Weems Steamboat Co. of Baltimore v. People's Steamboat Co.

Citations

• 214 U.S. 345
• 29 S. Ct. 661
• 53 L. Ed. 1024
• 1909 U.S. LEXIS 1923

Syllabus

<p>A wharf on a navigable stream is private property and subject to the absolute control of the owner as other property is.</p> <p>The rights of a riparian owner on a navigable stream are governed by the law of the State in which the stream is situated, but subject to the paramount public right of navigation.</p> <p>One of the rights of a riparian proprietor is to build private wharves out so as to reach the navigable waters of the stream, and this right has been affirmed by the courts of Virginia; but a wharf obstructing navigation or private rights of others or encroaching upon any public landing may be abated.</p> <p>A private wharf on a navigable stream is the exclusive property of the owner of which he can only be deprived in accordance with established law, and, if taken for public use, on compensation being made.</p> <p>A private wharf on a navigable stream is not held by the owner, as a railroad is, subject to the public use, and a third person has no right to demand its use even on tendering compensation therefor and even though there may be no other wharf at the place. Munn v. Illinois, 94 U. S. 113, distinguished. Louisville & Nashville Railway Co. v. West Coast Naval Stores Co., 198 U. S. 483, followed.</p> <p>The public obtains no adverse right against the owner of a private wharf by mere user; in the absence of an intent on the owner’s part to dedicate, and an acceptance by the public authority, the use is mere license subject to withdrawal.</p> <p>The remarks of Mr. Justice Bradley in Transportation Co. v. Parkersburg, 107 U. S. 691, as to the right of the owner of a private wharf to make arbitrary charges are obiter and are not applicable to the present case.</p> <p>141 Fed. Bep. 454, and judgment of Circuit Court of Appeals, affirming it, reversed.</p>