﻿-534 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  any 
  counterclaim 
  by 
  the 
  State 
  as 
  absolute 
  proprietor. 
  The 
  court 
  

   said 
  : 
  " 
  It 
  is 
  beyond 
  dispute 
  that 
  the 
  State 
  is 
  the 
  absolute 
  owner 
  

   of 
  the 
  navigable 
  rivers 
  within 
  its 
  borders, 
  and 
  that 
  as 
  such 
  owner 
  

   it 
  can 
  dispose 
  of 
  them 
  to 
  the 
  exclusion 
  of 
  the 
  riparian 
  owners." 
  1 
  

   In 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  The 
  People 
  vs. 
  The 
  Canal 
  Appraisers, 
  decided 
  in 
  

   1865, 
  the 
  following 
  points 
  are 
  passed 
  upon 
  affirmatively 
  : 
  

  

  1) 
  The 
  Mohawk 
  river 
  is 
  a 
  navigable 
  stream 
  and 
  the 
  title 
  to 
  

   the 
  bed 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  

  

  2) 
  Riparian 
  owners 
  along 
  the 
  stream 
  are 
  not 
  entitled 
  to 
  dam- 
  

   ages 
  for 
  any 
  diversion 
  or 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  river 
  by 
  

   the 
  State. 
  

  

  3) 
  It 
  seems 
  the 
  common 
  law 
  rules, 
  determining 
  what 
  streams 
  

   are 
  navigable, 
  are 
  not 
  applicable 
  in 
  this 
  country. 
  

  

  This 
  was 
  a 
  proceeding 
  by 
  mandamus, 
  decided 
  by 
  the 
  Supreme 
  

   Court 
  and 
  carried 
  to 
  the 
  Court 
  of 
  Appeals, 
  to 
  compel 
  the 
  Canal 
  

   Appraisers 
  to 
  assess 
  and 
  appraise 
  the 
  damages 
  which 
  one 
  A. 
  

   Loomis 
  had 
  sustained 
  by 
  the 
  diversion 
  of 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  river 
  at 
  

   Little 
  Falls 
  for 
  the 
  purposes 
  of 
  the 
  Erie 
  canal. 
  After 
  a 
  learned 
  

   discussion 
  of 
  the 
  several 
  questions 
  involved, 
  the 
  court 
  held 
  as 
  in 
  

   the 
  foregoing 
  1), 
  2) 
  and 
  3) 
  ; 
  the 
  judgment 
  of 
  the 
  Supreme 
  Court 
  

   was 
  affirmed 
  and 
  the 
  mandamus 
  denied. 
  2 
  

  

  Without 
  discussing 
  the 
  question 
  more 
  elaborately, 
  we 
  may 
  con- 
  

   clude 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  well 
  settled 
  doctrine 
  that 
  the 
  banks 
  to 
  high- 
  water 
  mark 
  

   and 
  the 
  beds 
  and 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  Hudson 
  and 
  Mohawk 
  rivers 
  are 
  

   the 
  property 
  of 
  the 
  (State 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  disposed 
  of 
  as 
  the 
  legislature 
  

   may 
  see 
  fit, 
  and 
  absolutely 
  without 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  rights 
  of 
  

   abutting 
  proprietors. 
  Acting 
  on 
  this 
  view, 
  the 
  Erie 
  and 
  Cham- 
  

   plain 
  canals 
  have 
  taken 
  water 
  supplies 
  from 
  these 
  two 
  rivers 
  and 
  

   payments 
  of 
  damages 
  have 
  never 
  been 
  made 
  to 
  anybody. 
  As 
  re- 
  

   gards 
  the 
  Hudson 
  river, 
  the 
  principle, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  can 
  be 
  learned, 
  

   has 
  never 
  been 
  questioned 
  since 
  the 
  legislature 
  first 
  saliently 
  af- 
  

   firmed 
  it 
  by 
  the 
  enactment 
  of 
  1792. 
  For 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  twelve 
  

   years, 
  the 
  State's 
  right 
  to 
  absolute 
  control 
  of 
  the 
  Hudson 
  river 
  

   has 
  been 
  a 
  fixed 
  fact, 
  alike 
  recognized 
  by 
  the 
  courts, 
  canal 
  officials 
  

   and 
  the 
  owners 
  of 
  abutting 
  lands. 
  

  

  1 
  The 
  People 
  vs. 
  Tibbetts, 
  19 
  N. 
  Y. 
  523. 
  

  

  - 
  The 
  People 
  vs. 
  The 
  Canal 
  Appraisers, 
  33 
  N. 
  Y. 
  461. 
  

  

  