Kenneth H. Warner v. Vernon D. Dunlap, Chairman and Member of the Rhode Island State Pilotage Commission

McENTEE, Circuit Judge.

This case presents a single question: whether a Rhode Island statute 1 which requires every foreign vessel and every American vessel under register for foreign trade that traverses Block Island Sound to take on a pilot licensed by the Rhode Island Pilotage Commission is within the scope of 46 U.S.C. § 211 (1970). The latter statute authorizes states to regulate the use of pilots “in the bays, inlets, rivers, harbors, and ports of the United States . . . .” 2 Resolution of the question presented by this appeal turns on a factual determination as to whether Block Island…