The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-05
RULINGS FROM The BENCH.
The Alien Contract Labor Law Held
Valid By the Supreme Court.

An Attempt to Enjoin County Super
visors From Issuing Bonds in Pay
ment of a Subscription to a Railroad
Fails-A Murderer Given a New
Chance For Life-Tbe Court of APP
peals Of the District of Columbia
Hands Down a Ruling in the Ford's
Theater Horror.
Washington, Dec. 4.-The court of APP
peals of the District of Columbia has
fixed Jan. 4, 1894, as the day upon which
it will hear argument on behalf of the
government in support of its appeal in
the Palmetto" whisky trade mark case.
decision upon the merits of the alien
contract labor law was rendered in the
supreme court of the United States to-day
by Justice Brewer. In the United States
court for the eastern district of Pennsyl-
vania John S. and Joseph Lees were
fined $1,000 for violation of the law and
appealed, attacking the constitutional
ity of the act, and the jurisdiction of the
court. Justice Brewer announced that
the supreme court found the law to be
constitutional. and that the district court
had jurisdiction, The proceeding against
the Lees being criminal in its nature
the court below erred in compelling the
defendants TO give testimony in favor of
the government. This error was suff-
cient to warrant a reversal of the judg-
ment, and to remand the case for new
trial.
BOND CASE.
Unless Messrs. Powell ct. al, of Bruins
wick county, Virginia, can find some
other means of relief than through the
assistance of the supreme court of the
United States, they have to bear their
proportion of the taxes necessary to meet
the payment of bonds voted to the Allan
tic and Danville Railroad Company, by
that county. From the record in the
case, it appears that the supervisors of
Brunswick county made a subscription
to the stock of the Atlantic and Danville
Railroad Company, to be paid for in bonds
of the county at the rate of IS, 900 a mile.
Powell and a dozen others asso-
ciated with him, brought suit to en-
join the supervisors ana the railroad
company from selling any bonds is
sued for that purpose, or from making
subscription to the stock of the corpora
ton. The state courts, both district and
supreme, ION appeal decided against Pow
ct, al. and they tried to have the su-
preme court of the United State over
rule the state court. But Justice Fuller,
for the tribunal, announced to-day that it
could see no reason for taking the case
under consideration and dismissed the
appeal.
A MURDERER GIVEN NEW CHANCE.
Because of the tenor of an instruction
by Judge Parker, OF the United States
court for the western district of Arkan-
sas, respecting the law of seIf-de-
fense the supreme court, to-day, in an
opinion read by Chief Justice Fuller, gave
a convicted murderer another chance for
his life. The case was unusual and in
tereSting from the fact that the defend
ant, Alexander Allen was an Indian boy
only IA years Of age, and his victim,
Philip Henson, white youth aged 1S
They lived in the Indian Terri
tory and had quarrel two
or three days previous to the date in
which the killing occurred
Allen pleadedself defense, and to the in
structiOns of the court upon the subject
his attorneys accepted. The supreme
court decided that the instruction as to
the definition given by the court of the
term self defense" was Of such a char
acter as tend to draw the minds Of the
Iurymen away from Il consideration of the
facts in the case and confuse them with
abstract propositions. The Judgment Of
the court below was therefore Overruled
and the case remanded for a new trial.
A DISSENTING OPINION.
To this decision of the court Justice
Brewer, for himself and Justice Brown.
entered most vigorous dissent. He
stated that the case was similar to the
one in which he was compelled to file a
dissenting opinion last Monday The por-
tiOn Of the charge to which counsel OBJ
jected, he said, covered but one PROPOSE
tiOn of law, but comprised page and d
half of the record. The law, as laid down
by the Judge, was not assailed by the su-
preme court, but because it was prefaced
by a metaphysical statement Of the
processes that pass through the mind of
man confronted with the question of self
defense, the supreme court had
decied that it was in er-
ror The accuracy of the statements
made by the judge below he said, was not
impugned as he understood, by the de-
cision Of this court, and the error there
fore must lie in the fact that the jury
Were 50 ignorant as not to understand it,
Il know no rule Of law said Justice
Brewer, that justifies this court in as
suming such a condition of ignorance on
the part Of the Jury, and l, therefore,
dissent most earnestly from the de
cisiOn just announced"
THE FoRD's THEATER HORROR.
The district court of appeals this after
noon sustained the demurrer in the case
of Col. Ainsworth. chief of the bureau Of
pension records of the war department,
and three other persons, engineers and
contractors. indicted with him for man
slaughter in causing the collapse of the
Ford's theater building on June . last,
by which twenty-one clerks lost their
lives and Tfum her of others vVpt,p
more or less seriously injured
The court, in brief, held that the
indictment was fatally defective because
it did not show facts sufficient to enable
the court to determine, by legal construc-
tiOn, whether there was joint duty
created and imposed on all the defend
ants. Whether or not the district attor-
ney will attempt to frame another indict-
ment seems to be in doubt. IL is stated
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