Pensacola Telegraph Co. v. Western Union Telegraph Co. 96 U.S. 1 (1878)
PENSACOLA TELEGRAPH CO. v. WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH CO. 96 U.S. 1 (1878)
This case is significant because the Supreme Court, following gibbons v. ogden (1824), declared that the congressional power to regulate interstate commerce extends to newly invented instrumentalities of commerce, here the telegraph. In 1866 Congress had prohibited the states from granting telegraph monopolies. Florida, seeking to control telegraphic transmission within its jurisdiction, conferred exclusive rights on the Pensacola company. A 7–2 Court, speaking through Chief Justice morrison r. waite, held the state act unconstitutional for conflict with the act of Congress. Accordingly, the company had no valid chartered right to exclude competitors.
Leonard W. Levy
(1986)
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Pensacola Telegraph Co. v. Western Union Telegraph Co. 96 U.S. 1 (1878)
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Pensacola Telegraph Co. v. Western Union Telegraph Co. 96 U.S. 1 (1878)