Harmon v. City of Chicago, 147 U.S. 396 (1893)
U.S. Supreme Court
Harmon v. City of Chicago, 147 U.S. 396 (1893)
Harmon v. City of Chicago
No. 1,022
Decided January 23, 1893
147 U.S. 396
ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS
Syllabus
The commerce clause of the United States Constitution precluded the City of Chicago from enforcing an ordinance providing, inter alia, that
"No person or persons shall keep, use, or let for hire any tug or steam barge or towboat, for towing vessels or craft in the Chicago River, its branches or slips connecting therewith, without first obtaining a license therefor in the manner and way hereinafter mentioned."
This was an action against the City of Chicago, Illinois, to recover the sum of $300 paid by the plaintiff on compulsion and under protest for licenses for 12 steam tugs, of which he was the manager and owner. The action was commenced in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, and was tried by the court without the intervention of a jury, by stipulation of parties. At the trial, the plaintiffs put in evidence the following agreed statement of facts: