16 F. 193 | U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Indiana | 1883
The legislature of Indiana, on the twenty-ninth day
of March, 1881, passed an act entitled “An act concerning taxation,” the eighty-seventh section of which reads as follows:
“Every joint-stock association, company, or corporation, incorporated under the laws of any other state, and conveying to, from, and through this state, or any part thereof, passengers and travelers in palace cars, drawing-room cars,, sleeping ears, or chair cars, on contract with any railroad company, or the managers, lessee, agent, or receiver thereof, shall be held and deemed to be a sleeping-car company; and every such sloeping-car company doing business in this state shall annually, between the first day of April and the first day of June, report to the auditor of state, under the oath of an officer or agent of such corporation, the gross amount of all their receipts, within or without the state, for fares earned or business done by such company within this state for the veal then next preceding the first day of April of the current year; and in computing such gross receipts the same.shall be in the proportion that the distance traversed in this state bears to the whole distance paid for. At the time of making such report, such company shall pay into the treasury of the state the sum of $2 on every $100 of such receipts. And every sleeping-car company failing or refusing for more than 30 days after the first day of June to render an accurate account of such gross receipts, as above provided, and pay the required tax thereon, shall forfeit $25 for each additional day such report and payment shall be delayed, to be recovered in an action in the name of the state of Indiana, on the relation of the auditor of state, in any court of competent jurisdiction, and the attorney general shall conduct such prosecution; and such sleeping-car companies so failing or refusing shall be prohibited from carrying on such business until such payment is made; and all railroad companies in this state, or the persons managing or operating the same, are prohibited from hauling any cars of any sleeping-car company while so in default; and for each violation of this prohibition shall be liable to pay to the state of Indiana the sum of $100, to be recovered in the proper action by the state.”
The first paragraph of the complaint avers tha\ the defendant, the Pullman Palace^ear Company, is a joint-stock company, organized under the laws of Illinois; that it now is and for a long time has been engaged in the business of carrying to, from, and through the state of Indiana passengers and travelers in palace cars, drawing-
The second paragraph avers that for the year ending the thirty-first day of March, 1881, the defendant, while engaged in the business described in the first paragraph, earned and collected for carrying passengers, in Indiana alone, the sum of $156,931.18, and for the year ending the thirty-first day of March, 1882, the further sum of $160,926.52, and that these sums were received within and without the state. Judgment is demanded in this paragraph for a tax of $2 on each $100 of such gross receipts for these two years.
The right of a state to tax property within its territory or jurisdiction, and protected by its laws, cannot be questioned so long as no provision of the federal constitution is violated. This right of taxing for revenue may be exercised in any mode or form that the state sees fit to adopt. Corporations may be taxed by the state whose creatures they are. They may be taxed on their stock, their franchises, their gross receipts, or their net receipts, and they may be taxed upon their receipts as part of their common property or funds in, their treasuries, although such receipts have been derived from the business of commerce between the states. But, while the taxing power of the state is thus unlimited over subjects within its jurisdiction, it is, nevertheless, true that this power cannot be exercised on persons and property beyond the state’s territory or jurisdiction. The laws of a state can have no extraterritorial effect. State Tax on Foreignheld Bonds, 15 Wall. 300.
The defendant is an Illinois joint-stock company, engaged in the business of transporting passengers through the states. Indiana claims the right to tax the gross receipts of this company in its treasury in Illinois, which were earned within this state. Part of these receipts, and no doubt the greater part, were not even collected in Indiana. The mere fact that the money was earned in doing busi
Á state can regulate its internal commerce as it pleases, but no state can exclude from its limits corporations of other states, as carriers of passengers from state to state, nor can any state charge corporations, whether organized by its own- laws or the laws of other states, for the privilege of engaging in commerce within its limits. If Indiana may exact 2 per cent, of the gross earnings of corporations organized under the laws of other states as a condition upon which they will be permitted to pass over its territory as carriers of passengers, of course it may exact more, and other states may make similar exactions. The right asserted in this case amounts to a restraint or regulation of commerce between the states, and its enforcement would render the protection of the federal constitution unreal. If the tax is sustained, it is plain that it will ultimately fall upon the passengers, and become a tax upon them for the privilege of crossing the state. By a statute of Nevada it was declared that a capitation tax of one dollar should be levied upon every person leaving the state by railroad, stage-coach, or other vehicle employed in transporting passengers for hire; and the persons then engaged in the transportation of them were required to make monthly
Commerce between the states, whether carried on by individuals or corporations, is under the regulation of congress. A state may exclude from its jurisdiction corporations of other states not engaged in interstate commerce. The right of exclusion cannot be exercised against corporations-of other states thus engaged, any more than against individuals. Paul v. Virginia, 8 Wall. 168.
