Daily Kennebec journal., 1895-05-21
ITS DEATH BLOW.
Supreme Court Says Income
Tax Is Unconstitutional.
Fuller, Field, Gray, Brewer, Shiras,
Vote Against It.
Harlan, Brown, Jackson. White Support IT.
The Justices Opinions.

Washington, NJ ~ 20-Thc supreme
| court has dec' rcd che income tax uncon-
| stitutional. Tho clief justice announced
the followir & conc usions:
First We ad er to the opinion already
announced thar tn, taxes on real estate
being undi put, BIZ direct taxes; taxes on
| tho rents IT n CO le Of real estate aro
equally dir, ct ta&ts.
Second: We are of the opinion that
taxes on personal property or on the in
come of personal property arc likewise
direct taxes.
Third: Tho tax imposed by sections
% to 81, inclusive, of the act of 1894, so
far rs it falls on the income of real estate
and of personal property, being direct
tax within the meaning of the constitu-
tion, and is, therefore, unconstitutional
and void because not apportoned accord
ing to representation. All those sections
constituting one entire scheme of taxa
ton are necessarily invalid The decrocs
herein before entered in this court will be
vacated, the DEGREES below will be reversed
and the cases remanded with instructions
to grant the relief prayed
Upon the question of the general uncon-
stitutionality of the law, the court is un-
Against the law, Chief Justice Fuller,
Justices Field, Gray. Brewer and Shiras
For the law, Justices Harlan, Brown,
Jackson and White.
In dclverir & the opinion In tho income
tax cases, Chief Justice Fuller said:
Whenever this court is required to
pass upon the validity of an act Of Con-
gress as tested by the fundamental law
enacted by tho people, the duty imposed
demands in its discharge tho uttermost
dellberatiOD and care and invokes the
deepest sense of responsibility. And this
is especially so when the question In
wolves the exercise of a great governmental
power; it brings into consideration, as
vitality affected by tho decision, that com
pick system of government so sagaciously
framed to secure and perpctuate an In
destructible union, composed of In
destructible states.
As heretofore stated, the constitution
divided federal taxation into two great
classes, the class Of direct taxes, and the
class of duties, imposts and cxcises. and
prescribed two rules which qualified the
grant Of dover to each class.
The power to lay direct taxes was appor.
tion to their representation In the popular
branch of Congress. Representation based
on population as ascertaincd by the census,
was plenary and absolute, but to lay d.
rect taxes without apportionment was for
hidden. The power to lay duties, imposts
and cxcises was subject to the qualiflca-
tion that the imposition must be uniform
throughout the United States.
Our previous decision was confined to
tho consideration of the validity Of the tax
on the income from real estate and on
the income from municipal bonds The
question thus limited was whether such
taxation was direct or not In the mean
ing of the constitution, and the court
went no farther as to the tax on tho In
come from real estate, than to hold that
it fell within the same class as the source
whence the income was derived; that Is,
that tax upon the realty and tax upon
the receipts therefron were alike direct,
while as to the income from municipal
bonds, that could not be taxed because Of
want of power to tax the source and no
Continued on page 2.