Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-01-08
THE LAW REGARDING PRIZES
SEIZURE OF Fishing Smacks Prououpc.
ed Illegal by Supreme Court

Inc United States Supreme Court TODAY
decided two cases involving the question ~
the right to capture coast fishing vesse,s
belonging to the enemy in time of war and
make prizes of them. These decisions in
vowed two fishing smacks owned in Ha-
Naha which were taken by the bIocka ding
squadron condemned and sold as prizes
Jusuce Gray delivered the opinion of the
court, holding that the seizure was con-
iary to Well-established international law
Cnlef justice Fuller, Justices Harlan and
; NC en- dlssented, and united In an opin-
ION by the chief justice. He took the
ground that there was no rule In such cases
lnmutably fixed by international law. and
mat exemption from the rigors of war
s i.'o De controlled entirely by the leeisla-
1--WE department. and that as the President
hau not 1nterfered to prevent Condemns.
ton, that condemnation should be affirmed
Inc TWO vessels involved in the decision
bana. Ia
Declared Not a Discrimination.
Justice White handed down the opinion
of the court in the case of the Io,,jsviua
and Nashville Railroad Company and 9TH
ers against Henry W. Behlmer, appealed
from the decision of the circuit court of an
peais for the fourth circuit. The case in
vowed the construction of the long and
snort haul clause of the interstate COM
merce law. Behimer was in 1892 a mer-
chant at Summervile S. c., and was
charged Is cents per 100 pounds on a con-
Segment of hay shipped from Memnhis
whereas the rate on hay from Memphis to
Charleston, S. c., was only 10 cents ner
1oo. or nine cents less. The court of an
peals, as we'll as the interstate commerce
commission decided that this was A dis
elimination in the meaning of the law To-
days decision reversed the circuit court of
appeals on the authority of the decision in
Alabama Midland case.
|. No Recovery on Policy.
The court rendered an opinion through
Justice Shiras in the case of the Canada
Sugar Refining Company VS.. the Insurance
Company of North America involving the
insurance in the profits of a cargo of sugar
shipped from the Philippines and partially
lost by shipwreck. The circuit court of ap-
peais held that as the cargo was not
total loss there could be no recovery on
the policy This opinion was reversed by
todays action.
State Creditors Preferred
In the case of Blake and others vs. Nc
Chung and others, decided in the Supreme
Court today, the court took occasion to
reafhrm with emphasis its position as to
the validity of the state law of Tennessee,
giving state creditors preference in dispos-
ing of the assets Of insolvent foreign
corporation which had been operating in
the state. The case had formerly been be-
fore the court and there had apparently
been some Misrepresentation of the former
directions of this court concerning the law,
giving state creditors preference over some
OHIO creditors in a given Sc. Justice Har-
Ian handed down the opinion rendered to-
day. He said that the Ohio creditors were
entitled to share upon terms of equality
with the Tennessee creditors in the dis
tribution of the assets and that any other
decree was inconsistent with the Constitu-
ton of the United States