The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1912-09-20
SUPREME COURT
DECISIONS

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itself along the lines laid down in the
three tax cases recently decided by
the United States supreme court, the
/ state supreme court Wednesday, held,
in the Whitmire case, in which sew
eral hundred Cherokees were plain.
tiffs, that the members of that tribe
were exempt from state taxation,
while their lands remained in the
hands of the allottees.
Justice Kane, who incidentally dis
sented from the former opinion of the
lcourt and was sustained by the fed
eral supreme court, wrote the opinion,
In the syllabus he says:
| Cherokee allottees by virtue of the
lCherokee agreement, under which in
consideration of their REIMBURSEMENT
of all claim to the tribal property, they
were TO receive allotments of the lands
in severalty, which were to be non
taxable for a specified period while
the title remained in the original al
Ilottees, acquired vested rights of ex-
emption from state taxation, protect
led by the United States constitution,
5th amendment, from abrogation dur
ling that period, as was attempted by
the act OF May %, 1908, removing the
restrictions upon alien alton, and pro-
viding that lands from which such re-
strictions had been removed should
be subject to taxation"
This case, involving the rights OF a
large number of Cherokees, was
brought in the name of Walter S.
IWhitmire, before District Judge John
NJ Pitchford, in the form of an ap-
lplication for an injunction against the
state board of equalization, to prevent
the certification of the taxes against
the plaintiffs for the years of 1908 and
1909.
Other opinions by Judge Kane were;
w. l.. Curtis, ct al VS.. Commission
ers of Sequoyah county, affirmed; c..
II. Pumroy, sheriff of Pawnee coun. y
and Ed Louthan, deputy sheriff VS.. j.
w. Buck, Pawnee affirmed; Henry
lShaffer and H. c. Paulsen VS.. E. c.
Remmers, L, F. Lee ct al, Canadian,
dismissed.
Canadian Trading company VS.. j. G..
Rails, ct al, Pittsburg, dismissed;
Mike Cunyan VS.. John Clemons, Kay,
dismissed; F. w. Turner, ct al. VS..
Mary Hufftetler, Creek, dismissed; A.
l.. Jones &, Co. VS.. C. C. Cochran, Pitts
burg, affirmed; st. Louis and San
Francisco Railway company VS.. W. E..
Hickey, Washita, dismissed; Cosmo-
poltan Fire Insurance company of
New York VS.. ]. w. Moon, Bryan re-
lversed and remanded; Town of JEFF
Iferson VS.. w. J. Hicks, Grant. motion
to vacate judgment denied; Des
Moines Insurance company VS.. w. J..
Moon, Bryan, reversed and remanded.
Other decisions: Citizens National
Bank VS.. Warner and Jackson, Atoka
county, affirmed; Missouri, Kansas &
Texas VS.. Ed c. Snyder ct al, Usage,
affirmed; Elizabeth Clemens VS.. St.
Louis & San Fransico, Oklahoma, re-
versed and remanded.
In the Washington county case of
Robert L. Henry, ct al. VS.. The Bart
Ilesville Gas and Oil company, Chief
Justice Turner affirmed the lower
court, holding that a city has no power
to grant franchise to supply natural
gas, to an individual
This business" said the court, 'of
a public nature, has been provided for
by the state and by it entrusted to
domestic corporations only"
Both parties to the controversy OBJ
tanned franchises to pipe gas to the
city of Bartlesville and the dueStisp
for the court to determine was as to
which should stick
/ Incorporated cities and towns in
Oklahoma are without power to fix
telephone rates in such a manner as
to preclude the state corporation COM
mission from exercising its complete
jurisdiction over that subject, and the
ordinance of the city of Oklahoma
City authorizing the Pioneer Tele-
phone and Telegraph company to in
crease its rates, with every addition
of 1000 telephones to the exchange,
was void for that reason.
The state supreme court, in an
opinion by Chief Justice Iohn B.
Turner made this decision Wednes-
day.
GaIden Rule Met Defeat.