Opinion of the Court by
announced by the Chief Justice.
Appellants, as common carriers, are engaged in transporting freight by motor vehicles for hire along public highways between fixed termini and over regular routes within California. The 1926 Amendment to the Constitution and the statutes of that State lay upon such carriers a tax of 5% of their gross receipts in lieu of all other taxes, while other freight carriers, common and private, by motor vehicles, are subjected to different and, it is alleged, less burdensome taxation. Cal. Const., Art. 13, § 15; March 5, 1927, Chap. 19, 1927 Cal. Stats.
By this proceeding, instituted July 21, 1928, appellants ask that the constitutional amendment and the statute *82 which undertake to lay such tax upon them be declared discriminatory and in conflict with § 1, of the Fourteenth Amendment; also that an injunction issue against the State Controller forbidding him from attempting to enforce payment.
Upon motion, without written opinion, the District Court — three judges sitting — dismissed the bill. The cause is here by direct appeal; and the only matter for our determination is the validity of the challenged classification.
The power of a State in respect of classification has Often been declared by opinions here. We are unable to say that there was no reasonable basis for the one under consideration; the court below reached the proper result; and its decree must be affirmed.
Appellants voluntarily assumed the position of common carriers operating between fixed termini and enjoy all consequent benefits. That a marked distinction exists between common and private carriers by auto vehicles, appears from
Frost
v.
Railroad Commission,
Although relied upon by counsel and said to be almost identical with the case at bar,
Quaker City Cab Co.
v.
Pennsylvania,
Affirmed.