2 Iowa 524 | Iowa | 1856
The defendant claims, first, an exclusive right to ferry at that place; second, at least, a right to ferry both ways; or third, a right to transport the mail coaches, with the passengers therein.
The grant of a franchise by the state, cannot extend beyond her own limits. She grants such rights as she may lawfully give, and no more; nothing beyond the state limits is contemplated. This is true of grants of a territorial nature, at least; or of those to be exercised on given ground. A ferry is mainly in respect to the landing, not of the water; therefore, this state could not grant a ferry right which should operate on the Wisconsin shore. The right to land there, does not depend on the ferry franchise granted by Iowa, and still less does a ferry right, under the authority of Iowa, authorize the person licensed, to transport passengers from that side to this. That power belongs to Wisconsin.
So, on the other hand, a similar grant by Wisconsin, gives no authority on the Iowa shore ; and it gives no right to transport from the Iowa side. Ross v. Page, 6-7 Ohio, 76; Somerville v. Wimbish, 7 Grat. 205, 230; Memplus v. Overton, 3 Yerg. 387; Story’s Confl. L. § 20. The defendant, therefore, had not an exclusive right to ferry at the place named; nor has he, by virtue of his Wisconsin license, a right to ferry from the Iowg, shore.
But the defendant contends, that the plaintiff’s license is not valid, for that it is contrary to the statute of 1843, which enacts that no license shall be granted to keep a ferry on said Mississippi river, within two miles of any other licensed or chartered ferry. Rev. Stat. 267. He claims that as his
The only other question is, whether the case is changed by the fact, that the defendant was a carrier of the mail, and was transporting the mail coach and the passengers. We understand the case to mean, that he was a contractor to carry the mail from Dubuque to Potosí, or beyond that. Any person has the right to transport himself over the river, in his own boat, although there may be a ferry at the same place. So, also, may he do with his own horse, or other team, and his carriage. But, if he makes this a cover for carrying travelers, it then becomes an infringement of the ferry right. And it would hardly seem, that the essence of the matter, consisted in taking pay or toll; for then, one vindictively disposed, might be willing to make a sacrifice, for the sake of ruining the franchise of another. This every one has seen practiced, in one form or another. The defendant, in the same manner, might transport his teams and coaches. But this right does not depend upon his being the holder of a ferry license, nor upon his being the carrier of the mail. He has the right, independently of these facts; but when he makes these private or individual rights, the medium or the cover of conveying travelers, whose custom legally belongs to the plaintiff, he cannot sustain his position, any more than another individual who does the same thing, under any other pretence. The copy of the defendant’s license in the bill of exceptions, is accompanied by a
The judgment of the District Court is affirmed.