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Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Company - 158 U.S. 601 (1895) U.S. Supreme Court Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Company, 158 U.S. 601 (1895) Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Company (Rehearing) No. 898, 894 Argued May 6, 7, 8, 1895 Decided May 20, 1895 158 U.S. 601 APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK Syllabus Hylton v. United States, 3 Dall. 171, further considered, and, in view of the historical evidence cited, shown to have only decided that the tax on carriages involved was an excise, and was therefore an indirect tax. In distributing the power of taxation, the Constitution retained to the State the absolute power of direct taxation, but granted to the Federal government the power of the same taxation upon condition that, in its exercise, such taxes should be apportioned among the several State according to number, and this was done in order to protect to the States, who were surrendering to the Federal government...
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Lehigh Valley R. Co. v. Kearney - 158 U.S. 461 (1895) U.S. Supreme Court Lehigh Valley R. Co. v. Kearney, 158 U.S. 461 (1895) Lehigh Valley Railroad Company v. Kearney No. 314 Argued April 26, 29, 1895 Decided May 27, 1895 158 U.S. 461 APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY Syllabus Reissued letters patent No. 5184, granted to Francis Kearney and Luke F. Tronson December 10, 1872, for an improvement in spark-arresters, are void for want of patentable novelty. Page 158 U. S. 462 This was a suit in equity brought in the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of New Jersey by Francis Kearney and Mary F. Tronson, executrix of Luke F. Tronson, deceased, against the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, for the alleged infringement of reissue letters patent of the United States No. 5, 184, granted to Francis Kearney and Luke F. Tronson, December 10, 1872, for an improvement in spark arresters, the original patent having been gra...
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Washington & Idaho R. Co. v. Coeur d'Alene Ry. - 160 U.S. 77 (1895) U.S. Supreme Court Washington & Idaho R. Co. v. Coeur d'Alene Ry., 160 U.S. 77 (1895) Washington and Idaho Railroad Company v. Coeur d'Alene Railway and Navigation Company No. 585 Argued November 13-14, 1895 Decided December 2, 1895 160 U.S. 77 ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT Syllabus An action commenced May 27, 1889, in the District Court of the Territory of Idaho, before the admission of Idaho as a state, by a corporation organized under the laws of Washington Territory, against a corporation organized under the laws of Montana Territory and against a railroad company organized under the laws of the United States, upon which latter company service had been made and filed, was, after the admission of Idaho as a state, removable to the circuit court of the United States for that circuit both upon the ground of diversity of citizenship of the territorial corporations, and upon th...
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In re Keasbey & Mattison Co. - 160 U.S. 221 (1895) U.S. Supreme Court In re Keasbey & Mattison Co., 160 U.S. 221 (1895) In re Keasbey and Mattison Company No. 6, Original Submitted October 14, 1895 Decided December 16, 1895 160 U.S. 221 ORIGINAL Syllabus By virtue of the Act of March 3, 1887, c. 373, as corrected by the Act of August 13, 1888, c. 866, a corporation incorporated by a the Union cannot be compelled to answer to a suit for infringement of a trademark under the Act of March 3, 1881, c. 138, in a district in which it is not incorporated and of which the plaintiff is not an inhabitant, although it does business and has a general agent in that district. This was a petition for a writ of mandamus to the judges of the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York to command them to take jurisdiction and proceed against the E. L. Patch Company upon a bill in equity, filed in that court on January 26, 1895, by the petitioner, described in the...
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United States v. Stanford - 161 U.S. 412 (1896) U.S. Supreme Court United States v. Stanford, 161 U.S. 412 (1896) United States v. Stanford No. 783 Argued January 28-29, 1896 Decided March 2, 1896 161 U.S. 412 APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT Syllabus An examination of the statutes of the United States relating to the construction of a railroad from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, especially the Acts of July 1, 1862, c. 120, 12 Stat. 489, and July 2, 1864, c. 216, 13 Stat. 356, shows that every subscriber to the Union Pacific Railroad Company must be deemed to have become such upon the condition, implied by law, that he should not be personally liable for the debts of the corporation. It is equally clear that Congress intended to grant national aid to all the corporations constructing that connecting line of railroad upon terms and conditions applicable alike to all, with no purpose to make discriminations against any one part of the ...
