# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 223

This is a list of cases reported in volume 223 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1912.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 223 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 223 were decided the Court comprised the following eight members (following the death of Justice John Marshall Harlan):
| 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) |
| Horace Harmon Lurton | Associate Justice | Tennessee | Rufus W. Peckham | December 20, 1909 (Acclamation) | January 3, 1910 – July 12, 1914 (Died) |
| Charles Evans Hughes | Associate Justice | New York | David Josiah Brewer | May 2, 1910 (Acclamation) | October 10, 1910 – June 10, 1916 (Resigned) |
| Willis Van Devanter | Associate Justice | Wyoming | Edward Douglass White (as Associate Justice) | December 15, 1910 (Acclamation) | January 3, 1911 – June 2, 1937 (Retired) |
| Joseph Rucker Lamar | Associate Justice | Georgia | William Henry Moody | December 15, 1910 (Acclamation) | January 3, 1911 – January 2, 1916 (Died) |

## Notable Case in 223 U.S.
### Pacific States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Oregon

Pacific States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Oregon, 223 U.S. 118 (1912), involved the constitutionality of the citizens' initiative and the enforceability of the Guarantee Clause of the Constitution. A unanimous Supreme Court rejected a corporation's argument that the Guarantee Clause forbade Oregon's initiative process, citing Luther v. Borden to conclude that such claims presented political questions and are non-justiciable.

## 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
* "C.C.D." = United States Circuit Court for the District of . . .
** e.g.,"C.C.D.N.J." = United States Circuit Court for the District of New Jersey
* "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.,"C.C.S.D.N.Y." = United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York
** 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 223 U.S.