The state of Pennsylvania, by a statute, taxed the gross receipts of railroads, canal, and transportation companies, incorporated under the laws of that state, and the supreme court of the United States held that this might be done, on the ground that the states have authority to tax the estate, real and personal, of all corporations of their own creation, including carrying companies, precisely as they may tax similar property when belonging to natural persons, and on the further ground that the receipts when taxed had become part of the general property of the corporation, and were in its treasury within the state. State Tax on Railway Gross Receipts, 15 Wall. 284. This case is not authority for the plaintiff in the case at bar. An ordinance of the city of Mobile required that every express company or railroad company doing business in that city, and having a business extending beyond that state, should pay an annual license of $500; that every such company doing a business not extending beyond the state, but beyond the city limits, should pay an annual license of $100; and that every such company doing business exclusively within the city should pay an annual license of $50. The penalty prescribed for violating this ordinance was a fine of $50 for each day’s non-compliance.
A Georgia corporation established a local office in the city of Mobile, where, by its local agent, it did a general forwarding and commission business, extending beyond the state of Alabama. The agent was fined for conducting the business of the agency without having paid the license of $500. The case was finally taken to the supreme court of the United States on a writ of error, where, in Osborne v. Mobile, 16 Wall. 479, the validity of the ordinance was sustained. The tax in this case- took the form of a license fee for maintaining an agency or local place of business in Mobile, while the tax claimed by Indiana under section 87 of the sjiate tax act is not a license for es-
State Poweb of Taxation. The power of taxation is an incident of sovereignty, and is eo-extensive with that of which it is incident ;
Power Lodged in Legislative Department. To discharge the charges incident to the proper exercise of the powers of government, and the performance of the duties prescribed in the state constitution, the power of taxation is assigned to the legislative department,
Extent of Taxing Power of State. The power of the state as to mode, form, and extent of taxation is unlimited where the subjects to which it applies are within its territorial jurisdiction.
Powers to be Exergised in Discretion. Powers are to be exercised in discretion,
Security against Abuse of Power. The existence of a power should not be denied merely because it may be abused in its exercise, nor should it be presumed that abuses take place.
Interstate Commerce. The power to regulate commerce, foreign and interstate, cannot be trammeled by state legislation;
Transportation oe Passengers. The several states have not the power to impose a tax on interstate travel,
Taxation on G-ross Receipts. A state tax on gross receipts has been held not a tax on commerce.
Ybiiioles of Commerce. The vehicles of commerce may be taxed ;
Dobbins v. Com’rs of Erie Co. 16 Pet. 435; Crawford v. Burrell, 53 Pa. St. 219. See note to Railroad Tax Cases, 13 Fed. Rep. 785.
Ex parte Robinson, 12 Nev. 263; Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 99 U. S. 281; Providence Bank v. Billings, 4 Pet. 514; McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316.
Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 99 U. S. 281; St. Louis v. Ferry Co. 11 Wall. 429; McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316; Providence Bank v. Billings, 4 Pet. 514; Waterhouse v. Public Schools, 9 Baxt. 398; Marr v. Enloe, 1 Yerg. 452; Keesee v. Dist. Board, 6 Cold. 127.
