Joseph McKenna

“ A claim was made in the circuit court of appeals by the plaintiff in error under § 5 of the act of Congress of July 1, 1864, entitled, 'An Act to Expedite the Settlement of Titles to Lands in the State of California.' 13 Stat. at L. 333, chap. 194. By that section the title of the United States to the lands within the corporate limits of the city of San Francisco was relinquished and granted to the city 'for the uses and purposes' specified in a certain ordinance of the city called the Van Ness ordinance, which ordinance had been ratified by the legislature of the state. ”

“ Bowlby was the grantee of the state of Oregon of the tide lands in front of Shively's property. The grant was sustained. The sovereignty of California and the rights and powers dependent upon it are as complete as those of other states. How has California chosen to exercise them? In other words, What is the law of California as to the title and rights of riparian or littoral proprietors in the soil below highwater mark? ”

“ It is not conceivable that the President, by his order, intended to appropriate so valuable a property without explicit declaration, or to leave the appropriation to result as 'appurtenant' to the rocks. ”