The U.S. Supreme Court case Illinois v. Illinois Central Railroad Company in 1901 revolved around a dispute over land ownership along the Chicago lakefront. The state of Illinois had granted the railroad company a large tract of submerged land, which it subsequently filled and improved upon to build tracks and other facilities. However, later on, the state sought to reclaim this property arguing that it held an inviolable public trust over all navigable waters within its borders including their underlying lands; thus making any such grant void ab initio (from inception). The court sided with the state holding that while states could indeed convey parcels of such lands for private use without violating public trust doctrine if they did not substantially impair public interest in navigation or fishing etc., here however, due to sheer size and nature of grant involved - essentially giving away entire harbor area - it was deemed as having crossed permissible limits thereby rendering original grant null & void.

In the dissenting opinion for Illinois v. Illinois Central Railroad Company, Justice Peckham disagreed with the majority's ruling that a state cannot relinquish its control over navigable waters and their submerged lands. He argued that there is no constitutional or legal principle preventing a state from granting such rights to private entities if it deems it beneficial for public interest. According to him, states should have the authority to determine how best to use their resources without interference from federal law or courts unless such actions violate specific constitutional provisions. Furthermore, he contended that previous court decisions did not establish an absolute rule against such grants but rather emphasized on case-specific circumstances and public interests involved in each situation.