Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1895-03-06
I. S. SUPREME E COURT.
Noteworthy Opinions Announced
Interstate Rights and Elec-
trical Patents.

Washington, Mch. 6.-The United
States supreme court has announced
opinions in long list of cases, many o
them of great Importance. The inter
esting question of whether the conviction
of person by means of decoy letter is
legal was passed upon in the case of one
Grimme, convicted in Missouri for deal
ing in obscene pictures. He answered a
letter from postotfice inspector, which
resulted in his conviction, and he ap-
pealed, complaining against the means
by which it was secured. The court held
that decoy letters were both morally and
legally justifable.
The decision of the circuit court for
the district of Massachusetts in the case
of the National Cash Register compa
against the Boston Cash Indicator and
Record company was reversed, the opin-
ion holding that the defendent's machine
is an Infringement on the National Cash
register. An interesting
CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTION
was decided in the case of E. s. Emmert
against the state of Missouri, II was
sought to make him pay peddler's
license. He refused, contending that the
machines came from New Jersey, and
that the license was restriction on the
constitutional right of interstate COM
merce. The court held that being han
died as part of the local and domestic
commerce they were no longer the sub
ject of interstate traffic, and were prop
erty subject to state police regulations.
The Arkansas law of 1887, limiting
passenger fares to 3 cents mile and fix-
ing penalty of $500 for each overcharge,
was sustained.
In the case of the United States against
George H. Pratt and Monroe Salisbury, of
California, to recover excessive payments
made to them for carrying the mails, the
action of the court below in dismissing
the case was reversed.
The case of Bannon and Mulkey against
the state of Oregon, the plaintiffs having
been convicted with twenty-five 9th ers OF
conspiring to bring Chinese laborers into
the state contrary to the law, was decided.
The chief allegation of the defendants in
error was that the indictment failed to
aver that the act was feloniously done,
but the court held that this was not good
and sustained the lower court in the con-
viction.
ELECTRICAL PATENTS.
The decision of the court unanimonsly
sustaining the decision of the lower
court in the case of the Bate Refrigerator
company against Sulzberger is probably
more far-reaching in its influence and
affects larger amount of property than
any decision in the court since the
"greenback" cases were disposed of.
This decision not only settled the con-
troversy between the parties directly in
terested, viz: The General Electric COM
pany and the American Bell Telephone
company on the one side and the West
inghouse and the anti-Bell Telephone
company on the other side, but also dis
poses of a very large number of other
patents which the public have assumed to
have expired under the ruling of the
lower court, but which would have been
revived if the decision of the supreme
court in the case had been the other
way, and it also shortens the life of a
great many patents which have not yet
actually expired. The decision is against
the position taken by the General Elec-
trio company and the American Bell Tel
ephone company and those associated
with them on the appeal, and affirms the
decision previously rendered by the
United States circuit court in this circuit.
This decision terminates three Edison
patents for the carbon transmitter owned
by the American Bell Telephone company
by which 1t hoped to extend its control
for rs years more, as would have been
the case had the decision been the other
way.