The case New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk Telegraph Company v. Dolan, Collector of Taxes for the Southern District of the City of Wilmington in 1923 revolved around a dispute over taxation. The telegraph company argued that it was being unfairly taxed by the city of Wilmington on its tangible property located within Delaware state lines. The company claimed this violated both their Fourteenth Amendment rights and an act passed by Congress in 1888 which prohibited states from taxing interstate commerce companies beyond what is fair and reasonable. However, the Supreme Court ruled against them stating that while they were indeed engaged in interstate commerce, they also had substantial operations within Delaware making them subject to local taxes as well. Furthermore, it was found that there wasn't any discrimination or unfairness involved with how these taxes were levied upon them compared to other businesses operating solely within Delaware's borders.

The dissenting opinion in the case of New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk Telegraph Company v. Dolan argued that the tax imposed by Wilmington on telegraph poles and wires was not an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce. The dissent disagreed with the majority's view that these physical properties were instrumentalities of interstate commerce, arguing instead they were part of a local business operation subject to state taxation. They contended that if every property used for facilitating interstate communication or transportation is exempted from local taxation because it aids in such activities, then virtually all forms of property could be shielded from taxes under this rationale - a conclusion they found untenable. Therefore, according to them, there should be no constitutional bar against taxing such properties as long as it does not discriminate against or unduly burden interstate commerce.