Providence Bank v. Billings, 4 Pet. 514; Taylor v. Chandler, 9 Heisk. 353; King v. Portland, 2 Or. 104; People v. Soldiers’ Home. 95 Ill. 564; Tucker v. Ferguson, 23 Wall. 375; N. W. University v. People, 80 Ill. 335; Weston v Shawano Co. 44 Wis. 256; Jones Mauuf’g Co. v. Com. 69 Pa. St. 137.
Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 99 U. S. 231.
Waterhouse v. Public Schools, 9 Baxt. 398.
Parham v. Justices of Decatur, 9 Ga. 352.
O’Byrne v. Savannah, 41 Ga. 331.
Bangor v. Masonic Lodge, 73 Me. 433; Weston v. Shawano Co. 44 Wis. 256; Jones Manuf’g Co. v. Com. 69 Pa. St. 137; Glasgow v. Rowse, 43 Mo. 489; Providence Bank v. Billings, 4 Pet. 514.
Taylor v. Chandler, 9 Heisk. 349.
Id.
People v. Morgan, 90 Ill. 558; Waterhouse v. Public Schools, 9 Baxt. 338; Eurigh v. People, 79 Ill. 214; Turner v. Althaus, 6 Neb. 54.
Meriwether v. Garrett, 102 U. S. 472; State Railroad Tax Cases, 92 U. S. 615; Hine v. Levee Com’rs, 19 Wall. 660; Board of Educ’n v. McLandsborough, 36 Ohio St. 232; Lima v. McBride, 34 Ohio St. 338; Luehrman v. Taxing District, 2 Lea, 443; Keesee v. Civ. Dist. Board, 6 Cold. 127; Waterhouse v. Board, etc., 8 Heisk. 857.
Turner v. Althaus, 6 Neb. 54; Luehrman v. Taxing Dist. 2 Lea, 444; Lipscomb v. Dean, Lea, 550.
U. S. v. New Orleans, 98 U. S. 381.
Luehrman v. Taxing Dist. 2 Lea, 444; Lipscomb v. Dean, 1 Lea, 550; Waterhouse v. Public Schools, 9 Baxt. 398.
State v. Consol V. M. Co. 16 Nev. 445; Slack v. Ray, 26 La. Ann. 675.
Updike v. Wright, 81 Ill. 49; Board v. Houston, 71 Ill. 318; Harward v. St. Claire, etc., Drainage Co. 51 Ill. 130; South Park Com’rs v. Solomon, 51 Ill. 37; Gage v. Graham, 57 Ill. 144; Hassler v. Drainage Com’rs, 53 Ill. 105.
State Tax on Foreign-held Bonds, 15 Wall. 319; McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 428; St. Louis v. Ferry Co. 11 Wall. 429; Railroad Tax Cases, 13 Fed. Rep. 731; Catlin v. Hall, 21 Vt. 161; Blue Jacket v. Johnson Co. 3 Kans. 299; Hagar v. Supervisors, 47 Cal. 222; Corte v. Soc. for Savings, 32 Conn. 173.
Duer v. Small, 17 How. Pr. 201; Nathan v. Louisiana, 8 How. 82; Providence Bank v. Billings, 4 Pet. 514; McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316.
Providence Bank v. Billings, 4 Pet. 564; Taylor v. Chandler, 9 Heisk. 358; Providence Bank v. Billings, 4 Pet. 563.
Fratz’s Appeal, 52 Pa. St. 367
N. W. University v. People, 80 Ill. 335; Tucker v. Ferguson, 22 Wall. 575; People v. Soldiers’ Home, 95 Ill. 564.
Dobbins v. Com’rs of Erie Co. 16 Pet. 435.
Gibson v. Mason, 5 Nev. 289; Raguet v. Wade, 4 Ohio, 107; Sears v. Warren, 36 Ind. 267; Harrison v. Mayor, 3 Smedes & M. 581; New York v. Miln, 11 Pet. 138; License Cases, 5 How. 625; Passenger Cases, 7 How. 531; Woodruff v. Parham, 8 Wall. 137; Ward v. Maryland, 12 Wall. 428.
