Nathaniel Crane brought a case against the lessee of Henry Gage Morris and John Jacob Astor. He argued that he was entitled to compensation for improvements made on land owned by them in New York City. The Supreme Court found that Crane had no right to receive payment because his claim did not fall within the scope of any existing law or statute, nor could it be established as an equitable right under common law principles. Furthermore, they held that even if there were such a legal basis for his claim, it would have been barred by laches - meaning he waited too long before bringing suit - since more than 10 years had passed since the improvements were made and title transferred from Morris and Astor to their lessees. As such, the court dismissed Crane's complaint with prejudice due to lack of evidence supporting his claims.

In the case of Nathaniel Crane v. The Lessee of Henry Gage Morris et al., the dissenting opinion argued that a lessee should not be held liable for damages caused by an act of negligence committed by their tenant, as long as they had no knowledge or involvement in it. This was because the lease agreement between them and their tenant did not make them responsible for any such acts, nor did it give them control over what happened on the premises. Furthermore, even if there was some form of negligence involved in this particular situation, it could have been avoided with reasonable care and diligence from both parties; thus making neither party solely responsible for any resulting damage or injury. Therefore, according to this opinion, Crane's claim against Morris' lessees should have been dismissed due to lack of evidence proving that they were at fault in any way.