Latest Important Cases Admiralty. Federal jurisdiction of Crimes Territory of Hawaii Not Within Clause Pro tecting the jurisdiction of Territories of the American Union. U. S. Where a murder had been committed on board an American vessel lying in the harbor of Honolulu, and a statute of the United
States (§ 5339, Rev. Stat., U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 3627) gave the federal courts juris diction over ofienses committed in a haven or bay "out of the jurisdiction of any par ticular state," it was held by the United States Supreme Court, in Wynne v. U. 5., decided April 4, that while "state" had been con strued as including territories of the American Union (Talbott v. Silver Bow County, 139 U. S. 438, 35 L. ed. 210, ll Sup. Ct. Rep. 594) it
did not include territories outside the United States, and consequently the federal courts had jurisdiction of offenses committed in the harbor of a port of Hawaii. Mr. Justice Lurton wrote the opinion. Contracts. Construction of Proviso in Build ing Contract Allowing Termination for Unrea sonable Delay-11 Strike of Labor Unions to Cause Such Delay and Injure the Contractor an Unlawful Combination. Mass. An injunction was granted by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts May 13, in the proceedings growing out of the bill in equity brought by L. P. Soule (‘5' Son Co. against the Fargo Real Estate Trust, certain labor unions, and an architect.
The com
plainant held a contract for the erection of a. wool warehouse in Boston, and because he employed non-union labor, certain of the defendants refused to work, in consequence of which the owners of the building, the chief
defendants, gave notice of their intention to terminate the contract by securing a. certifi cate from the architect showing unreason able delay, by means of a proviso which it contained. The Court (Rugg, J.) said in part: “The plaintiff had in all material respects con formed to the terms of its contract and was prosecuting the work with reasonable dili gence, and the grounds stated in the certificate signed by the architect and owners were pretexts and not the real motive actuating
him. The owners have no ‘preference be tween union and non-union labor, but they are extremely anxious to have the building completed at an early date." The Court found that the calling of the strike of the defendant labor unions was unjustifi able and constituted an unlawful combina tion to injure the complainant; that the certificate of the architect was not warranted by the facts, and that being given solely by reason of the strike was not given in good faith, and afforded no justification for notice of owners to terminate the employment of the complainant; that the certificate of the architect, because of the illegal combination, is void. See Public Policy. Conspiracy.
See Contracts.
Eminent Domain. Measure of Damages— Right of Owner of an Estate to Pool His Inter ests with Those of Owner of an Easement and Recover for Full Value of the Estate as if Unencumbered, Denied—Fourteenth
Amend
ment. U. S. Where the owner of land in fee granted an easement of way, light and air to a corpora tion, and mortgaged the land to a savings bank subject to an easement, and the city afterward took by eminent domain the land for a public street, it was held by the United States Supreme Court, in Boston Chamber of Commerce v. Boston, decided April 4, that the jury had the right to consider the improba bility of the easement being released, and to consider the actual damage to the market value of the servient estate, and conse— quently the three parties owning the inter ests in the land were not entitled to pool their interests and recover damages assessed as if the land was the sole property of one donor, nor were they denied the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment because the city had caused the land to be valued as an encumbered property instead of an unencum bered property, and had inquired What has the owner lost, not What has the taker gained.
The opinion of the Court was delivered by Mr. Justice Holmes. Full Faith and Credit Clause. riage and Divorce.
See Mar