Fairfield v. People, 94 Ill. 256; Eurigh v. People, 79 Ill. 214; State v. Lancaster Co. 4 Neb. 537.
Luehrman v. Taxing Dist. 2 Lea, 438; Memphis v. Memphis W. W. 5 Heisk. 529; Hope v. Deaderick, 8 Hun, 9; Bell v. Bank of Nashville, Peck, 269; Knoxville & O. R Co. v. Hicks, 1 Tenn. Leg. Rep. 338; Pollard v. State, 65 Ala. 631.
Weston v. Charleston, 2 Pet. 467; Andrews v. Auditor, 28 Grat. 123; Transp. Co. v. Wheeting, 99 U. S 279; Savings Soc. v. Coite, 6 Wall. 604; Providence Bank v. Billings, 4 Pet. 563; McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 429.
Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 99 U. S. 279; Nathan v. Louisiana, 8 How. 73; Brown v. Maryland, 12 Wheat. 419; Weston v. Charleston, 2 Pet. 449; McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 429; Savings Bank v. Coite, 6 Wall. 604; State Tonnage Tax Cases, 12 Wall. 204.
Martin v. Hunter, 1 Wheat. 326.
Brown v. Maryland, 12 Wheat. 419; Martin v. Hunter, 1 Wheat. 326; Metropolitan Bank v. Van Dyck, 27 N. Y. 400.
King v. Portland, 2 Or. 154; People v. Mayor of Brooklyn, 4 N. Y. 420.
Taylor v. Chandler, 9 Heisk. 358; Nathan v. Louisiana, 3 How. 82; McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 434.
Wisconsin Cent. R. Co. v. Taylor Co. 52 Wis. 51.
Eurigh v. People, 79 Ill. 214.
Weister v. Hade, 2 P. F. Smith, 474.
State v. Columbia, 6 Rich. (N. S.) 1.
St. Louis v. Ferry Co. 11 Wall. 429.
Kitty Roup’s Case, 81* Pa. St. 216; Zimmerman v. Turnpike Co. Id. 96, which decide that the rule was not taken away by the new constitution.
Wisconsin Cent. R. Co. v. Taylor Co. 52 Wis. 37.
Id.
Wagoner v. Loomis, 37 Ohio St. 571.
Detroit v. Detroit, etc., Co. 43 Mich. 140.
Bank v. Hamilton, 21 Ill. 53; Detroit v. Detroit, etc., Co. 43 Mich. 140.
Kneedler v. Lane, 45 Pa. St. 238; Metropolitan Bank v. Van Dyck, 27 N. Y. 400.
Turner v. Althaus, 6 Neb. 76; Kerby v. Shaw, 19 Pa. St. 261.
Nathan v. Louisiana, 8 How. 82; McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 434; Johnston v. Macomb, 2 Ga. 652.
McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316; Osborn v. U. S. Bank, 9 Wheat. 738; Providence Bank v. Billings, 4 Pet. 561.
Railroad Tax Cases, 13 Fed. Rep. 723, and note, p. 785; Ex parte Robinson, 12 Nev. 275.
McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 434.
Turner v. Althaus, 6 Neb. 71; Providence Bank v. Billings, 4 Pet. 561; Shaw v. Denis, 10 Ill. 418; Wynehamer v. People, 13 N. Y. 404; Kirby v. Shaw, 49 Pa. St. 261.
Railroad Tax Cases, 13 Fed. Rep. 732; Brown v. Maryland, 12 Wheat. 434; Welton v. State, 100 U. S. 275; Webber v. Virginia, 103 U. S. 344.
Hall v. De Cuir, 95 U. S. 488; Welton v. State, 91 U. S. 282; Council Bluffs v. Kansas, etc., R. Co. 45 Towa, 338.
Kellogg v. Union Co. 12 Conn. 23,
Cooley v. Port-wardens, 12 How. 319; People v. Coleman, 4 Cal. 46.
