Edward Douglass White

“ The basis of the assumed Federal right rests upon the plainly erroneous assumption that the act of 1899 was intended to or did operate to paralyze all state power concerning structures of every character in navigable waters within their borders, and to destroy automatically all vested rights of property in such works, even although acquired prior to the act of 1899, under the sanction of state authority. ”

“ Gring, upon the theory that Federal questions were wrongly decided against him, seeks the reversal of a judgment for $300, damages occasioned by the running of a tugboat, of which he was the owner, against a marine railway, the property of the defendants in error, who were plaintiffs below. The railway was situated on the shore of the Pasquotank river in the harbor of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The injury to the railway was committed on the night of December 24, 1905. ”