# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 247

This is a list of cases reported in volume 247 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1918.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 247 U.S.

The Supreme Court is established by Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which says: "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court . . .". The size of the Court is not specified; the Constitution leaves it to Congress to set the number of justices. Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 Congress originally fixed the number of justices at six (one chief justice and five associate justices). Since 1789 Congress has varied the size of the Court from six to seven, nine, ten, and back to nine justices (always including one chief justice).
When the cases in volume 247 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
| Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) | Tenure on Supreme Court |
| Edward Douglass White | Chief Justice | Louisiana | Melville Fuller | December 12, 1910 (Acclamation) | December 19, 1910 – May 19, 1921 (Died) |
| Joseph McKenna | Associate Justice | California | Stephen Johnson Field | January 21, 1898 (Acclamation) | January 26, 1898 – January 5, 1925 (Retired) |
| Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Horace Gray | December 4, 1902 (Acclamation) | December 8, 1902 – January 12, 1932 (Retired) |
| William R. Day | Associate Justice | Ohio | George Shiras Jr. | February 23, 1903 (Acclamation) | March 2, 1903 – November 13, 1922 (Retired) |
| Willis Van Devanter | Associate Justice | Wyoming | Edward Douglass White (as Associate Justice) | December 15, 1910 (Acclamation) | January 3, 1911 – June 2, 1937 (Retired) |
| Mahlon Pitney | Associate Justice | New Jersey | John Marshall Harlan | March 13, 1912 (50–26) | March 18, 1912 – December 31, 1922 (Resigned) |
| James Clark McReynolds | Associate Justice | Tennessee | Horace Harmon Lurton | August 29, 1914 (44–6) | October 12, 1914 – January 31, 1941 (Retired) |
| Louis Brandeis | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Joseph Rucker Lamar | June 1, 1916 (47–22) | June 5, 1916 – February 13, 1939 (Retired) |
| John Hessin Clarke | Associate Justice | Ohio | Charles Evans Hughes | July 24, 1916 (Acclamation) | October 9, 1916 – September 18, 1922 (Retired) |

## Notable Case in 247 U.S.
### Hammer v. Dagenhart

In Hammer v. Dagenhart, 247 U.S. 251 (1918), the Supreme Court struck down a federal law regulating child labor. During the Progressive Era, public sentiment in the United States turned against what was perceived as increasingly intolerable child labor conditions. In response, Congress passed the Keating–Owen Act, prohibiting the sale in interstate commerce of any merchandise that had been made either by children under the age of fourteen, or by children under sixteen who worked more than sixty hours per week. By a 5-4 majority, the Supreme Court struck down the Keating–Owen Act, holding that the Commerce Clause did not give Congress the power to regulate working conditions. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., joined by three other justices, argued that goods manufactured in one state and sold in other states were, by definition, interstate commerce, and so Congress should have power to regulate the manufacturing of those goods. In 1941 Hammer v. Dagenhart was overruled by the Court in United States v. Darby Lumber Co.

## Citation style

Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 the federal court structure at the time comprised District Courts, which had general trial jurisdiction; Circuit Courts, which had mixed trial and appellate (from the US District Courts) jurisdiction; and the United States Supreme Court, which had appellate jurisdiction over the federal District and Circuit courts—and for certain issues over state courts. The Supreme Court also had limited original jurisdiction (i.e., in which cases could be filed directly with the Supreme Court without first having been heard by a lower federal or state court). There were one or more federal District Courts and/or Circuit Courts in each state, territory, or other geographical region.
The Judiciary Act of 1891 created the United States Courts of Appeals and reassigned the jurisdiction of most routine appeals from the district and circuit courts to these appellate courts. The Act created nine new courts that were originally known as the "United States Circuit Courts of Appeals." The new courts had jurisdiction over most appeals of lower court decisions. The Supreme Court could review either legal issues that a court of appeals certified or decisions of court of appeals by writ of certiorari. On January 1, 1912, the effective date of the Judicial Code of 1911, the old Circuit Courts were abolished, with their remaining trial court jurisdiction transferred to the U.S. District Courts.
Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.
* "# Cir." = United States Court of Appeals
** e.g., "3d Cir." = United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
* "D." = United States District Court for the District of . . .
** e.g.,"D. Mass." = United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
* "E." = Eastern; "M." = Middle; "N." = Northern; "S." = Southern; "W." = Western
** e.g.,"M.D. Ala." = United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
* "Ct. Cl." = United States Court of Claims
* The abbreviation of a state's name alone indicates the highest appellate court in that state's judiciary at the time.
** e.g.,"Pa." = Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
** e.g.,"Me." = Supreme Judicial Court of Maine

