The Supreme Court case of In re The Huguley Manufacturing Company and the Alabama and Georgia Manufacturing Company in 1901 revolved around a dispute over water rights. Both companies operated cotton mills on opposite sides of the Chattahoochee River, which forms part of the border between Alabama and Georgia. The Huguley Manufacturing Company filed a bill to prevent its competitor from diverting or using any portion of the river's water that would affect its own operations. However, it was determined that both parties had equal rights to use the waters for their respective businesses as long as they did not interfere with each other's reasonable use or cause harm to one another’s property. Therefore, neither company could monopolize nor significantly alter the flow without mutual agreement or legal authorization.

The dissenting opinion in the case of The Huguley Manufacturing Company and The Alabama and Georgia Manufacturing Company argued that the court majority erred in its interpretation of the law. They believed that a corporation, as an artificial being created by state statute, could not be considered a citizen for purposes of federal jurisdiction. This view was based on their understanding that corporations do not possess inherent rights or privileges but only those expressly conferred upon them by their creating states. Therefore, they contended that it is inappropriate to extend constitutional protections intended for natural persons to these entities without explicit legislative authorization. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority's assertion that diversity jurisdiction should apply because corporations are legally distinct from their shareholders; instead, they maintained this distinction does not alter the fact corporations remain creations of state law lacking independent citizenship status.