Report of the Joint Standing Committee on Boston Harbor, for the Year 1852 |
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action appointed appropriation authorized Bark basin beach Boston Harbor Boston Marine Society Brewster Brewster Island cause changes Charles River Charles River Bridge Charlestown Chelsea City Council city of Boston commerce Committee Commonwealth corner Court Creek depth East Boston easterly effect encroachments Engineer erected established examination excavation extend feet filling Fore Point Channel Gallop's Island George's Island Government grant Harbor Commissioners harbor lines harbor of Boston high water importance improvements increase injury inner harbor interest islands and headlands land legislative Legislature Lovell's Island low water mark lower harbor main channel marsh Mayor ment Mystic River Narrows navigation opinion ordinance passage passed petition portion present preservation proper purpose reference regard resolve riparian proprietor scouring sea wall Ship shoals shore side soil South Bay South Boston flats survey tidal tide waters tide-water tion vessels West Boston Bridge wharves
Popular passages
Page 8 - ... all creeks, coves, and other places about and upon salt water, where the sea ebbs and flows, the proprietor of the land adjoining, shall have propriety to the low water mark, where the sea doth not ebb above a hundred rods, and not more wheresoever it ebbs further, provided, that such proprietor shall not by this liberty have power to stop or hinder the passage of boats or other vessels in or through any sea, creeks or coves to other men's houses or lands.
Page 8 - The which clearly to determine, it is declared that in all creeks, coves, and other places about and upon salt water, where the sea ebbs and flows, the proprietor of the land adjoining, shall have propriety to the low water mark, where the sea doth not ebb above a hundred rods, and not more wheresoever it ebbs further...
Page 60 - Wherever there is a general right on the part of the public, and a general duty on the part of a land-owner or any other person to respect such right, we think it is competent for the legislature, by a specific enactment, to prescribe a precise, practical rule for declaring, establishing, and securing such right, and enforcing respect for it.
Page 4 - ... guilty of a felony, punishable by a fine not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars...
Page 26 - Without hazarding an opinion upon any other question, we think that a law prohibiting an owner from removing the soil composing a natural embankment to a valuable, navigable stream, port, or harbor, is not such a taking, such an interference with the right and title of the owner, as to give him a constitutional right to compensation, and to render an act unconstitutional which makes no such provision, but is a just restraint of an injurious use of the property, which the legislature have the authority...
Page 4 - Boston, belonging to the Commonwealth, erect or cause to be erected any wharf or pier, or begin to erect any wharf or pier therein, or place any stones, wood, or other materials in said harbor, or dig down or remove any of the land covered with water at low tide, in...
Page 47 - ... shore of all creeks, coves and other places upon the salt water where the sea ebbs and flows to the proprietors of the upland, giving to them in fee the property of the soil to lowwater mark not exceeding one hundred rods. But by this grant those who acquired this property were restricted from such use of it as would impair the public right of passing over the water in boats, and other vessels through any sea, creeks or coves, to other men's houses or lands.
Page 26 - ... to compensation, and to render an act unconstitutional which makes no such provision, but is a just restraint of an injurious use of the property, which the Legislature have authority to make." The reference to Plymouth Beach in this opinion, above noted, is significant in that the opinion says : " In consequence of cutting away the wood upon it or from some other cause, it was washed away and broken through by the wind and sea, and the navigation was in danger of being wholly destroyed.
Page 58 - ... to inquire whether it was competent for the legislature to pass the acts establishing the lines of the harbor and what was the legal effect of those acts.