## List of cases in volume 247 U.S.

| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition of case |
| Shepard v. Barkley | 1 (1918) | White | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Cox v. Wood | 3 (1918) | White | none | none | D. Kan. | affirmed |
| Perlman v. United States | 7 (1918) | McKenna | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Gasquet v. Fenner | 16 (1918) | Holmes | none | none | E.D. La. | affirmed |
| Ex parte Southwestern Surety Insurance Company | 19 (1918) | White | none | none | W.D.N.C. | prohibition denied |
| York Manufacturing Company v. Colley | 21 (1918) | White | none | none | Tex. Civ. App. | reversed |
| Ex parte Abdu | 27 (1918) | White | none | Brandeis | not indicated | mandamus denied |
| United States v. United Shoe Machinery Company of New Jersey | 32 (1918) | McKenna | none | Day; Clarke | D. Mass. | affirmed |
| McGinis v. California I | 91 (1918) | McKenna | none | none | Cal. Super. Ct. | reversed |
| McGinis v. California II | 95 (1918) | McKenna | none | none | Cal. Super. Ct. | reversed |
| Erie Railroad Company v. Hilt | 97 (1918) | Holmes | none | none | 3d Cir. | reversed |
| Carney v. Chapman | 102 (1918) | Holmes | none | none | Okla. | affirmed |
| Western Union Telegraph Company v. Foster | 105 (1918) | Holmes | none | none | multiple | reversed |
| United States v. Biwabik Mining Company | 116 (1918) | Day | none | none | 6th Cir. | reversed |
| Goldfield Consolidated Mines Company v. Scott | 126 (1918) | Day | none | none | 9th Cir. | certification |
| Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Wisconsin | 132 (1918) | Day | none | none | Wis. | affirmed |
| Marin v. Augedahl | 142 (1918) | VanDevanter | none | Clarke | N.D. Dist. | reversed |
| Peck and Company v. Lowe | 165 (1918) | VanDevanter | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| United States v. Ferguson | 175 (1918) | VanDevanter | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Doyle v. Mitchell Brothers Company | 179 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | 6th Cir. | affirmed |
| Hays v. Gauley Mountain Coal Company | 189 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | 4th Cir. | reversed |
| United States v. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company | 195 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | 6th Cir. | affirmed |
| Chicago and Alton Railroad Company v. United States | 197 (1918) | McReynolds | none | none | 7th Cir. | affirmed |
| Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company v. Rice | 201 (1918) | McReynolds | none | none | E.D. La. | reversed |
| Union Pacific Railroad Company v. Laughlin | 204 (1918) | Brandeis | none | none | Mo. Ct. App. | dismissed |
| Friederichsen v. Renard | 207 (1918) | Clarke | none | none | 8th Cir. | reversed |
| Looney v. Eastern Texas Railroad Company | 214 (1918) | Clarke | none | none | W.D. Tex. | dismissed |
| Lynch v. Turrish | 221 (1918) | McKenna | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Ex parte Simons | 231 (1918) | Holmes | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | mandamus granted |
| Alice State Bank v. Houston Pasture Company | 240 (1918) | Holmes | none | none | 5th Cir. | reversed |
| Minnesota v. Lane | 243 (1918) | Day | none | none | original | dismissed |
| Hammer v. Dagenhart | 251 (1918) | Day | none | Holmes | W.D.N.C. | affirmed |
| Union Pacific Railroad Company v. Weld County | 282 (1918) | VanDevanter | none | none | 8th Cir. | dismissed |
| Jefferson v. Fink | 288 (1918) | VanDevanter | none | none | Okla. | affirmed |
| Hartranft v. Mullowny | 295 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | D.C. Cir. | dismissed |
| San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad Company v. United States | 307 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | 9th Cir. | dismissed |
| United States v. St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Company | 310 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | 9th Cir. | reversed |
| United States Glue Company v. Town of Oak Creek | 321 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | Wis. Cir. | affirmed |
| Southern Pacific Company v. Lowe | 330 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Lynch v. Hornby | 339 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | 8th Cir. | reversed |
| Peabody v. Eisner | 347 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Sunday Lake Iron Company v. Wakefield Township | 350 (1918) | McReynolds | none | none | Mich. | affirmed |
| McCoy v. Union Elevated Railroad Company | 354 (1918) | McReynolds | none | none | Ill. | affirmed |
| New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad Company v. Harris | 367 (1918) | McReynolds | none | none | Miss. | reversed |
| Chelentis v. Luckenbach Steamship Company, Inc. | 372 (1918) | McReynolds | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Philippine Sugar Estates Development Company, Ltd. v. Government of the Philippine Islands | 385 (1918) | Brandeis | none | none | Phil. | reversed |
| Supreme Council of The Royal Arcanum v. Behrend | 394 (1918) | Brandeis | none | none | D.C. Cir. | reversed |
| Toledo Newspaper Company v. United States | 402 (1918) | White | none | Holmes | 6th Cir. | affirmed |
| Grinnell Washing Machine Company v. E.E. Johnson Company | 426 (1918) | Day | none | none | 7th Cir. | affirmed |
| Exploration Company, Ltd. v. United States | 435 (1918) | Day | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Jim Butler Tonopah Mining Company v. West End Consolidated Mining Company | 450 (1918) | VanDevanter | none | none | Nev. | affirmed |
| Arkansas v. Tennessee | 461 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | original | continued |
| Postal Telegraph Cable Company v. City of Newport | 464 (1918) | Pitney | none | none | Ky. | reversed |
| Northern Pacific Railroad Company v. Solum | 477 (1918) | Brandeis | none | none | Minn. | multiple |
| Aikins v. Kingsbury | 484 (1918) | Clarke | none | none | Cal. | affirmed |
| Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company v. Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association | 490 (1918) | Clarke | none | none | Minn. | affirmed |