UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



837 



In Home for Incurables vs. Noble it was held 

 that in cases of wills the intention must prevail 

 over the words. A court of equity has power to 

 correct mistakes apparent on the face of the will. 

 In the case in question Mrs. Mary Ruth made a 

 bequest of $5,000 to the hospital of the Univer- 

 sity of Pennsylvania, and then devised the re- 

 mainder of her estate to the Home for Incurables, 

 of New York. She made a codicil revoking the 

 " bequest of $5,000 to the Home for Incurables 

 and bequeathing that amount to Emeline Col- 

 ville." The court held that the designation of the 

 home in the codicil was incorrect, and that the 

 intention of the testator was to divert the be- 

 quest made to the Pennsylvania institution to 

 Mrs. Colville. 



Holmes vs. Hurst was a bill in equity by the 

 executor of the will of Oliver Wendell Holmes, 

 praying for an injunction against the infringe- 

 ment of the copyright of The Autocrat of the 

 Breakfast Table. The infringement consisted in 

 selling copies of the several parts as they were 

 published in the Atlantic Monthly. It was held 

 that a copyright on a book the contents of which 

 have been published serially without being pre- 

 viously copyrighted is invalid. 



The cases Nicol vs. Ames, in re Nichols, Skillen 

 vs. Ames, and Ingwersen vs. United States (173 

 U. S., 509) were brought to determine the con- 

 stitutionality and construction of that provision 

 of the war revenue act of 1898 which levies a tax 

 upon each sale, agreement of sale, or agreement 

 to sell any products or merchandise at any ex- 

 change or board of trade or other similar place. 

 The cases of Nicol vs. Ames, in re Nichols, and 

 Skillen vs. Ames grew out of transactions on the 

 Chicago Board of Trade. The court held that the 

 law taxing sales of merchandise on such an ex- 

 change was valid. It was held that the tax was 

 not upon the property sold and can not, on that 

 ground, be found to be a direct tax within the 

 meaning of the Constitution. The general objec- 

 tion on the ground of want of uniformity was 

 not considered well founded. In the case of Ing- 

 wersen vs. United States the sole question was 

 whether the Union Stock Yards, of Chicago, came 

 within the act as being " an exchange of board 

 of trade or other similar place," and the court 

 held it did. 



The suit Cosgrove vs. Winney involved a con- 

 struction of the. treaty between Great Britain and 

 the United States. Cosgrove was extradited from 

 Canada and brought before a police court in De- 

 troit on the charge of larceny, gave bail for his 

 appearance, and returned to Canada. Before the 

 time fixed for trial he returned to Detroit volun- 

 tarily, and was arrested for an offense for which 

 he was not extraditable. It was held that he 

 retained the right to have the offense for which 

 he was extradited disposed of and then to de- 

 part in peace, and his arrest could not be sus- 

 tained. 



The case of the Addyston Pipe and Steel Com- 

 pany vs. the United States was decided Dec. 4, 

 1899. This case was brought under the Sherman 

 antitrust act of July 2, 1890, and an injunction 

 had been asked to enjoin six corporations en- 

 gaged in the manufacture of water and gas pipe, 

 which composed the combination, from continu- 

 ing to do business under the agreement by which 

 they had divided the territory of the United 

 States among themselves, and by which they had 

 arranged to fix prices. The court affirmed the 

 decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals against 

 the corporation, and established the principle that 

 Congress can regulate trusts that do an inter- 

 state business. 



In Blake rs. Mc-Clung the validity of certain 

 provisions of a statute of Tennessee, whose object 

 was to secure the development of the mineral ro 

 sources of the State and facilitate the introduc- 

 tion of foreign capital, was involved. It is not 

 in the power of one State, when establishing regu- 

 lations for the conduct of private business of a 

 particular kind, to give its own citi/cns essential 

 privileges connected with that business which 

 it denies to citizens of other States. Such dis- 

 crimination against citizens of other States is re- 

 pugnant to sec. 2, Art. IV of the Constitution, 

 although, generally speaking, the State has the 

 power to prescribe the conditions upon which for- 

 eign corporations may enter the territory for pur- 

 poses of business. 



In the trial of Lake Shore and Michigan South- 

 ern Railway Company vs. Smith it was held that 

 the act of the Legislature of Michigan providing 

 that 1,000-mile tickets shall be kept for sale at 

 the principal ticket offices of railroad companies 

 at a certain price, and when presented by any 

 other than the person or persons named therein 

 such tickets shall be forfeited to the railroad 

 company, and that such tickets shall be valid 

 for two years only, and if not wholly used within 

 that time providing for redemption and a charge 

 of three cents a mile for the portion used, was 

 unconstitutional. 



A decision was handed down by Justice Harlan, 

 in the case of Lake Shore and Michigan Southern 

 Railway Company vs. Ohio, construing the con- 

 stitutionality of the law of Ohio regulating the 

 stoppage of through trains at stations in ' the 

 State. The law requires that any railroad com- 

 pany in the State shall have at least three trains 

 a day (if so many are run) stop at any place 

 on its line containing more than 3,000 inhab- 

 itants. The action was begun against the com- 

 pany because of its refusal to obey the law. 

 The company contended that the statute was 

 antagonistic to the Constitution in that it 

 interfered with commerce between the States. 

 The court held this contention to be unfounded, 

 saying that the question involved was only 

 that of subserving the public convenience, and 

 that the State had a right to legislate to that 

 end. Justices Shiras, Brewer, and Peckham dis- 

 sented. 



The case of Cummings and others vs. the Board 

 of Education of Richmond County, Georgia, in- 

 volved the right of the board to establish a high 

 school for whites in Augusta without also estab- 

 lishing a high school for colored children. The 

 case was based upon the petition of colored people 

 of the county, who asked that an order be issued 

 compelling the board either to give their children 

 the advantages of a public high school or to re- 

 frain from carrying on a white high school for 

 the support of which the petitioners are taxed. 

 The case attracted considerable attention. The 

 decision was adverse to the colored people, as 

 the court failed to see that there was any vio- 

 lation of the fourteenth amendment to the Con- 

 stitution. 



There was a libel in rem against the British 

 steamship Elfrida, to recover $22,000, with inter- 

 est and costs, claimed to be due for services ren- 

 dered in the performance of a salvage contract. 

 Many cases in this country and in England, where 

 salvage contracts have been set aside and com- 

 pensation awarded in proportion to the merits of 

 the services, were examined, and the principles 

 governing the subject were stated. Where no cir- 

 cumstances exist which amount to a moral com- 

 pulsion, such a contract should not be held bad 

 simply .because the price agreed to be paid turned 



