Steamboat New World v. King/Dissent Daniel

Mr. Justice DANIEL.

From the opinion of the majority of the judges in this case I dissent.

That the appellee in this case has sustained a serious injury cannot, consistently with the proofs adduced, be denied, and it is probable that the compensation which has been awarded him may not be more than commensurate with the wrong inflicted upon him, or greater than that for which the appellants were justly responsible. But the only question in my view which this court can properly determine, relates neither to the character nor extent of the injury complained of, nor to the adequacy of the redress which has been decreed. It is a question involving the power of this court to deal with the rights or duties of the parties to this controversy in the attitude in which they are presented to its notice.

This is a proceeding under the admiralty jurisdiction, as vested in the courts of the United States by the Constitution. It is the case of an alleged marine tort. The libel omits to allege that the act constituting the gravamen of the complaint, did not occur either infra corpus comitatus, nor infra fauces terrae. It will hardly be denied that the rule of the admiralty in England, at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, confined the jurisdiction of the admiralty within the limits above referred to, or that the admiralty never had in England general or concurrent jurisdiction with the courts of common law, but was restricted to controversies for the trial of which the pais, or local jury, could not be obtained. Having on a former occasion investigated extensively the origin and extent of the admiralty powers of the federal courts, (see New Jersey Steam Navigation Company v. Merchants Bank, 6 How. 344,) it is not now my purpose to do more than to refer to that examination, and to maintain my own consistency by the reassertion of my adherence to the constitutional principles therein propounded, principles by which I am constrained to deny the jurisdiction of this court and of the Circuit Court, in the case before us.

It is true that the libel in this case alleges the injury to have been committed within the ebb and flow of the tide, but it is obvious that such an allegation does not satisfy the description of an occurrence which to give jurisdiction must be marine or nautical in its character and locality. Although all tides are said to proceed from the action of the moon upon the ocean, it would be a non sequitur should the conclusion be attempted that therefore every river subject to tides was an ocean.

It to my view seems manifest, that an extension of admiralty jurisdiction over all waters affected by the ebb and flow of the tide, would not merely be a violation of settled and venerable authority, but would necessarily result in the most mischievous interference with the common law and internal and police powers of every community. Take one illustration which may be drawn from subjects within our immediate view.

In the small estuary which traverses the avenue leading to this court room, the tides of the Potomac regularly ebb and flow, although upon the receding of the tide this watercourse can be stepped over. Upon the return of the tide there may be seen on this water numerous boys bathing or angling, or passing in canoes. Should a conflict arise amongst these urchins, originating either in collision of canoes or an entangling of fishing lines, or from any similar cause, this would present a case of admiralty jurisdiction fully as legitimate as that which is made by the libel in the case before us. Yet the corporate authorities of Washington would think strangely no doubt of finding themselves, by the exertion of a great national power designed for national purposes, ousted of their power to keep the peace, and to inflict upon rioters within their notorious limits, the discipline of the workhouse.

I am opposed to every assumption of authority by forced implications and constructions. I would construe the Constitution and the statutes by the received acceptation of words in use at the time of their creation, and in obedience to this rule, I feel bound to express my belief that, in the present and in all similar cases, this court has no jurisdiction under the Constitution of the United States.