# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 243

This is a list of cases reported in volume 243 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1917.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 243 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 243 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) |

## 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 243 U.S.

| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
| Tyrrell v. District of Columbia | 1 (1917) | White | none | none | D.C. Cir. | dismissed |
| Wellsville Oil Company v. Miller | 6 (1917) | White | none | none | Okla. | affirmed |
| Bond v. Hume | 15 (1917) | White | none | none | 5th Cir. | certification |
| Union National Bank v. McBoyle | 26 (1917) | White | none | none | Cal. | dismissed |
| Bowersock v. Smith | 29 (1917) | White | none | none | Kan. | affirmed |
| McCluskey v. Marysville and Northern Railway Company | 36 (1917) | White | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| Bay v. Merrill and Ring Logging Company | 40 (1917) | White | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| Raymond v. Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company | 43 (1917) | White | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| In re Selling | 46 (1917) | White | none | none | Mich. | continued |
| New Mexico v. Lane | 52 (1917) | McKenna | none | none | original | dismissed |
| Donohue v. Vosper | 59 (1917) | McKenna | none | none | Mich. | affirmed |
| Thomsen v. Cayser | 66 (1917) | McKenna | none | none | 2d Cir. | reversed |
| McDonald v. Mabee | 90 (1917) | Holmes | none | none] | Tex. | reversed |
| Pennsylvania Fire Insurance Company v. Gold Issue Mining and Milling Company | 93 (1917) | Holmes | none | none | Mo. | affirmed |
| Five Per Cent Discount Cases | 97 (1917) | Holmes | none | none | Ct. Cust. App. | reversed |
| Gannon v. Johnston | 108 (1917) | Day | none | none | Okla. | affirmed |
| Baker v. Schofield | 114 (1917) | Day | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| William R. Staats Company v. Security Trust and Savings Bank | 121 (1917) | Day | none | none | 9th Cir. | dismissed |
| The Steamship Appam | 124 (1917) | Day | none | none | E.D. Va. | affirmed |
| Enterprise Irrigation District v. Farmers Mutual Canal Company | 157 (1917) | VanDevanter | none | none | Neb. | dismissed |
| City of Owensboro v. Owensboro Water Works Company | 166 (1917) | VanDevanter | none | Clarke; Day | W.D. Ky. | affirmed |
| New York Central Railroad Company v. White | 188 (1917) | Pitney | none | none | N.Y. | affirmed |
| Hawkins v. Bleakly | 210 (1917) | Pitney | none | none | S.D. Iowa | affirmed |
| Mountain Timber Company v. Washington | 219 (1917) | Pitney | none | none | Wash. | affirmed |
| Horn v. Mitchell | 247 (1917) | Pitney | none | none | 1st Cir. | dismissed |
| Grays Harbor Logging Company v. Coats-Fordney Logging Company | 251 (1917) | Pitney | none | none | Wash. | dismissed |
| Rome Railway and Light Company v. Floyd County | 257 (1917) | McReynolds | none | none | N.D. Ga. | affirmed |
| Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company v. McKibbin | 264 (1917) | Brandeis | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Pennington v. Fourth National Bank | 269 (1917) | Brandeis | none | none | Ohio | affirmed |
| Pease v. Rathbun-Jones Engineering Company | 273 (1917) | Brandeis | none | none | 5th Cir. | affirmed |
| Swift and Company v. Hocking Valley Railway Company | 281 (1917) | Brandeis | none | none | Ohio | affirmed |
| Lie v. San Francisco and Portland Steamship Company | 291 (1917) | Clarke | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| Memphis Street Railway Company v. Moore | 299 (1917) | Clarke | none | none | 6th Cir. | affirmed |
| McAllister v. Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company | 302 (1917) | Clarke | none | none | E.D. Ky. | reversed |
| St. Joseph and Grand Island Railway Company v. Moore | 311 (1917) | Clarke | none | none | Mo. | affirmed |
| United States v. Cress | 316 (1917) | Pitney | none | none | E.D. Ky. | affirmed |
| Wilson v. New | 332 (1917) | White | McKenna | Day; Pitney; McReynolds | W.D. Mo. | reversed |
| Utah Power and Light Company v. United States | 389 (1917) | VanDevanter | none | none | D. Utah | affirmed |
| Lehigh Valley Railroad Company v. United States | 412 (1917) | Holmes | none | none | E.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| California v. Deseret Water, Oil and Irrigation Company | 415 (1917) | Day | none | none | Cal. | reversed |
| Chicago and Alton Railroad Company v. McWhirt | 422 (1917) | VanDevanter | none | none | Mo. | affirmed |
| Bunting v. Oregon | 426 (1917) | McKenna | none | none | Or. | affirmed |
| United States v. Kenofskey | 440 (1917) | McKenna | none | none | E.D. La. | reversed |
| Lehigh Valley Railroad Company v. United States | 444 (1917) | Holmes | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Pullman Company v. Knott | 447 (1917) | Day | none | none | Fla. | dismissed |
| United States v. Waller | 452 (1917) | Day | none | none | 8th Cir. | certification |
| United States v. Rowell | 464 (1917) | VanDevanter | none | none | W.D. Okla. | reversed |
| United States v. Ginsberg | 472 (1917) | McReynolds | none | none | 8th Cir. | certification |
| United States v. Gradwell | 476 (1917) | Clarke | none | none | multiple | affirmed |
| Straus v. Victor Talking Machine Company | 490 (1917) | Clarke | none | none | 2d Cir. | reversed |
| Motion Picture Patents Company v. Universal Film Manufacturing Company | 502 (1917) | Clarke | none | Holmes | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Marshall v. Gordon | 521 (1917) | White | none | none | S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Oregon and California Railroad Company v. United States | 549 (1917) | McKenna | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| Hendersonville Light and Power Company v. Blue Ridge Interurban Railway Company | 563 (1917) | Holmes | none | none | N.C. | affirmed |
| United States v. Davis | 570 (1917) | Holmes | none | none | D. Haw. | reversed |
| Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company v. Lorick | 572 (1917) | Brandeis | none | none | S.C. | affirmed |
| Pennsylvania Railroad Company v. Olivit Brothers | 574 (1917) | McKenna | none | none | N.J. Sup. Ct. | affirmed |
| Pennsylvania Railroad Company v. Carr | 587 (1917) | McKenna | none | none | N.J. Sup. Ct. | affirmed |
| Lott v. Pittman | 588 (1917) | McKenna | none | none | S.D. Ga. | affirmed |
| St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway Company v. Starbird | 592 (1917) | Day | none | none | Ark. | multiple |
| United States v. Morehead | 607 (1917) | Brandeis | none | none | D. Mont. | reversed |
| Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company v. Layton | 617 (1917) | Clarke | none | none | Ga. | affirmed |