Harold Hitz Burton

“ Obviously, this question, as all others which run along the line of the extent of the protection the individual has under the constitution against the demands of the government, is of importance, for in any society the fullness and sufficiency of the securities which surround the individual in the use and enjoyment of his property constitute one of the most certain tests of the character and value of the government. ”

“ The location of land is always a factor, and often a primary factor, in determining its market value. Every public utility exercising the right of eminent domain is required to pay it.
Before passage of the Water Power Act, 16 U.S.C.A. § 791a et seq., the paramount, but unexercised, right of the Government to control the water power in the Savannah River did not exclude the development of that river under state control. ”

“ The highest and most profitable use for which the property is adaptable and needed or likely to be needed in the reasonably near future is to be considered, not necessarily as the measure of value, but to the full extent that the prospect of demand for such use affects the market value while the property is privately held. ”

“ This issue has confronted the United States ever since it proposed to construct a multipurpose dam across the Savannah River, and found it necessary to acquire privately owned land on which to locate its Clark Hill dam, plant and reservoir. Part of the needed land lay in South Carolina on the north bank of the river and the remainder on its south bank in Georgia. Of the 70,000 or more acres thus required, about 4,700, at the heart of the project, are the ones before us. Those in South Carolina are owned by the Twin City Power Company, a South Carolina corporation. ”

“ The Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers of the United States approved those plans. The land before us included an excellent dam site where the river narrowed to 900 feet. At appropriate points, the land included sound foundation rock and much clay suitable for earth dam purposes. The stream flow at Price's Island exceeded that of most hydro developments in North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia. At all material times, there has been an ample and growing market for the electrical energy to be produced. ”

“ They are 'additional values' allowed for the location, special suitability and availability of the riparian land for use in connection with the recognized future public use of the area. In fact, the uses for which the allowances are made are of the very same type as that for which the land has been condemned. There is no allowance for strategic or 'hold-up' value. The Chandler case thus supplies specific authority for the decision of the lower courts in the instant case. ”

“ This contrasts with the $267.02 per acre, and a total 'just compensation' of $1,257,033.20, approved by the Commissioners and the courts below.↑ The allowances of value are here discussed in the following order: (1) for water rights; (2) for value of land for canal and lock purposes; (3) for value of land for general purposes; and (4) for value of land for factory sites contingent upon availability of surplus privately developed electric power. In the text of the Chandler case, 229 U.S. at pages 74-75, 33 S.Ct. ”

“ Shoemaker v. United States, 147 U.S. 282, 13 S.Ct. 361, 37 L.Ed. 170; Young v. Harrison, 17 Ga. 30; Alloway v. Nashville, 88 Tenn. 510, 13 S.W. 123, 8 L.R.A. 123; Sargent v. Merrimac, 196 Mass. 171, 81 N.E. 970, 11 L.R.A., N.S., 996.' (Emphasis supplied.) Id., 229 U.S. at pages 76-77, 33 S.Ct. at page 677.
Justice Lurton then reviewed and quoted at length from the opinions in Mississippi & R.R. Boom Co. v. Patterson, supra, and Shoemaker v. United States, supra. ”