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United States v. Texas - 162 U.S. 1 (1896) U.S. Supreme Court United States v. Texas, 162 U.S. 1 (1896) United States v. Texas, 162 U.S. 1 (1896) No. 8, Original Argued October 23-25, 1896 Decided March 16, 1896 162 U.S. 1 ORIGINAL Syllabus The treaty between the United States and Spain, made in 1819, and ratified in 1821, provided "the boundary line between the two countries west of the Mississippi shall begin on the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the River Sabine in the sea, continuing north, along the western bank of the river to the 32d degree of latitude; thence, by a line due north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of Natchitoches, or Red River; then following the course of the Rio Roxo westward to the degree of longitude 100 west from London and 23 from Washington; then, crossing the said Red River and running thence, by a line due north to the River Arkansas; thence, following the course of the southern bank of the Arkansas, to its source, in ...
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Brown v. Walker - 161 U.S. 591 (1896) U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Walker, 161 U.S. 591 (1896) Brown v. Walker No. 765 Argued January 23, 1896 Decided March 23, 1896 161 U.S. 591 APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA Syllabus The provision in the Act of February 11, 1893, c. 83, 27 Stat. 443, "that no person shall be excused from attending and testifying or from producing books, papers, tariffs, contracts, agreements, and documents before the Interstate Commerce Commission, or in obedience to the subpoena of the Commission, on the ground or for the reason that the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required of him may tend to criminate him or subject him to a penalty or forfeiture: but no person shall be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any transaction, matter or thing concerning which he may testify, or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, before said Commiss...
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Louisville & Nashville R. Co. v. Kentucky - 161 U.S. 677 (1896) U.S. Supreme Court Louisville & Nashville R. Co. v. Kentucky, 161 U.S. 677 (1898) Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company v. Kentucky No. 722 Argued January 14-15, 1895 Decided March 30, 1896 161 U.S. 677 ERROR TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KENTUCKY Syllabus A power given in a charter of a railroad to connect or unite with other roads refers merely to a physical connection of the tracks, and does not authorize the purchase, or even the lease of such roads or road, or any union of franchises. Page 161 U. S. 678 The several statutes of Kentucky and of Tennessee relating to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, which are quoted from or referred to in the opinion of the court, confer upon that company no general right to purchase other roads, or to consolidate with them. The union referred to in those statutes is limited to a union with a road already connected with the Louisville and Nashvill...
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Bacon v. Texas - 163 U.S. 207 (1896) U.S. Supreme Court Bacon v. Texas, 163 U.S. 207 (1896) Bacon v. Texas No. 296 Argued May 6-7, 1896 Decided May 18, 1896 163 U.S. 207 ERROR TO THE COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS FOR THE SECOND SUPREME JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF TEXAS Syllabus In this case, application was made by the defendants below, after judgment, to the Supreme Court of Texas for a writ of error to the Court of Civil Appeals for the Second District for the purpose of reviewing the judgment of that court, and the application was denied. Held that this Court has jurisdiction to reexamine the judgment on writ of error to the court of civil appeals. In case of a change of phraseology in an article in a state constitution, it is for the state courts to determine whether the change calls for a change of construction. Where there are two grounds for the judgment of a state court, one only of which involves a federal question, and the other is broad enough to maintain a ju...
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Plessy v. Ferguson - 163 U.S. 537 (1896) U.S. Supreme Court Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) Plessy v. Ferguson No. 210 Argued April 18, 1896 Decided May 18, 1896 163 U.S. 537 ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA Syllabus The statute of Louisiana, acts of 1890, c. 111, requiring railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in that State, to provide equal, but separate, accommodations for the white and colored races, by providing two or more passenger coaches for each passenger train, or by dividing the passenger coaches by a partition so as to secure separate accommodations; and providing that no person shall be permitted to occupy seats in coaches other than the ones assigned to them, on account Page 163 U. S. 538 of the race they belong to; and requiring the officer of the passenger train to assign each passenger to the coach or compartment assigned for the race to which he or she belong; and imposing fines or imprisonment upon passengers...
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