Melville Fuller

“ If the rate of taxation in Arkansas did not exceed 2 per cent, as indicated in the return of the telegraph company to the railroad commissioners, the highest amount of taxes in any one county would fall below $400.
Although, if these county assessments were aggregated, they would considerably exceed $2,000, yet the several county clerks or tax collectors cannot be joined in a single suit in a federal court, and the jurisdiction sustained on the ground that the total amount involved exceeds the jurisdictional limitation, as already ruled in Walter's Case. ”

“ Even if this were so, the circuit court could not take cognizance of the suit unless the matter in dispute exceeded, exclusive of costs and interest, the sum of $2,000. 24 Stat. 552, c. 373, § 1; 25 Stat. 433, c. 866; U.S. v. ”