Opinion of the Court.

gress admitting Kentucky into the Union, which the court held to be violated by authorizing the bridge to be constructed in the manner it was; and the bridge, so constructed, injuriously affected a supra-riparian State (Pennsylvania) bordering on the river, contrary to international law. Mr. Justice Grier, in The Passaic Bridge Cases, disposes of The Wheeling Bridge Case as follows: "This legislation of Virginia being pleaded as a bar to further action of the court in the case, necessarily raised these questions: Could Virginia license or authorize a nuisance on a public river, flowing, which rose in Pennsylvania, and passed along the border of Virginia, and which, by compact between the States, was declared to be 'free and common to all the citizens of the United States'? If Virginia could authorize any obstruction at all to the channel navigation, she could stop it altogether, and divert the whole commerce of that great river from the State of Pennsylvania, and compel it to seek its outlet by the railroads and other public improvements of Virginia. If she had the sovereign right over this boundary river claimed by her, there would be no measure to her power. She would have the same right to stop its navigation altogether as to stop it ten days in a year. If the plea was admitted, Virginia could make Wheeling the head of navigation on the Ohio, and Kentucky might do the same at Louisville, having the same right over the whole river which Virginia can claim. This plea, therefore, presented not only a great question of international law, but whether rights secured to the people of the United States by compact made before the Constitution, were held at the mercy or caprice of every or any of the States to which the river was a boundary. The decision of the court denied this right. The plea being insufficient as a defence, of course the complainant was entitled to a decree prostrating the bridge, which had been erected pendente lite. But to mitigate the apparent hardship of such a decree, if executed unconditionally, the court, in the exercise of a merciful discretion, granted a stay of execution on condition that the bridge should be raised to a certain height, or have a draw put in it which would permit boats to pass at all stages of the navigation. From this mod

Opinion of the Court.

ification of the decree no inference can be drawn that the courts of the United States claim authority to regulate bridges below ports of entry, and treat all state legislation in such cases as unconstitutional and void. It is evident, from this statement," continues Justice Grier, "that the Supreme Court, in denying the right of Virginia to exercise this absolute control over the Ohio River, and in deciding that, as a riparian proprietor, she was not entitled, either by the compact or by constitutional law, to obstruct the commerce of a supra-riparian State, had before them questions not involved in these cases," [the Passaic bridges,]" and which cannot affect their decision. The Passaic River, though navigable for a few miles within the State of New Jersey, and therefore a public river, belongs wholly to that State. It is no highway to other States; no commerce passes thereon from States below the bridge to States above." 3 Wall. 792.

This exposition of The Wheeling Bridge Case, by one who had taken a decided part in its discussion and determination, effectually disposes of it as a precedent for the jurisdiction of the Circuit Courts of the United States in matters pertaining to bridges erected over navigable rivers, at least those erected over rivers whose course is wholly within a single State. The Willamette River is one of that description.

On the whole, our opinion is, that the original suit in this case was not a suit arising under any law of the United States; and since, on such ground alone, the court below could have had jurisdiction of it, it follows that the decree on the bill of review must be

Reversed, and the record remanded with instructions to reverse the decree in the original suit, and to dismiss the bill filed therein, without prejudice to any other proceeding which may be taken in relation to the erection of said bridge, not inconsistent with this opinion.

VOL. CXXV-2

Statement of the Case.

NEW ORLEANS WATERWORKS COMPANY v. LOUISIANA SUGAR REFINING COMPANY.

ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA.

No. 38. Argued October 26, 27, 1887.- Decided March 19, 1888.

The opinion of the Supreme Court of Louisiana is strictly part of the record, and is so considered on writ of error from this court.

The provision of the Constitution of the United States, which declares that no State shall pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts, is aimed at the legislative power of the State, and not at decisions of its courts, or acts of executive or administrative boards or officers, or doings of corporations or individuals.

