Evening star., 1896-12-01
DECISIONS HANDED DOWN
Action in Several Cases by the United States
Supreme Court.
One Involving the JurisdictiOn of O
Liability for Municipal Taxes.

The title to the town site Of the town OF
Flagstaff is involved In the case OF Emma
j. Gonzales VS.. e. w. French ct al, ap-
pealed from the supreme court Of the terri
tory of Arizona to the Supreme Court of
the United States. Mrs. Gonzales claimed
the land under a pre-emption entry, but
her claim was not sustained by the Arizona
courts and the United States Supreme
Court today affirmed this decision.
Justice Harlan in an opinion for the
court affirmed the decision of the United
States circuit court for the eastern dis
trict of Louisiana in the case of the New
Orleans Water Works Company vs.. the
city of New Orleans, refusing to enjoln the
city of New Orleans from granting to
others than the water company the right
to lay water pipes in the city.
The court has dismissed the case OF the
Chicago ard Northwestern Railway Com
pany the city of Chicago on the ground
of want of jurisdiction. The case is one
in which the railroad company seeks to
prevent the condemnation of ground for
street crossing over railroad tracks by the
city.
Justice White delivered the opinion of
the court in the case of Pleasant Draper
VS.. the United States. This case involved
the question of the jurisdiction of the
state courts of Montana over crime COM
nlitted by persons not Indians in Indian
reservations in the state of Montana
Draper. who Is a negro, was convicted In
the United States circuit court for the
Montana district of the murder OF another
negro in the Crow Indian reservation. He
brought the case to the Supreme Court on
q writ of error, alleging the want of 1ur1s-
dictfon on the part OF the federal court:
The Supreme Court sustained this view OF
the case, reversed the decision of the cir
cult court and remanded the case for trans
fer to the state courts for prosecution.
In an opinion by Justice Brown yester-
Jaxr tho SrIr.r
cision of the circuit court of the United
States for the southern district of Georgia
in the case of the Central Railroad ana
Banking Company William A. Wright.
controller general of the state of Georgia.
The case involved the question of liability
of railroad company for certain municipal
taxes along the line of the road. The court
decided that tax on the property was not
a tax on the capital stock of the company.
ard upheld the constitutionality of the
Georgia law.
In an opinion by Justice Gray the SUI
preme Court yesterday refused to grant the
relief asked by the state of Nebraska I'm
the case of that state against the Missouri
Pacific Railway Company. The railway
company declined to allow the erection of
elevator on land belonging to that cor
poration. Justice Gray. in the course Of
his opinion. said that the case involved no
question of rates, but that, carefully an
alyzed. 1t appeared as case in which
voluntary association of persons sought to
secure for themselves certain privileges
from the railway company and to compel
the donation of land for elevator purposes
The United States Supreme Court yes
terday reversed the district court for the
southern district of Iowa, in the case of
A. A. Edgington, because the court had
refused to accept evidence of the good
character of the defendant who was ac-
cused of perjury in a pension case.
Whatever" said Justice Shiras in de-
liverins the opinion. may have been said
in some of the earlier cases. the decided
weight of authority now is that good char
acter, when considered IN connection with
the other evidence in case, may generate
d reasonable doubt"