aters of the State,
on board any vessel "not wholly owned by some person, inhabitant of and
actually residing in this State. * * * The inquiry is," wrote Justice
Washington, "what are the privileges and immunities of citizens in the
several States? We feel no hesitation in confining these expressions to
those privileges and immunities which are, in their nature, fundamental;
which belong, of right, to the citizens of all free governments; and
which have, at all times, been enjoyed by the citizens of the several
States which compose this Union, * * *"[158] He specified the following
rights as answering this description: "Protection by the Government; the
enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right to acquire and possess
property of every kind, and to pursue and obtain happiness and safety;
subject nevertheless to such restraints as the Government may justly
prescribe for the general good of the whole. The right of a citizen of
one State to pass through, or to reside in any other State, for purposes
of trade, agriculture, professional pursuits, or otherwise; to claim the
benefit of the writ of _habeas corpus_; to institute and maintain
actions of any kind in the courts of the State; to take, hold and
dispose of property, either real or personal; and an exemption from
higher taxes or impositions than are paid by the other citizens of the
State; * * *"[159]

After thus defining broadly the private and personal rights which were
protected, Justice Washington went on to distinguish them from the right
to a share in the public patrimony of the State. "* * * we cannot
accede" the opinion proceeds, "to the proposition * * * that, under this
provision of the Constitution, the citizens of the several States are
permitted to participate in all the rights which belong exclusively to
the citizens of any particular State, merely upon the ground that they
are enjoyed by those citizens; much less, that in regulating the use of
the common property of the citizens of such State, the legislature is
bound to extend to the citizens of all other States the same advantages
as are secured to their own citizens."[160] The right of a State to the
fisheries within its borders he then held to be in the nature of a
property right, held by the State "for the use of the citizens thereof;"
the State was under no obligation to grant "co-tenancy in the common
property of the State, to the citizens of all the other States."[161]
The precise holding of t