This court has no jurisdiction of a writ of error to the highest court of a State, on the ground that the obligation of a contract has been impaired, unless some legislative act of the State is upheld by the judgment sought to be reviewed; and when the state court gives no effect to a law of the State subsequent to the contract, but holds, upon grounds independent of that law, that the right claimed was not conferred by the contract, the writ of error must be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. The legislature of Louisiana in 1877 having granted to a corporation the exclusive right of constructing waterworks to supply the city of New Orleans and its inhabitants with water, provided that nothing in this charter should prevent the city council from granting to any person, contiguous to the Mississippi River, permission to lay water pipes exclusively for its own use, an ordinance of the city council in 1883, granting such permission to a corporation whose property is separated from the river by a street and a broad quay or levee owned by the city, is but a license from the city council exercising an administrative power, and not a law of the State; and if the highest court of the State, in a suit between the waterworks company and the licensee, gives judgment for the latter, upon the construction and effect of the charter and the license, and not because of the provision of the state constitution of 1879 abolishing monopolies, this court has no jurisdiction on writ of error, although the question whether the licensee's property was contiguous to the river was in controversy,

THIS was a petition, filed March 30, 1883, in the Civil District Court for the Parish of New Orleans, by the New Orleans Waterworks Company against the Louisiana Sugar Refining Company and the City of New Orleans, to restrain the laying of water pipes from the factory of the Louisiana Sugar Refining Company through the streets and thorough

Statement of the Case.

fares of the city to the Mississippi River. The allegations of the petition are in substance as follows:

That the legislature of Louisiana, by an act of April 1, 1833, chartering the Commercial Bank of New Orleans, declared the chief object of that corporation to be "the conveying of water from the river into the city of New Orleans and its faubourgs, and into the houses of its inhabitants;" and enacted that it should "have forever the exclusive privilege, from and after the passing of this act, of supplying the city and inhabitants of New Orleans and its faubourgs with water from the river Mississippi, by means of pipes or conduits," and the right to construct the necessary works for that purpose; and provided that its works, rights and privileges might be purchased by the city of New Orleans at any time after thirty-five years from the passage of the act.

That in 1869 the city of New Orleans purchased the same accordingly, and took charge of and used the works for the purpose of supplying the city and its inhabitants with water.

That the act of the legislature of Louisiana of March 31, 1877, incorporating the plaintiff, contained the following provisions:

SEC. 2. "That immediately after the organization of the said Waterworks Company, as hereinafter provided, it shall be required to issue to the city of New Orleans stock to the amount of six hundred and six thousand six hundred dollars, as full paid, and not subject to assessment; and in addition thereto, one similar share for every one hundred dollars of waterworks bonds which said city may have taken up heretofore and extinguished by payment, exchange or otherwise; and that the residue of said capital stock shall be reserved for the benefit of all holders of waterworks bonds, to the extent of the amount now outstanding, who may elect to avail themselves of the provisions of this act."

SEC. 5. "That the said Waterworks Company shall own and possess the privileges acquired by the city of New Orleans. from the Commercial Bank; that it shall have for fifty years from the passage of this act the exclusive privilege of supplying the city of New Orleans and its inhabitants with water

Statement of the Case.

from the Mississippi River, or any other stream or river, by means of pipes and conduits, and for erecting or constructing any necessary works or engines or machines for that purpose;' and have authority "to lay and place any number of conduits or pipes or aqueducts, and to cleanse and repair the same, through or over any of the lands or streets of the city of New Orleans; provided the same shall not be an obstruction to commerce or free circulation."

SEC. 11. "That the city of New Orleans shall be allowed to use water from the pipes and plugs of said company now laid, or hereafter to be laid, free of any charge, for the extinguishment of fires, cleansing of the streets, and for the use of all public buildings, public markets and charitable institutions."

SEC. 17. That "at the expiration of fifty years from the organization of the company, the city shall have the right to buy the works, conduits, pipes, etc., of the company, at a valuation to be fixed by five experts;" "but should the city neglect or refuse to purchase said works, etc., as above provided, the charter of the company shall be ipso facto extended for fifty years longer, but without any exclusive privilege or right to supply water, according to the provisions of the charter."

SEC. 18. "That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent the city council from granting to any person or persons, contiguous to the river, the privilege of laying pipes to the river, exclusively for his own or their own use."

That on April 9, 1878, the city transferred the waterworks and franchises aforesaid to the plaintiff.

That "since said transfer the petitioner has faithfully discharged the trust imposed on it, and complied with all its obligations; that, by virtue of the aforesaid exclusive privilege thus conferred upon it by the aforesaid charters, statutes and acts of transfer, the city of New Orleans cannot grant to any one the privilege of laying pipes to the river to convey water within her limits, without a flagrant violation of the aforesaid contracts and a breach of warranty, with the exception, however, of such privilege or facility as said city may think it expedient to extend to riparian owners of property lying contiguous to said river."