| Case Name | Page & year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
| Second Employers' Liability Cases | 1 (1912) | VanDevanter | none | none | multiple | multiple |
| Quong Wing v. Kirkendall | 59 (1912) | Holmes | none | Lamar | Mont. | affirmed |
| Noble v. Gallardo y S. | 65 (1912) | Holmes | none | none | D.P.R. | reversed |
| United States v. Wong You | 67 (1912) | Holmes | none | none | 2d Cir. | reversed |
| Louisville & N.R.R. Co. v. F.W. Cook B. Co. | 70 (1912) | Lurton | none | none | 7th Cir. | affirmed |
| Waskey v. Hammer | 85 (1912) | VanDevanter | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| United States ex rel. Lowe v. Fisher | 95 (1912) | McKenna | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Cherokee Nation v. Whitmire | 108 (1912) | McKenna | none | none | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| Pacific et al. Co. v. Oregon | 118 (1912) | White | none | none | Or. | dismissed |
| Kiernan v. City of Portland | 151 (1912) | White | none | none | Or. | dismissed |
| The Abby Dodge | 166 (1912) | White | none | none | S.D. Fla. | reversed |
| Hendricks v. United States | 178 (1912) | White | none | none | C.C.D. Or. | dismissed |
| Aetna L. Ins. Co. v. Tremblay | 185 (1912) | White | none | none | Me. | dismissed |
| United States v. Baruch | 191 (1912) | White | none | none | 2d Cir. | reversed |
| Jacobs v. Prichard | 200 (1912) | McKenna | none | none | Wash. | affirmed |
| Fairbanks v. United States | 215 (1912) | McKenna | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| United States et al. Co. v. Sandoval | 227 (1912) | McKenna | none | none | Ariz. | reversed |
| Northwestern M.L. Ins. Co. v. McCue | 234 (1912) | McKenna | none | none | 4th Cir. | affirmed |
| New York C.J.F. Co. v. District of Columbia | 253 (1912) | McKenna | none | none | D.D.C. | affirmed |
| Jacob v. Roberts | 261 (1912) | McKenna | none | none | Cal. | affirmed |
| Ker & Co. v. Couden | 268 (1912) | Holmes | none | McKenna | Phil. | affirmed |
| Atchison et al. R.R. Co. v. O'Connor | 280 (1912) | Holmes | none | none | C.C.D. Colo. | reversed |
| Collins v. Texas | 288 (1912) | Holmes | none | none | Tex. Crim. App. | affirmed |
| Meyer v. Wells Fargo & Co. | 298 (1912) | Holmes | none | none | C.C.W.D. Okla. | affirmed |
| Powers v. United States | 303 (1912) | Day | none | none | W.D. Va. | affirmed |
| Rocca v. Thompson | 317 (1912) | Day | none | none | Cal. | affirmed |
| United States E. Co. v. Minnesota | 335 (1912) | Day | none | none | Minn. | affirmed |
| Lincoln et al. Co. v. City of Lincoln | 349 (1912) | Lurton | none | none | C.C.D. Neb. | reversed |
| The San Pedro | 365 (1912) | Lurton | none | none | N.D. Cal. | reversed |
| Cuebas y A. v. Cuebas y A. | 376 (1912) | Lurton | none | none | D.P.R. | affirmed |
| City of Cincinnati v. Louisville & N.R.R. Co. | 390 (1912) | Lurton | none | none | Ohio | affirmed |
| United States v. Citroen | 407 (1912) | Hughes | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Ferris v. Frohman | 424 (1912) | Hughes | none | none | Ill. | affirmed |
| Reitler v. Harris | 437 (1912) | VanDevanter | none | none | Kan. | affirmed |
| Diaz v. United States | 442 (1912) | VanDevanter | none | Lamar | Phil. | affirmed |
| Gaar S. & Co. v. Shannon | 468 (1912) | Lamar | none | none | Tex. Civ. App. | affirmed |
| New M.E. Co. v. Marshall E. Co. | 473 (1912) | Lamar | none | none | Mass. Super. Ct. | affirmed |
| Galveston et al. R.R. Co. v. Wallace | 481 (1912) | Lamar | none | none | Tex. Civ. App. | affirmed |
| McCarthy v. First Nat'l Bank | 493 (1912) | Lamar | none | none | S.D. | affirmed |
| Latimer v. United States | 501 (1912) | Lamar | none | none | D.P.R. | affirmed |
| Miller v. King | 505 (1912) | Lamar | none | none | Or. | affirmed |
| United States v. Nord D.L. | 512 (1912) | Lamar | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Metropolitan W. Co. v. Kaw V.D. Dist. | 519 (1912) | Lamar | none | none | C.C.D. Kan. | dismissed |
| United States v. Ellicott | 524 (1912) | White | none | none | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| Ontario L. Co. v. Wilfong | 543 (1912) | McKenna | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| Southern P.R.R. Co. v. United States | 560 (1912) | Holmes | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| United States v. Southern P.R.R. Co. | 565 (1912) | Holmes | none | none | 9th Cir. | reversed |
| Kansas City S.R.R. Co. v. C.H. Albers Comm'n Co. | 573 (1912) | VanDevanter | none | none | Kan. | reversed |
| United States v. Miller | 599 (1912) | VanDevanter | none | none | C.C.S.D. Ga. | reversed |
| Philadelphia Co. v. Stimson | 605 (1912) | Hughes | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| In re Merchant et al. Co. | 639 (1912) | VanDevanter | none | none | 8th Cir. | mandamus granted |
| Graham v. Gill | 643 (1912) | White | none | none | Fla. | affirmed |
| Clason v. Matko | 646 (1912) | McKenna | none | none | Ariz. | affirmed |
| Cedar Rapids G.L. Co. v. City of Cedar Rapids | 655 (1912) | Holmes | none | none | Iowa | affirmed |
| Wingert v. First Nat'l Bank | 670 (1912) | Holmes | none | none | 4th Cir. | dismissed |
| Tang Tun v. Edsell | 673 (1912) | Hughes | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| United States ex rel. Ness v. Fisher | 683 (1912) | VanDevanter | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Ripley v. United States | 695 (1912) | Lamar | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |