Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ Assuming, as we do, that the attorney general is correct in saying that only the legislature of the defendant state can act, we are of opinion that the time has not come for granting the present motion. If the authorities of West Virginia see fit to await the regular session of the legislature, that fact is not sufficient to prove that when the voice of the state is heard, it will proclaim unwillingness to make a rational effort for peace. ”

“ The body that directed the institution of the suit has taken the proper step on behalf of the plaintiff, and it is for the defendant to say whether it will leave the court to enter a decree irrespective of its assent, or will try to reach a result that the court will accept. The conference is not for an independent compromise out of court, but an attempt to settle a decree. ”