Rufus Wheeler Peckham

“ There is every reason, therefore, why such stamps should be regarded as personal property, even while in the possession of the government. They become valuable to the amount of their denomination the very instant they get into the possession of another. ”

“ Justice Story that the meaning of the words 'personal goods of another' was to be determined by a resort to the common law as furnishing the proper rule of interpretation, and he held that in the strict sense of the common law 'personal goods' are goods which are movable, belong to, or are the property of some person, and which have an intrinsic value ”

“ The contention on the part of the plaintiff in error is that, in order to sustain an indictment under this statute (1) there must be a felonious and forcible taking of personal property; and (2) the property must be the subject of larceny, which postage stamps belonging to the government are not.
1. There are two distinct offenses mentioned in the statute.
One is the offense of robbery, the legal and technical meaning of which is well known. It is a forcible taking, or a taking by putting the individual robbed in fear. ”