LAW, CONSTITUTIONAL. (INDIANS NOT CITIZENS.) 



425 



composition of fusel-oil of grain, the action of 

 chlorine upon carbon disulphide, and the dis- 

 covery of trichlor-methyl-hyposulphuric acid 

 and methyl-hyposulphuric acid appeared in 

 Liebig's "Annalen." While in England, he 

 published (in 1847) conclusions, showing that 

 the fatty acids and benzoic acid contain alco- 

 hol radicals in place of an atom of hydrogen 

 in formic acid. This theory he farther devel- 

 oped and experimentally verified, and later he 

 successfully maintained his priority against the 

 claims made by Adam Wurtz. His work further 

 includes investigations on the cyanogen corn- 

 pounds of alcohol radicals, on dimethyl arsenic 

 derivatives, showing the exact constitutions 

 of the cacodyl compounds. His great knowl- 

 edge of theoretical chemistry led him to inter- 

 pret correctly the composition of numerous 

 organic compounds. He also enlarged our 

 knowledge of the acids of gum-benzoin, of the 

 chemical constitution of asparagine and aspa- 

 ragic acid, of the isomeric relations of fumario 

 and maleic acid, as well as of itaconic, citra- 

 conic, and mesaconic acid ; of uric acid, of 

 certain derivatives of cyanogen, and the phos- 

 phorus - compounds of platinum. The most 

 conspicuous of all his work, however, was the 

 synthesis of salicylic acid, and in 1874 he had 

 so successfully modified his original method 

 that salicylic acid became a commercial prod- 



uct. Kolbe was a decided opponent of the 

 type and structural theories, and by his bitter 

 and caustic criticisms did much good. Vague- 

 ness and ambiguity of thought and expression 

 in chemical memoirs and treatises he denounced 

 without mercy. By this action he isolated him- 

 self to a great degree from the more conserva- 

 tive chemists of his time. 



In 1847 he became editor of Liebig's and 

 Wohler's "Handworterbuch der Chemie,'' and 

 in 1869 he undertook the editorship of Erd- 

 mann's u Journal fur praktische Chemie." His 

 published works include a "Manual of Organic 

 Chemistry," in three volumes (1854-1878); 

 volumes iii to v of Graham Otto's "Manual 

 of Chemistry " ; a " Short Text-book of In- 

 organic Chemistry" (1877), a corresponding 

 "Text-book of Organic Chemistry" (1883), 

 and a satire, " Aus der molekular Welt." He 

 was the possessor of numerous degrees and 

 honors, and recently had been awarded the 

 Davy medal by the Koyal Society of England 

 in recognition of his researches on the isom- 

 erism of alcohols. It was expected that he 

 would attend the annual meeting (December 

 1) and receive in person this testimonial ; but 

 a few days previous, without any premonitory 

 symptoms, he was stricken with heart-disease, 

 and was found dead on his own door-step after 

 his day's work had been completed. 



LAW, CONSTITUTIONAL. Several important 

 opinions on questions of constitutional law 

 were rendered by the United States Supreme 

 Court during the session beginning in October, 

 18S4. (For the opinion of the Court on the 

 question of a conflicting treaty and act of 

 Congress, see TREATY-MAKING POWER OF THE 

 UNITED STATES, in this volume.) 



Indians not Citizens of the United States. The 

 fourteenth amendment to the Federal Consti- 

 tution declares that "all persons born or 

 naturalized in the United States, and subject 

 to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 

 United States, and of the State wherein they re- 

 side." In the case of John Elk against Charles 

 Wilkins, the Federal Supreme Court held, No- 

 vember 3, that an Indian, born a member of 

 one of the Indian tribes within the United 

 States, is not, merely by reason of his birth 

 within the United States, and the fact that he 

 has voluntarily withdrawn from his tribe and 

 taken up his residence among white citizens, a 

 citizen within the meaning of the fourteenth 

 amendment. Elk was a resident of Omaha, 

 Nebraska, and claimed the right to vote. The 

 defendant was an election officer in that city, 

 who refused to let him vote. 



The opinion of the Court was prepared by 

 Justice Gray. He first points out that, under 

 the Constitution of the United States as origi- 

 nally established, " Indians not taxed " were 

 excluded from the persons according to whose 



numbers representatives and direct taxes were 

 apportioned among the several States; and 

 that Congress had and exercised the power to 

 regulate commerce with the Indian tribes and 

 the members thereof, whether within or with- 

 out the boundaries of one of the States of the 

 Union. The Indian tribes, being within the 

 territorial limits of the United States, were 

 not, strictly speaking, foreign states ; but they 

 were alien nations, distinct political communi- 

 ties, with whom the United States might, and 

 habitually did, deal, as it saw fit, either through 

 treaties made by the President and Senate, or 

 acts of Congress in the ordinary forms of legis- 

 lation. The members of those tribes owed im- 

 mediate allegiance to their several tribes, and 

 were not part of the people of the United 

 States. They were in a dependent condition, 

 a state of pupilage, resembling that of a ward 

 to his guardian. Indians and their property, 

 exempt from taxation by treaty or statute of 

 the United States, could not be taxed by any 

 State. General acts of Congress did not apply 

 to Indians, unless so expressed as clearly to 

 manifest an intention to include them. The 

 alien and dependent condition of the Indian 

 tribes could not be put off at their own will, 

 without the advice or assent of the United 

 States. They were never deemed citizens of 

 the United States, except under explicit pro- 

 visions of treaty or statute to that effect, either 

 declaring to be citizens a certain tribe, or such 



