City of Philadelphia v. Atlantic & P. Telegraph Co.

J. B. McPHERSON, District Judge.

The litigation concerning the question’ involved- in this case has been carried on for a good many ' *371years. In Philadelphia v. Western Union Telegraph Co. (C. C.) 40 Fed. 615 — the first reported decision of the series — the circuit court for this district decided that the license fee sought to be exacted by the city from the telegraph company for the years 1886, 1887, and 1888 in respect of its poles and wires, under the two ordinances that lie at the foundation of the present suit, was excessive and unreasonable. The city seems to have acquiesced in this…