578
Opinion of the Court
such case, for example, the Court considered whether to issue a writ of mandamus to order the Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers to grant a permit to build a wharf in navigable waters. United States ex rel. Greathouse v. Dern, 289 U. S. 352 (1933). Although it was stipulated that the project would not interfere with navigability, the Secretary nevertheless denied the permit on the ground that the wharf would impede plans developed by the United States to create a means of access to the proposed George Washington Memorial Parkway along the Potomac River in northern Virginia. Id., at 355. The permit applicant argued that the Secretary's refusal to grant it was contrary to law on the theory that RHA § 10 authorized consideration only of the proposed construction's effects on navigation. In refusing to issue the writ of mandamus under equitable principles, the Court noted that petitioners' argument could be accepted "only if several doubtful questions are resolved in [petitioners'] favor," one of which was "whether a mandatory duty is imposed upon the Secretary of War by § 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act to authorize the construction of the proposed wharf if he is satisfied that it will not interfere with navigation." Id., at 357.
Nor has such a broad interpretation of the RHA been exceptional. In United States v. Republic Steel Corp., 362 U. S. 482, 491 (1960), the Court observed: "We read the 1899 Act charitably in light of the purpose to be served. The philosophy of the statement of Mr. Justice Holmes in New Jersey v. New York, 283 U. S. 336, 342 [1931], that 'A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure,' forbids a narrow, cramped reading of either § 13 or of § 10." And as we stated in a later case: "Despite some difficulties with the wording of the Act, we have consistently found its coverage to be broad. And we have found that a principal beneficiary of the Act, if not the principal beneficiary, is the Government
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