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     Legislative Council Chamber, 
     
     APRIL 23, 1868. 
     
    

    
     “ ESOINI‘JD. That it be recommended to the Govern- 
     
    

    
     li ment to cause the following Report to be printed 
     
    

    
     once in the Rog/(ll Gazette iiOiVSpaper of this Island. 
     
    

    
     and that its further consideration be deferred until next 
     
    

    
     Session. 
     
    
   
   
    
     JOHN BALL, 0. L. c. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Your Committee. to whom was referred two petitions 
     
     touching the right of collecting Sea \Veed on the shores 
     
     of this lslaiid, the one in favor of' the shores being 
     
     thrown open to the. public. the other from persons for 
     
     the niOst part residing on the shore farms. claiming a 
     
     "just and legal” right to “ the sea Weed cast up and 
     
     lodged tinder ” their shores. 
     
    

    
     As the question raised by the Petitioners inwflves so 
     
     materially the rights of property, and there does not 
     
     appear to your committee to have been in this country 
     
     any judicial decision on the pure question of the right 
     
     of the public to this production of the sea. in cases where 
     
     the article is lodged, clearly and obviously. between, 
     
     high and low water mark. and being claimed by a 
     
     stranger, but resisted by the owner of" the adjoining 
     
     Lind. increr on the grounds of the sea Weed being 
     
     lodged on the shore which fronts or adjoins his land, 
     
     therefore, your cmnmittee hare though it best to examine 
     
     into and declare. as far as they feel tlieniselVes compe- 
     
     tent to do so, the law b airing on the case under coiisid- 
     
     eration, which, they conceive, is as follows: 
     
    

    
     lly the common law of England, the sea shore is dcfincd 
     
     to be that space of' the land which, covered with vatcr at 
     
     high tides, is dry at low titles, and. therefore. bounded land- 
     
     wards by high4vater mark, and outward by low-water 
     
     mark. In this di-fiiii'ion, high—water mark does not mean 
     
     the high-water of spiing tides; it means the line or mark 
     
     dcnotcd by an ayerage of the map or ordinary high tides 
     
     taken tlirctighout the year, when they are not. affected by 
     
     the full or change of the moon, This definition applie< to 
     
     the shore of an arm of the sea, that is, where the tide flows 
     
     and reflows, as well as to the slioi‘t‘ of' the sea or (J‘rulf'itsclf'. 
     
     The question raised as to the right to sea weed and kelp. rc- 
     
     lates to these substances when left by the action of the sea 
     
     on the sea-shore as thus defined. This right must, there- 
     
     fore, in a great, measure, it' not, wholly, depend on the Owner- 
     
     ship of the sea-shore. Now. by the law ot: England, the 
     
     right of proprcty in the soil of the sea shore is vested in the 
     
     Sovereign, not for his private or exclusive use, but to be 
     
     neld and protected for the use and hem-lit of the public, in 
     
     such manner as the law of' nature. adopted by the common 
     
     law of England, admits of. As the, policy of the common 
     
     law is to assign to all property capable of occupancy a legal 
     
     and certain prOprietor, it makes those things winch, from 
     
     their nature, ~annot he (‘J'i't’tis/I'rly occupied and c‘i‘ijoycd. the 
     
     property of the Sovereign. “To the lung ot dangland is, 
     
     therefore. not only assigned the sovereign dominion of tile 
     
     sea adjoining the coasts, and over the arms of the. sea, but  
     
     him is also vested the right of' property in the sod thereof; 
     
     but still. the legal maxim is, New [It cu, {robot proprietam. 
     
     Red populus Int/mt usam ibideni ncccssizrmm; the king has 
     
     the property, but the people have the use necessary, 
     
    

    
     Should the King, therefore, by Virtue of his prero— 
     
     gative, make a grant of the sea shore, the grantee would 
     
     have to take it subject to the rights of' the public, 
     
     as previously held by the lime. In England, the sea 
     
     shore is frequently held by the Lord of a manor. as part 
     
     of the grant of the manor, and when held by a proprio- 
     
     tor deriving title under grant, or other legally authorized 
     
     title, such proprietor 3: bound to permit the sea-shore to be 
     
     used by the public for all the purposes, and just as they 
     
     could use it while it was held by the sovereign ;-.——for in- 
     
     stance, the free navigation of' the water flowmg over it where- 
     
     ever the tide admits ; the landing thereon With vessels and 
     
     boats to discharge their cargoes and goods, and to convpy 
     
     them to any right of way connected therewith ; th'e‘sctiilre ii 
     
     ing for and carrying away live shell-fish, or other fish, (  
     
     or alive, that may be found thereon, that is, where no  
     
     person had, by lawful grant or prescription, an exclusnc 
     
     right to take the same liin for his own use. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Touching the right to sea Weed and kelp lodged on the 
     
     sea-shore, substances of this nature do not appear to be 
     
     placed on the same tooting as shell-fish, and the instances 
     
     on record where the right to these production—2'. 0-. M?“ 
     
     weed, kelp. &c., has been disputed, are very rare. In no 
     
     case that your Committee can find has it been decided, by 
     
     any judicial tribunal, that the public have a right to them. 
     
