Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI), 4 Dec. 1870

WHAT ARE THE NAVIGABLE WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES! - A case is now before the United States Supreme Court which involves the determination of the question of what are the navigable waters of the United States. The steamer Daniel Ball, which had plied on the Grand River, Michigan, was libeled in the Circuit Court for the western district of Michigan for not having been inspected and licensed under the navigation laws, and the judgement was against her. The case was brought before this court, where it is contended by the government in support of the decision below, that the common law doctrine as to the navigability of waters has its application in this country, and that the navigableness in no respect depends on the ebb and flow of the tide, but solely upon the navigable capacity of the stream. It is also insisted that the statute requiring license applier, if the voyage, though commenced and ended in the State, is a continuation of freight from one state to another. It thus forms a link in commerce among the States, and the subject so engaged is subject to navigation law, under which the proceeding was commenced.