In the 1894 case of Postal Telegraph Cable Company v. Baltimore, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. The dispute arose when the Postal Telegraph Cable Company sought to lay telegraph lines throughout Baltimore without obtaining permission from local authorities or paying any fees for use of public streets and alleys as required by a municipal ordinance. The company argued that it had federal authority under an 1866 law granting telegraph companies right-of-way over post roads (public highways). However, the court held that this federal statute did not supersede state or local laws regulating street usage within their jurisdictions; therefore, cities could require permits and charge reasonable fees for such uses even if they were federally authorized post roads. This decision affirmed municipalities' rights to control their own infrastructure against encroachment by private entities claiming national privileges.

In the dissenting opinion for Postal Telegraph Cable Company v. Baltimore, Justice Brewer argued that a city does not have the right to charge telegraph companies for using its streets and alleys to lay their cables. He believed that such charges were essentially taxes on interstate commerce, which only Congress has the power to regulate under the Constitution. Furthermore, he contended that allowing cities to impose these fees would create an unfair burden on telegraph companies and potentially disrupt communication across state lines. Therefore, in his view, Baltimore's ordinance requiring payment from the Postal Telegraph Cable Company was unconstitutional.