Starin v. Mayor Etc of the City of New York Independent Steam-Boat Company

by Morrison Waite

United States Supreme Court

115 U.S. 248

Starin  v.  Mayor Etc of the City of New York Independent Steam-Boat Company

 Argued: November 2, 1885. --- Decided: by the defendants, or any or either of them, for such transportation Both Manhattan island and Staten island are in the state of New York The cause of action as stated in the complaint is that the city, under its charter granted originally January 15, 1730, by the province of New York, and since confirmed by the state of New York, has the exclusive right of establishing ferries from Manhattan island to the opposite shores, in such and so many places as the common council may think fit; that the defendants, without the permission of the city, have set up and are maintaining a ferry between Manhattan island and certain landing places on Staten island, and for that purpose employ the boats above named; that the defendant Starin is the owner of the Castleton and the D R Martin, and the person chiefly interested in Starin's City, River & Harbor Transportation Company, of New York, which owns the Laura M Starin, and in the New York & Staten Island Steam-boat Company, which owns the Pomona; that while the business in done in the name of the Independent Steam-boat Company, that company was organized and incorporated through his instrumentality and in his interest, and is composed of but three persons, all of whom are in his employ and under his control; that the incorporation of the company was a device for his own personal benefit; and that he is in fact the person actually operating the ferry The certificate of incorporation, a copy of which is attached to the complaint, shows that the company was organized under the laws of New Jersey, July 26, 1884, with a capital of $5,000, divided into 500 shares of $10 each, all owned by three persons, for the transportation of persons and property upon water as common carriers for hire; that the principal part of the business of the company in New Jersey was to be transacted in Jersey City; and that the business out of that state was to be done in the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and the several villages, landing-places, cities, and towns on the Hudson river, Staten island, and Long island, in New York, accessible by water

The defendants Starin, Independent Steam-boat Company, Starin's City, River & Harbor Transportation Company, and New York & Staten Island Steam-boat Company each filed a separate answer to the complaint. All the other defendants, who are the masters or pilots or engineers employed in running the several boats, united in one answer. The answers all contain substantially the same defenses. They admit the ownership of the boats, as set forth in the complaint, except that it is alleged the Castleton belongs to the New York & Staten Island Steam-boat Company instead of Starin. They admit the charter of the city, with words purporting to grant certain rights as to the establishment of ferries from Manhattan island to the opposite shores, but deny that this grant extends to ferries between New York and that part of Staten island which borders upon the Kill von Kull. They admit that the several boats mentioned in the complaint were run at stated times by the Independent Steam-boat Company, under the management of the masters and engineers, without the license or permission of the city, for the transportation of persons and property between pier 18, North river, which is on Manhattan island, and certain landing places on the shore of Staten island, making daily 14 trips, or thereabouts, but they deny that in so doing the company either operated a ferry or usurped any franchise belonging to the city. They also deny the allegations in the complaint as to the connection of the defendant Starin with the Independent Steam-boat Company, and deny that Starin is the person who is actually operating the boats.

The answers then allege, 'as a matter of special defense under the laws of the United States:' (1) That the Independent Steam-boat Company is a corporation, organized and incorporated under the laws of New Jersey, for the purpose of transporting persons and property by water, as a common carrier for hire, in and over the waters of the Hudson river, Kill von Kull, Raritan bay, and their tributaries, between places on such waters in New York and New Jersey, including Staten island and Long island, and the cities of New York and Brooklyn; that the company chartered the boats in question from the several owners thereof, and leased wharves and landing places in New York and on the shore of Staten island, bordering on the Kill von Kull, for the purpose of engaging in the business of transportation by water between such wharves and landings. (2) That all the boats in question are enrolled and licensed under the laws of the United States for carrying on the coasting trade, as vessels of the United States, and that the individual defendants described as masters or engineers on the boats are all licensed under the laws of the United States to act as masters or pilots, or as engineers, on steam-vessels upon the waters traversed by the boats in question. (3) That for a number of years, terminating in 1874, steam-boats similar to those operated by the company, and doing a transportation business similar to that in which the company is engaged, had been, without any license or permission from the city, navigated from pier 18, New York, to the landing places on Staten island made use of by the company, and back; that large sums were realized therefrom; and that since 1874 this business has greatly increased. (4) That the waters of the Hudson river or bay of New York and the Kill von Kull are waters of the United States, and public and common highways of interstate and international commerce; that the steam-boats, as operated by the company, do not constitute a ferry within the meaning of the laws of the United States, or of the state of New York, or of the city charter, but that the city seeks, under the cover of its charter, and by this suit, to establish in itself, as and for a monopoly, and as private property, the ownership of all rights to carry on commercial intercourse, consisting in the daily or regular interchange or transportation of passengers and property between Manhattan and Staten islands, over such waters, and to obstruct the navigation of such waters, although carried on by citizens of the United States in steam-vessels duly enrolled and licensed under the laws of the United States, and navigated by masters, pilots, and engineers duly licensed under the laws of the United States, thus practically nullifying the laws of the United States regulating commerce and navigation.

After the answers were filed two petitions were presented for a removal of the suit to the circuit court,-one by all the defendants, on the ground that the suit was one arising under the constitution and laws of the United States; and the other by the Independent Steam-boat Company alone, on the ground that there was in the suit a controversy wholly between that company and the city as to whether the company 'had or had not the right to use and operate its steam-boats' in the way contended for, and that this controversy could be fully determined between them. A copy of the record in the state court having been filed in the circuit court of the United States, that court remanded the cause, and thereupon these appeals were taken,-one by all the defendants, and the other by the Independent Steam-boat Company alone. The two appeals were docketed in this court separately.

Roscoe Conkling and Charles McNamee, for appellants.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 252-256 intentionally omitted]

W. W. MacFarland, for appellees.

WAITE, C. J.

Notes