The U.S. Supreme Court case Postal Telegraph-Cable Company v. Warren-Godwin Lumber Company in 1919 revolved around a dispute over the delivery of a telegram. The lumber company had sent a telegram via the telegraph company to cancel an order, but it was not delivered promptly due to negligence on part of the telegraph company's employee, resulting in financial loss for the lumber firm. The court ruled in favor of Warren-Godwin Lumber Company, stating that even though there were contractual limitations set by Postal Telegraph-Cable Co., they could not evade liability for their own negligence which led directly to damages suffered by another party (the sender). This ruling established that companies providing public services have certain responsibilities and can be held liable if their negligent actions cause harm or financial loss.

In the dissenting opinion for Postal Telegraph-Cable Company v. Warren-Godwin Lumber Company, Justice Holmes argued that the majority's decision to hold a telegraph company liable for damages due to an error in transmitting a commercial message was incorrect. He believed that there should be no liability unless negligence could be proven on part of the telegraph company. According to him, errors are inevitable in such businesses and it would not be fair or practical to impose strict liability for every mistake made during transmission of messages. The justice also pointed out that customers have options like repeating their messages or insuring them against mistakes if they want extra precautions taken with their communications, hence making it unnecessary and unjustifiable to place all responsibility on companies providing these services.