    

    
     Your Committee are aware that, in the year 1820, upon 
     
     an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy (‘ouncil in 
     
     England. from the Island of Jersey, (the case of L’cncst (:8. 
     
     Pip/m), a question was decided relative to the right to sea 
     
     weed, or, as it is in that Colony termed. crate. It wa 
     
     growing seaweed, and cut and carried away from certain 
     
     rocks dry at low water. The rocks were claimed as part of 
     
     the estate of the party Pijion. alleged to have been held by 
     
     him and his ancestors from time immemorial. and the craft". 
     
     or sea weed, was claimed by the party ,Bcizcst. under an al» 
     
     leged right to take it as belonging to the inhabitants of the 
     
     Island in common. In this case, although it was laid down 
     
     by the Privy Council that the common law of” England was 
     
     in force in Jersey, yet it appeared that I’z'pon partially fail- 
     
     ed in the proof of the exclusive right he set up, and there 
     
     were some local acts or ordinances of Jersey which gave the 
     
     inhabitants a right to take the sea weed under certain rules, 
     
     and the decision of the Privy Council was, in that case, ad- 
     
     verse to Pipon. 
     
    

    
     In the year 1833, however, a case was brought in the 
     
     Court of King's llench in Ireland. wherein it was decided 
     
     that, at common law, the public had not the right of' taking 
     
     sea weed from the sea shore, where it was opposed by the 
     
     person owning the adjoining estate. In this Colony, it 
     
     Would appear to your Committee. the right to the sea shore 
     
     will be found in the sovereign. except such parts of it as 
     
     may be included Within the boundaries of the 'l‘ownships of 
     
     land as granted originally to the proprietors of lands. 
     
     Those 'l‘ownships which have their front on the sea coast 
     
     will not likely include the. sea-shore. while some 'l‘ownm 
     
     ships, as would appear by the map of the Island, incluth 
     
     wuliin their boundaries navigable rivers and arms of the 
     
     sea; in these the sea shore would, as a consequence, be 
     
     vested in their proprietors by the original grants. As 
     
     nearly all of the grants of the 'I‘ownsbips arc ri-gistcrcd in 
     
     this Island their descriptions and limits can be casil" ascer- 
     
     tained. Assuming that the 'l'ownships generally do not iii- 
     
     cludc the sea-shore as part of the grant to the proprietors. 
     
     and that this part of the Island remains in the Soveicign, 
     
     the right to sea Weed lodged between high and low water 
     
     mark would depend on the common law of'England. which, 
     
     as your Committee haveobsched does not admit of it, wlu'n 
     
     thus lodged, being taken up by the public. and rather leaves 
     
     it to be inferred that the article would belong to the owner 
     
     of the adjoining land. 
     
    

    
     In the. United St: tcs of America. the question of cwncr~ 
     
     ship to sea weed cast on the sea-shore has frequently been 
     
     tried by a judicial tribunal, and by the American construc- 
     
     tion of the common law of England, it has been adjudged, 
     
     in scvcml States, to belong to the owner of the adjoining 
     
     land. This has been decided on the principle of the law of 
     
     Allum’mi, or imperceptible increase to the land adjoining the 
     
     sea-shore, produced by the action of the sea slowly and 
     
     gradually \ 'ashing up sand. earth, 8:0,, and thereby iiicrcasu 
     
     ing the adjoining land, which land, gained by such slow 
     
     and imperceptible increase, becomes the estate of the owner 
     
     of that; to which it attaches itself, thereby deeming the sea 
     
     weed. to be one of these increments which belong to the ad- 
     
     joining land, and cannot be taken or appi‘opi'iatttl by 
     
     strangers. 
     
    

    
     Your Committee would, therefore, recommend that no 
     
     further action be taken on the matter this session, beyond 
     
     getting a copy of this Report published in the Roz/(:1 
     
     Goalie. 
     
    
   
   
    
     rflv. .. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Executors’ Notice. 
     
     LL persons having claims against the Estate of tho 
     
     LL late James McCorinack. of (aleorgetown. are. re. 
     
     quested to furnish the same, duly attested, with" 
     
     in Three Months from date, and those indebted to 
     
     the said Estate are hereby requested tolnialm iniiiiediaito 
     
     payment to either of the l~l.\'eentors. ‘  ‘ 
     
     MICHAEL IlIqu'lUX, 
     
     GEORGE. MOI-lit. 
     
     RONALD MCCORMACK. 
     
     Georgetown. March it, 1868.