[1] The Court upheld by a 6–3 vote a federal tax on colored oleomargarine, rejecting contentions that it exceeded Congressional authority.

The justices in the majority refused to examine Congress's motives, instead ruling that the tax was valid because, regardless of the intent behind it, its effect was to raise revenue.

[3] Chief Justice Melville Fuller dissented from the decision, which curtailed his own previous opinion in the 1895 case of United States v. E. C. Knight Co. and showed that Fuller's support for a limited federal government could not always garner the support of a majority of the Court.

Because oleomargarine was naturally white, which was thought to be unappetizing, manufacturers began adding yellow color to it.

Congress enacted a statute to tax colored oleomargarine at a rate of 10 cents per pound, which would effectively destroy the market for that product.