Charles Evans Hughes

“ Petitioners' argument in substance is that while the United States was powerless as against the state to pass title to tidelands in the absence of a survey (Pollard v. Hagan, supra) , the question whether or not the land was tideland would be foreclosed by a departmental survey although erroneous. This contention encounters the principle that the question of jurisdiction, that is, of the competency of the Department to act upon the subject-matter, is always one for judicial determination. ”

“ The range of the tide at times of new moon and full moon 'is greater than the average,' as 'high water then rises higher and low water falls lower than usual.' The tides at such times are called 'spring tides.' When the moon is in its first and third quarters, 'the tide does not rise as high nor fall as low as on the average.' At such times the tides are known as 'neap tides.' 'Tidal Datum Plane,' U.S.C.oast and Geodetic Survey, Special Publication No. ”

“ The rights of the pueblo 'were dependent upon Mexican laws, and when Mexico established those laws she was the owner of tidelands as well as uplands, and could have placed the boundaries of her pueblos wherever she thought proper.' It was for the United States to ascertain those boundaries when fixing the limits of the claim of the city as successor to the pueblo. ”

“ But that conclusion was not sufficient to meet the plaintiffs' claim under the state grant, unless it could be held that title to the land had not passed to the state. Upon that question the court found that the case of San Francisco v. ”