 In the absence of congressional legislation, the US government could not collect customs duties on sugar from Puerto Rico shipped to other parts of the United States by classifying Puerto Rico as a foreign country.The majority opinion was authored by Justice Henry Billings Brown, joined by Justices Melville Fuller, John Marshall Harlan, Rufus Wheeler Peckham and David Josiah Brewer.Justice Joseph McKenna authored a dissent, which was joined by Justices George Shiras, Jr., and Edward Douglass White.