110 Tenn. 183 | Tenn. | 1901
Lead Opinion
delivered the opinion of the Court.
This cause was heard upon demurrer_ in the court below. The demurrer was overruled, and the defendants have appealed to this court, and assigned errors.
The defendants are the county of Davidson, the mayor and city council of Nashville, and Len K. Hart, trustee of Davidson county. The case, as made by the bill, is that Benedict Bros, are residents of Davidson county, and are now, and have been for twenty years past, manufacturers of and dealers in lumber; their place of business being in Nashville, Tennessee. They were called upon by the tax assessors for a statement of personalty taxable in their hands on the 10th of
It is difficult to give a correct definition of the terms “articles manufactured of the produce of the State.” It is evident that they are not the same as the direct product of the soil, in the hands of the producer or his immediate vendee. The direct product of the soil is necessarily in every instance the produce of the State, but it does not follow that the produce of the State is confined to the direct products of the soil. And while
We cannot think this is a correct view. The pro
We are of opinion that, under the facts in this record, the logs upon the yard, in the hands of the mill-operating manufacturer and his property, and lumber rough and smooth, cut by him from such logs grown on Tennessee soil, are articles manufactured from the produce of the State, and exempt under the provisions of section 30, article 2, of the constitution; and the demurrer was therefore properly overruled, and complainants, under the allegations of their bill, are entitled to recover back the taxes paid the State, and to perpetually enjoin the taxes assessed by the county and city; and the decree of the court below is therefore affirmed, and the cause remanded, at costs of defendants for the appeal.
Dissenting Opinion
DISSENTING OPINION.
delivered the following dissenting opinion:
While barely conceding that the majority may be right in their holding that lumber sawed from logs which are the produce of the State may fall within the class of articles exempt from taxation under section 30