Cooley v. Port-wardens, 12 How. 299; Gilman v. Philadelphia, 3 Wall.713; Ex parte McNeill, 13 Wall. 240; Pound v. Turck, 95 U. S. 462; Mitchell v. Steelman, 8 Cal. 353: Crandall v. Nevada, 6 Wall. 35; People v. Cent. Pac. R. Co. 43 Cal. 404.
City of Macomb v. Twaddle, 4 Brad. 257; Richards v. Raymond, 92 Ill. 612. See Railroad Tax Cases, 13 Fed. Rep. 785, note.
State Treasurer v. Philadelphia, W. & B. R. Co. 4 Houst. 158; Crandall v. Nevada, 6 Wall. 35.
Pick v. Chicago, etc., R. Co. 6 Biss. 182; State Freight Tax Case, 15 Wall 232.
Passenger Cases, 7 How. 283; Crandall v. Nevada, 6 Wall. 35; Henderson v. Mayor, etc., 92 U. S. 250.
State Treasurer v. Philadelphia, W. & B. R. Co. 4 Houst. 158.
Pullman S Car Co. v. Garnes, 3 Tenn. Ch. 587. See Memphis & Little Rock R. Co. v. Nolan, 14 Fed. Rep. 534, note.
West. U. Tel. Co. v. Mayer, 28 Ohio St. 521; Tax on Railway Gross Receipts, 15 Wall. 289.
Phila. Contributor Ins. v. Com. 98 Pa. St. 48.
Ins. Co. v. Com. 87 Pa. St. 173.
Germauia L. Ins. Co. v. Com. 85 Pa. St. 513.
Phila. Contrib. for Ins. v. Com. 98 Pa. St.48; Society for Savings v. Coite, 6 Wall. 594; Prov. Instit. v. Massachusetts, Id. 611.
State Tax on Railway Gross Receipts, 15 Wall. 299, dissenting opinion of Miller, J., Field and Hunt, JJ., concurring. See note to In re Watson, 15 Fed. Rep. 518.
Ins. Co. v. Com. 87 Pa. St. 181; Brown v. Maryland, 6 Wall. 31; Passenger Cases, 7 How. 283; Hays v. Steam-ship Co 17 How. 596; Steam-ship Co. v. Port-wardens, 6 Wall. 31; Crandall v. Nevada, Id. 36; Almy v. California, 24 How. 169; Tonnage Tax Cases, 15 Wall. 232; State Tax on Foreign-held Bonds, Id. 300.
Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 9 W. Va. 182; Camden v. Haymond, Id. 680.
Howell v. State, 3 Gill, 14: Perry v. Torrence, 8 Ohio, 522; Lott v. Mobile Trade Co. 43 Ala. 578; State Tonnage Tax Cases, 12 Wall. 204.
Minot v. Phila., etc., R. Co. 18 Wall. 206; S. C. 2 Abb. (U.S.) 323.
Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 99 U. S. 284; Johnson v. Drummond, 20 Grat. 419; Passenger Cases, 7 How. 283, 479.
Brown v. Maryland, 12 Wheat. 419; Peryear v. Com. 5 Wall. 475; Waring v. Mayor, 8 Wall. 110; Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 99 U. S. 282; Hays v. Pac. M. S. S. Co 17 How. 596.
Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 99 U. S. 282; Hays v. Pac. M. S. S. Co. 17 How. 596.
Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 99 U. S. 273; S. C. 9 W. Va. 178:
Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 9 W. Va. 178.
Telegraph Co. v. Texas, 105 U. S. 465; State Tonnage Tax Cases, 12 Wall. 204; Peete v. Morgan, 19 Wall. 581; Cannon v. N. O. 20 Wall. 577; Inman S. S. Co. v. Tinker, 94 U. S. 238.
Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 9 W. Va. 179.
Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 99 U. S. 284; Cannon v. N. O. 20 Wall. 577; Peete v. Morgan, 19 Wall. 581; State Tonnage Tax Cases, 12 Wall. 204.
Transp. Co. v. Wheeling, 99 U. S. 280; Passenger Cases, 7 How, 429.