In the case of St. Louis v. Western Union Telegraph Company in 1896, the city of St. Louis sued Western Union for unpaid taxes on its telegraph poles and wires within city limits from 1878 to 1882, arguing that these constituted real estate property subject to taxation under Missouri law. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Western Union, stating that while states have power over their own internal commerce and can tax businesses operating within their borders, they cannot interfere with interstate commerce or impose a tax on it without congressional approval as per the Commerce Clause of the U.S Constitution (Article I Section 8). Since telegraph lines were used for both intrastate and interstate communication, taxing them would effectively be imposing a burden on interstate commerce which was unconstitutional unless approved by Congress.

In the dissenting opinion for St. Louis v. Western Union Telegraph Company, it was argued that the city of St. Louis did not have a right to tax telegraph poles and wires owned by Western Union as personal property because they were already taxed as real estate in Missouri where they were located. The justice believed that this constituted double taxation, which is unjust and unconstitutional under U.S law. He also pointed out that if every municipality through which these lines passed could impose such taxes, it would place an unbearable burden on interstate commerce and communication companies like Western Union - potentially leading to their financial ruin or severely hampering their operations across state borders.