Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-12-07

WASHINGTON, December 5.-AccOrQ-
ing to the bare majority Of the court,
the Philippine islands are domestic ter
ritory Of the United States, and have
been ever since Spain signed the treaty
of peace, in which that vast archipela-
go and the little, but valuable island
of Porto Rico were ceded to the re-
public.
Mr.. Justice Brown is the man who in
each case that has come before the
court, has welded the balance Of pow
er. On the one side are ranged Chief
Justice Fuller, and Justices Brewer,
Harlan and Peckham. On the other
side are Justices Gray, McKenna, Shi-
ras and White. Justice Brown stands
at the teeter-board, and in one case
flops with the chief justice and in the
other with the dissenters.
The twd last cases decided were
known as the Fourteen Diamond
Rings and the "Dooley Case" The
latter, be 1t said, has no connection
with the famous Chicago humorist.
The fourteen diamonds rings were
brought from the, Philippine islands by
Emil J. Pepke, a soldier in South Da-
kota volunteer regiment. Where or
how he became possessed Of them,
does not matter. AS Kipling would say
that is another story. If he had kept
his mouth shut after he returned to
this country, there would probably have
been one less famous case on the dock
ct Of the United States supreme court.
But he blabbled about his good fortune
while crossing the continent, and in
Chicago the customs officials seized the
rings because he had not declared
them at San Francisco and paid the
high duty levied upon the admission
of diamonds to this country.
Pepke's lawyer claimed the Philip
pines were United States territory and
duty could not be legally collected. To
get a decision the case was promptly
passed up to the supreme court. Chief
Justice Fuller and Justices Brewer,
Brown, Harlan and Peckham hold that
the Philippines are part Of the United
States and that Pepke has the same
right to bring the rings home with him
from Manila, without being disturbed
by customs officers, as he had to buy
them in Chicago.
The Dooley case differed in this wise.
Dooley took goods from New York to
Porto Rico, and was compelled to pay
duty on them as imports into the is
land. These import duties were fixed
by the act Of congress known as the
Foraker tariff. The written opinion
handed down would fill many columns
Of type, but 1t is easy to summarize
them in a few words.
Chief Justice Fuller and Justices
Brewer, Harlan and Peckham hold the
same opinion in the Dooley case as in
the Pepke case, that the constitution
followed the flag, and that when the
Spanish treaty was signed, Porto Rico
and the Philippine islands both became
part Of the United States and therefore
subject to certain provisions Of the
constitution framed by the illustrious
founders Of this government, namely,
that "all duties. imports and excises
shall be uniform throughout the United
States" and that mo tax or duty shall
be paid on articles exported from any
state"
Justices Gray, McKenna, White and
Shiras see the matter in a wholly diff
ferent light in both cases. Each Of
these eight learned legal gentlemen,
four on each side, hold the same opin-
ions in every case that has come be-
fore the court growing out of the war
with Spain. The ninth justice. Brown
draws upon himself the wondering
eyes Of the nation, by siding with one
set Of fours in the Pepke case, and
with the other set in the Dooley case
So Pepke, the soldier, gets his rings
free, and Dooley. the merchant. has to
pay duty on goods shipped from New
York to Porto Rico.
ly, too, to his associates on the bench,
the opinions of Justice Brown appear
to be altogether too flexible, his rea-
sons for agreeing first with one side
and then with the other, may be very
briefly given. He holds that the action
Of congress in specially legislating for
Porto Rico was constitutional, and
that the goods imported into Porto
Rico from the United States, after the
passage of the Foraker tariff act was
for the benefit of Porto Rico and there
fore properly collected.
IF the duties levied by the Foraker
act" said Justice Brown, in giving his
opinion, had been covered into the
United States treasury, the tax on
goods going into Porto Rico from the
United States could be properly termed
a tax on exports. AS the duties thus
went for the benefit of the in
sular treasury and were collected only
until the territory was fully organ
lied, the Foraker act was exclusively
for Porto Rico, and did not contravene
the provisions of the constitution that
duties should be uniform throughout
the United States"
1t may be interesting to note that
Justice Brown Is a Republican, and
that the effect of his opinion will be in
the future, as it has been in the past,
to sanction legislation which congress
may see fit to enact for the insular pos
sessions of the United States.
While it is the Democratic contention
that territory acquired must be a part