State v. Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad

Citations

• 94 Ohio St. 61
• 113 N.E. 677
• 1916 Ohio LEXIS 164

Syllabus

<p>Navigable waters — Control and power of federal government — Title to and rights in subaqueous soil under Lake Brie — Title in state as trustee — Control by state of harbor within harbor lines — Littoral owner may wharf out, when — Rights of state, public and littoral owners.</p> <p>1. Under the constitutional grant of authority to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, the United States government has paramount control of navigable waters and power to establish therein harbor lines and regulations.</p> <p>2. The title and rights of littoral and riparian proprietors in the subaqueous soil of navigable waters, within the limits of a state, are governed by the laws of the state, subject to the superior authority of the federal government.</p> <p>3. The title of the land under the waters of Lake Erie within the limits of the state of Ohio, is in the state as trustee for the benefit of the people, for the public uses to which it may be adapted.</p> <p>4. The state has control of a harbor within a harbor line and may enact legislation prescribing regulations in connection therewith and to secure the rights of the public, provided it does not conflict with the regulations of the federal government.</p> <p>5. The littoral owner is entitled to access to navigable water on the front of which his land lies, and, subject to regulation and control by the federal and state governments, has, for purposes of navigation, the right to wharf out to navigable water.</p> <p>6. The ownership of the waters of Lake Erie and of the land under them within the state is a matter of public concern. The .trust with which they are held is governmental, and the state, as trustee for the people, cannot by acquiescence or otherwise abandon the trust property or permit a diversion of it to private uses different from the object for which the trust was created. The littoral owner is charged with knowledge that nothing can be done by him that will destroy the rights of the public in the trust es