"The statute, however, is merely declarative of the rule which would exist in the absence of the statute."

If within the limits of the Constitution a State should declare one of the disputed rules of general law by statute there would be no doubt of the duty of all Courts to bow, whatever their private opinions might be.

Mr. Justice Sutherland wrote: "It was urged upon the argument that section 721 of the Revised Statutes, which provides that the laws of the several states shall be regarded as rules of decision in trials at common law in the courts of the United States, by implication excludes such laws as rules of decision in equity suits. The statute, however, is merely declarative of the …

The tax, if there was any, could have no origin independent of the provisions of the statute, and any decision upholding or annulling it is one involving inescapably a construction of the statute.

The rule [of ejusdem generis] is one well established and frequently invoked, but it is, after all, a rule of construction, to be resorted to only as an aid to the ascertainment of the meaning of doubtful words and phrases, and not to control or limit their meaning contrary to the true intent

It is also claimed that, because the trial court in this cause found, after hearing the witnesses the weight to be with the petitioner and against Weiss, assignor of respondent, his conclusions of fact, except for manifest error, are to be treated as unassailable.

Here, while the suit is one in equity, the statute and decisions relied upon have nothing to do with the general principles of equity or with federal equity jurisdiction, but simply establish a measure of damages applicable alike to actions at law and suits in equity

This phrase, like all the other words of the treaty, is to be given a meaning, if reasonably possible, and rules of construction may not be resorted to to render it meaningless or inoperative.

[CITATION] Omaha Indian Tribe v. Omaha Indian Tribe