The defendants Starin, Independent Steam-boat Company, Starin's City, River & Harbor Transportation Company, and New York & Staten Island Steam-boat Company each filed a separate answer to the complaint. All the other defendants, who are the masters or pilots or engineers employed in running the several boats, united in one answer. The answers all contain substantially the same defenses. They admit the ownership of the boats, as set forth in the complaint, except that it is alleged the Castleton belongs to the New York & Staten Island Steam-boat Company instead of Starin. They admit the charter of the city, with words purporting to grant certain rights as to the establishment of ferries from Manhattan island to the opposite shores, but deny that this grant extends to ferries between New York and that part of Staten island which borders upon the Kill von Kull. They admit that the several boats mentioned in the complaint were run at stated times by the Independent Steam-boat Company, under the management of the masters and engineers, without the license or permission of the city, for the transportation of persons and property between pier 18, North river, which is on Manhattan island, and certain landing places on the shore of Staten island, making daily 14 trips, or thereabouts, but they deny that in so doing the company either operated a ferry or usurped any franchise belonging to the city. They also deny the allegations in the complaint as to the connection of the defendant Starin with the Independent Steam-boat Company, and deny that Starin is the person who is actually operating the boats.
The answers then allege, 'as a matter of special defense under the laws of the United States:' (1) That the Independent Steam-boat Company is a corporation, organized and incorporated under the laws of New Jersey, for the purpose of transporting persons and property by water, as a common carrier for hire, in and over the waters of the Hudson river, Kill von Kull, Raritan bay, and their tributaries, between places on such waters in New York and New Jersey, including Staten island and Long island, and the cities of New York and Brooklyn; that the company chartered the boats in question from the several owners thereof, and leased wharves and landing places in New York and on the shore of Staten island, bordering on the Kill von Kull, for the purpose of engaging in the business of transportation by water between such wharves and landings. (2) That all the boats in question are enrolled and licensed under the laws of the United States for carrying on the coasting trade, as vessels of the United States, and that the individual defendants described as masters or engineers on the boats are all licensed under the laws of the United States to act as masters or pilots, or as engineers, on steam-vessels upon the waters traversed by the boats in question. (3) That for a number of years, terminating in 1874, steam-boats similar to those operated by the company, and doing a transportation business similar to that in which the company is engaged, had been, without any license or permission from the city, navigated from pier 18, New York, to the landing places on Staten island made use of by the company, and back; that large sums were realized therefrom; and that since 1874 this business has greatly increased. (4) That the waters of the Hudson river or bay of New York and the Kill von Kull are waters of the United States, and public and common highways of interstate and international commerce; that the steam-boats, as operated by the company, do not constitute a ferry within the meaning of the laws of the United States, or of the state of New York, or of the city charter, but that the city seeks, under the cover of its charter, and by this suit, to establish in itself, as and for a monopoly, and as private property, the ownership of all rights to carry on commercial intercourse, consisting in the daily or regular interchange or transportation of passengers and property between Manhattan and Staten islands, over such waters, and to obstruct the navigation of such waters, although carried on by citizens of the United States in steam-vessels duly enrolled and licensed under the laws of the United States, and navigated by masters, pilots, and engineers duly licensed under the laws of the United States, thus practically nullifying the laws of the United States regulating commerce and navigation.