William Howard Taft

“ We agree with the Circuit Court of Appeals in this view. There is no doubt of the general jurisdiction of the District Court of the Canal Zone as a court of general jurisdiction to hear a suit brought by one resident of the Zone against another upon whom personal service can be had, in respect of any property or personal right of the plaintiff. The question here was whether the court could grant an equitable remedy against an officer of the Canal, when, as asserted, it would in effect be an injunction against the United States. ”

“ The fact that we have been able thus to get along during the important days of construction without legislation expressly formulating the government of the Zone, or delegating the creation of it to the President, is not a reason for supposing that we may continue the same kind of government after the construction is finished. ”

“ Hence, it is claimed that the Commission's regulation of April 1, 1907, with its succeeding orders on the same subject, has all the force of an act of Congress not to be amended by the President, and that by its terms all employees are entitled to free quarters and to the other privileges.
The force to be given to this claim depends primarily on the proper construction of section 2 of the Panama Canal Act of 1912, and that needs for its reasonable interpretation a short consideration of its legislative history. ”