the use of all the people of the State for purposes of naviga- . tion, commerce, fishing and other useful purposes afforded by the waters thereon. »</p> <p>2. The title to lands under navigable waters in the State including the shore or space between high and low wafer marks is -held by the State in trust for the use of its inhabitants, such title being _ essential to the sovereignty of the State, to the proper exercise of the police power and to the welfare of the people of the State.</p> <p>3. The State may in the interest of the public welfare, make limited disposition of portions of the lands under navigable waters within its borders, or may permit the use thereof, when the rights of the whole people of the State as to navigation and other uses of the waters are not materially impaired.</p> <p>4. The State cannot abdicate general control over the lands under navigable waters within the State, since such abdication would be inconsistent with the implied legal duty of the State to preserve and control such lands and the waters thereon and the use of them for the public good.</p> <p>5. The rights of the people of the State in the navigable'waters and the lands thereunder including the shores or spaces between ordinary high and low water marks, are designed for the public welfare, and the State may regulate such rights and the uses of the waters and the lands thereunder for the benefit of the ' whole people of the State as circumstances may demand, subject of course to the powers of Congress in the premises.</p> <p>6. For the purpose of aiding navigation or commerce, or of encouraging new