Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 6.djvu/346

 334 FEDERAL REPORTER. �exposition of the effect of federal legislation declaring a nav- igable river forever free and common to the citizena of the United States, upon the otherwise unlimited power of a state to obstruct or impede the navigation thereof within its own limita. And the reasoning upon whieh they rest seems un- answerable. It is self -evident that a river cannot be a com- mon highway, forever free to ail the citizens of the United States, which the legislature of any one state has the power to essentially obstruct. �In a well-considered case cited by the defendant, {The Peo- ple V. S. de R. Ry, Co. 15 Wend. 132,) in which the right to bridge the Hudson river, in pursuance of an act of the state legislature, was under consideration, Mr. Chief Justice Sav- age announced the same conclusion, saying: "The place where * * the bridge is built is one which coasting vessels have a right to pass, and where any obstruction entirely pre- venting or essentially impeding the navigation would be un- lawful." �In comparing the federal and state acta to ascertain if there is any conflict between them, the circumstances of the case— that is, the oharacter and relative importance of the river and the commerce dependent thereon, and the oharacter and need of the bridge and the commerce dependent upon it — must be considered. For, although congress has, in effect, declared the Wallamet river to be forever a "free" and "com- mon highway," yet these terms are used with the implied understanding that the state has the power to bridge it, if it can do so without materially impeding the navigation. What is such an impediment may be a difficult question to decide. It may depend mtich upon circumstances. A bridge of a certain character at a certain place may be of great benefit and convenience to a few people, or some petty local trade or business, but a serious inconvenience or injury to many peo- ple and a valuable and extensive commerce. �The commerce of Oregon, both domestic and foreign, is largely dependent upon the free navigation of the Wallamet river. Steamboats ply upon it most of the year for 100 miles ot more Bonth of Portland. At Portland the tide ebbs and ��� �