this board, at the wharf of the Providence and Worcester Railroad Company, on South Water street, below James street, in Providence. No. 97. July 25, to the Narragansett Electric Light Company, to drive piles and build a bridge wharf at their wharf on the west side of Providence river, between Elm and South streets. No. 98. October 1, to the Providence Gas Company, to make a change in the coal elevator at their west station at the foot of Butts street, on the west side of Providence river, and to drive a pile there. No. 99. November 22, to the Providence Institution for Savings, to drive piles and repair their wharf on South Water street, between Dollar and Dime streets, on the east side of Providence river. No. 100. November 26, to Henry C. Clark, to drive piles and repair his wharf at the Dorrance street dock on the west side of Providence river. No. 101. December 27, to George E. Newell, to rebuild wharf wall on the estate of Smith Grant & Company, in the city of Pawtucket. Assent has been given as follows: 1. May 23, to George B. Burton, to drive two test piles near Red Bridge, on the east side of Pawtucket river. 2. September 12, to the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, to extend their wharf in Bristol, eighty feet towards the channel. 3. October 24, to the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad Company, to close the draw-way to their bridge over Warwick cove near Oakland Beach, in the town of Warwick, from November 10 to January 1, 1889. INCREASE IN AREA OF JURISDICTION. An act was passed by the General Assembly, March 20, 1888, being Chapter 675 of the Public Laws, by which the portion of Washington County, not already covered, was placed under the jurisdiction of the Harbor Commissioners. The only territory now exempt is immediately bordering on the towns in the County of Newport and the harbors in said county. FILLING THE COVE BASIN IN PROVIDENCE. The Commissioners were cited to appear before the Supreme Court on the first of October to answer as defendants in the suit of Wm. G. R. Mowry, et al., to prevent the filling of the Cove Basin. Hearings have been given to counsel and to citizens in relation to the same. A communication was received from Maj. William R. Livermore, U. S. Engineers, in charge of Rhode Island waters, enclosing copies of petitions which had been sent from Rhode Island citizens to the Secretary of War, remonstrating against the filling of the Cove. The Commissioners have not taken any active part in this matter but have expressed their views upon the subject as occasion seemed to require. Acting under the advice of the Attorney General they signed affidavits to the effect that they did not desire delay in action in the matter, and they favored the filing of a demurrer. CONGRESSIONAL CONTROL OF HARBOR LINES AND BRIDGES. Among the powers conferred upon Congress by the Constitution is that to regulate commerce, which includes, undoubtedly, the power to regulate navigation and control the use of, and prevent obstruction in, the public navigable waters. But such power, whatever its extent, has been but little exercised. It seems to have been the practice rather, to allow the states to exercise such control as they might choose and simply withdraw appropriations for improvements where the officers of the United States considered the interference with navigation to be too great. Recently, however, a more active interest is taken in the matter of obstructions, and the River and Harbor Act of August 11, 1888, contains important sections in relation thereto. SECTION 9. Whenever the Secretary of War shall have good reason to believe that any railroad or other bridge now constructed, or which may hereafter be constructed, over any of the navigable water-ways of the United States, is an obstruction to the free navigation of such waters by reason of insufficient height, width of span or otherwise, or where there is difficulty in passing the draw-opening or the raft-space of such bridge by rafts, steamboats or other water craft, it shall be the duty of the said Secretary to give notice to the persons or corpora tions owning or controlling such bridge, to so alter the same as to render navigation through or under it free, easy and unobstructed; and, in giving such notice he shall prescribe in each case a reasonable time in which such alteration is to be made. If, at the end of such time, the alteration has not been made, the Secretary of War shall forthwith apprise the Attorney-General of the United States, whose duty it shall be to institute suit, in the name of the United States, without delay, in the circuit or district court of the United States for the circuit in which such bridge is located, which court is hereby invested with jurisdiction for this purpose, to recover from the owners or managers of such bridge the fines mentioned in the succeeding section of this act. SECTION 10. The owner or owners, or manager or managers, of any railroad or other bridge, obstructing the free navigation of any navigable water-way of the United States, who shall willfully fail or refuse to remove the same, or to cause the necessary alterations to be made in the same so as to render navigation through or under it free, easy and unobstructed to rafts, steamboats or other water-craft, after receiving notice to that effect from the Secretary of War and within the time prescribed by him, shall be subject to a fine as penalty therefor of five hundred dollars per month for the time he or they are in default, and the amount so recovered shall be placed to the credit of the improvement fund of the water-way obstructed by such bridge. The railroad bridge at India Point has been the subject of complaint by officers of the U. S. Engineer Department, as well as by citizens of Pawtucket. The above-named Act of August 11, 1888, contains the following section: SECTION 12. When it is made manifest to the Secretary of War that the establishment of harbor lines is essential to the preservation and protection of harbors, he may and is hereby authorized to cause such lines to be established, beyond which no piers or wharves shall be extended or deposits made except under such regulations as may be prescribed from time to time by him. It is probable that the purpose of this provision is to secure the establishment of harbor lines where none now exist. But the power of the Secretary of War may, possibly, be extended over such lines as have been established by the State for the purpose of modifying them. There seems to be good reason for a certain amount of control by the State in such matters, and it is to be hoped that the officers representing the State and Congress, respectively, will be able to work in harmony with each other. The commissioners fully believe that this will be so for the present at least. WORK UNDER U. S. ENGINEER. By the courtesy of Major William R. Livermore, Corps of Engineers we have been furnished with a copy of his report to the Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., for 1888, upon the work of which he is now in charge, from which we have made extracts in relation to the work in Rhode Island waters previous to July, 1888, which will be found in the Appendix. Major Livermore has also kindly called attention to other matters and to his work in Rhode Island waters to the last of December. His communication will also be found in the Appendix. Respectfully submitted, J. HERBERT SHEDD, WILLIAM C. CLARKE, Harbor. Commissioners. |