Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1901-05-31
THE SUPREME COURT
Sustains the Insular Policy Of the
Administration.
GOVERNMENT LOSES ONE CASE.

Duties Collected Before the Passage Of
the Porto Rican Act Must Be Return
ed-Porto Rico Never Foreign Terri
tory After the Treaty Of Paris.
Washington, May 2S.-In the United
States supreme court yesterday opin-
ions were handed down in all but two
Of the cases before that court involv-
ing the relation OF the United States |
to its insular possessions. The two |
cases in which no conclusion was an |
nOunced were those known as the Il |
diamond rings case and the second Of |
the Dooley cases. The undecided Doc
ley case deals with phase of the Por-
to Rican question, and the diamond
rings case involves the right to the
free importation of merchandise from
the Philippines to the United States.
OF the several cases decided yester-
day the two which attracted the great
est share Of attention from the court
were what is known as the De Lima
case and that known as the Downes
case, and of these two the opinion in
the Downes case is considered the
most far reaching, as it affects our fu-
ture relations, whereas the De Lima
case dealt with a transitional phase
of our insular relations. The court
was very evenly divided on both cases.
but political lines were not at all con
trolling.
The De Lima case involved the pow
er of the government to collect a duty
on goods imported into the United
States from Porto Rico after the rati-
f1cation OF the treaty of Paris and be-
fore the passage of the Porto Rican
act. The court said the government s
contention in this case was substan-
TALLY claim that Porto Rico is foreign
territory. The court held that the po-
sition was not well taken; that Porto
Rico was not at the time foreign ter.
ritory, and that therefore the duty
which had been collected must be re
turned.
The Downes case dealt with the lie
gslity Of the exaction of duties OF
goods imported from Porto Rico int
New York after the passage of the For
aker act providing for a duty upol
J goods shipped from the United State
into Porto Rico and also on those shin
2 ped from Porto Rico to the Unite,
, States. In this case the court held tina
1 such exactiOn was legal and constitu
Lional.
. The point of the two opinions consid
e cred collectively is that Porto Ric
e was never after the acquisition of tina
island foreign territory; that until cor
g gress acted upon the question no dut
J. could be collected, but that as 500
as congress outlined a method of COZ
a trolling the islands revenues that az
/. ton became binding; in other words
that congress has power under the col
e stitution to prescribe the manner {
r collecting the revenues of the coul
e try's insular possessions, and has tn
q right to lay a duty on goods importe
If into our insular possession from tn
G. United States or exported from thel
t. into the United States It holds
" brief that for taxation purposes the
S, are not a part of the United States /
a. the extent that goods shipped betwee
a. their ports and the United States al
S. entitled to the same treatment
though they were shipped betweC
New York and New Orleans.
IS Justice Brown delivered the court
is opinion in both, and there were vigC
is GUS dissenting opinions in both.
ii the Downes case four of the nine mel
C. bers of the court united in an opinio
Id characterizing in strong language Il
of opinion of the majority in that cas-
IS In this opposing opinion the chief il
,r. tice and Justices Harlan, Brewer al
i'll Peclkham united.