The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-03-28
r c,,,,,,,,ne Court and the Rights OF
the States.


Moas. one of the noblest men
-, ever lived, lost his head because he ""s
-, conscientious to comply with the wisheso'
u.xRY VIII, and In thus losing IL mace Ill
;mmortality of fame for himself, ana eh''
c,ed tho office of Lord Chancellor win hai'
of glory. Sir EDWARD CoKE redeemed man!
faults by the noble answer which ne also gave
70 King of England who desired him to pros
titute his high office to base purposes 80 long
as the judiciary of a country is pure ana III
corruptible, no great, no permanent harm can
come to the people.
We have heretofore referred to the questions
affecting the relative rights of the Federai an"
State Governments which must come up ioi az
Indication under the present aut"oiho"s 'o,'
struction of the Federal Constitution W.
.re moi so foolish as to look upon the smaii
.as.s which ", are about TO report as settling
any of these great questions. Yet we give
them as straws which show which way the
wind blows And especially as showing tha'
despite of the opposition of Chief Justice CHASE
the Justices of the Supreme Courtare disposed
10 be "clear in their high office, ana 10 ae
eide aucs tons, not for party purposes, but u
benefit the country and preserve its ihsu
tutions.
ru, cases were decided on Monday last, H.
which the rights of States rs such WERE
;,o,,..d The first was from New York, and
was that of adam Fan .ilien, ptantit ia error, rs
Michael " Nolan et al, dcfeaddnts IN error Two
other cases of the same merits were aecioeo
with this one. The question adjudicalea was
the right of State TO tax the shares owned ny
individuals in a national bank, these banks
being based upon Government securities
which Congress had exempted from taNatioi'
The right was denied on seVeral grou'ios is'
That the act of Congress eXemptmg securities
from taxation renders the State law uhcoh'
stitutional, Congress having the right so TO
EXEMPT Government bonds. I'd. The State
law was a restriction upon the CONSTITUTIONAL
power of Congress TO borrow money, ana IL
the State had such right, being in It's nature
unlimited it might be so used rs to deteat the
Federal power altogether. All the points were
elaborated from these two.
The court held that the State has the power
10 impose this tax the same as on any o'heI
personal property belonging to the clllZeh'
that the shares of stock so held are not por-
lions of the capital stock of the bank; that
the capital stock Of the bank is only such stock
or capital rs may be controlled by the bank III
its corporate capacity; that the provisions of
the act clearly indicate that it was the mten-
ton of Congress that the State should eXercls"
this power and derive Il revenue therefrom
In word, that though Government bonds
are not liable 10 taxation, yet the shares held
in a bank based upon these Government bonds
are liable TO State taxation. There were other
points decided, but they are unimportaht'
having no reference 10 constitutional questions
or the rights Of the States.
The case from Massachusetts was exactly
the one TO which we referred Il few days ago,
II was that of the Commonwealth of Massa-
chusetts, defendant i'll error, rs. john NC
CURE. plaintiff in error. The question was
whether the license given MCGUIRE by the
Governments It's Il wholesale dealer III liquors.
was a valid defence to an indictment for Nio-
lation of the State law prohibiting the keeping
for sale of Intoxicating liquors. The court be
low held il was not, and McGrIRE was con
yicted aud sentenced 10 pay fine OF one nun
dred dollars and stand committed until paid.
The case Was then brought before this court on
writ of error, and argued at great length
The Supreme Court held substantially that
the license from the Government held by the
defendant was no defence TO the prosecution
against him; that the effect of the license Is
only to preclude the Government from inter
fering with the business of the dealer who is
licensed and that its authorization goes only
SO far as to bind the United States, and is only
,ernaiss,ce on the part of the Government in
case the State does not interdictt the traffic.
We are indebted to the National Iatettigencer
for our knowledge of these cases. The first is in
teresting to all persons owning shares in cur
national banks and TO the members of the
State Legislature, and both are especially inn
portant as indicating that the great pendulum
is beginning to swing back from the extreme
end marking consolidation to that marking the
vim Of no tat