New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-14

Mr. Choate asserted that the question involved
ina, rents nseparqbe from rfa e n bean 9e
considered eyen presented for cons!deF3llol,
t6o, ne we 6nve lost h cs S in adj
vance under the decisions Of the Court W. et
several cases referred TO- ending win the springer
case IN that case" said Mr.. Cnoate. "Mr springer
sued for the recovery of years income TAX "nen
he was a representative Of the outside word. not
and he averred that he had earned 5000 tha' year
lie vas lawyer, and he advocated his own caust
Probably he was an exception to the rule when
There was nothing in the pleadIngs in ina; case,
cluded an afirnance OF the proposition for which
he contended. Nh Choate then prSceedeG 10 GiTg
the uniform clause in the Constitution. Mr.. Garter
he said had explained thai meant tnat ' aSd H
lated to the plan and method of collecting ne taA
n" pSras s' buzz the At.orncyjienera in himself
representing the august power of the lesdl ran,
his arm across The face of the instrument aa'!n 5y
expunges the word as meTe VII wss that in
the ievying Of impos's duties and excuses whaneXe'
q dozen 'h S s9SI and each ana citizen
throughout the United States ne rui' WI VI, r,,ia
Of inequality. This construction OF the phrass sad
Mr. Choate had been uniformly acted upon u ~ vour
was never tarfr act passed by the United stat $
which made the rate OF duty depend upon the per-
or corpor1tion which paid i,,,1 rot that con-
structon destroy ali specific duties proVlueu il
every tariff act; 49,, o,.,r, src, a right. We
do no, say that every ike article shall pay the
rate Of duty, or that every article Oh S'''''
'nstce Whi;eIDo not ali the decisions OF Stats
courts upon the equal and uniform sS'anrShh
the fact that you cannot tax man WIN - W SGs
OF property at the same rate you do one win 'V'
N Nr snsie dec cl% had been found in either the
Federal State books, said Mr. Choae. ina' & h
h Ei and associate counselmiha' the tax shall
be equal as between man and man. 49,, ,r,,i,,
&c hrO1 =.
and monstrous doctrine propounded 10y, the itii,
sen,aves Of the Government; that Jhg in@ Gn,5
compensated for by irregularities IN an9iher FORM o!
he asked Before leaving this branch of The case
Mr. Choae said there was an mtr1' h rs proposon
contended for by him. And 1t was iii1srt'I1 %nI
strengthened by the exception quoted Ho'" iou'S'-
MIR Choate proceeded then to discuss the mesli
which was the exemption Of incomes Of 49," ana
less The meaning ana ar rS for be,a in thai COZ
dton. Counsel who had prece4ed hIn arr 6 NAN
onTv the extremely rich Il thought there one
law for the rich and for the poor on W. are az ~.
6ecared " was deberae strike by those who 2e
for at those PARIS Of IN TSa H excapon Of c
was The same as other blows at the Consu'uti2n
within the four sai G ' PresGSn refused
sign the bill; no wonder that neither Inc nFe1'' h
nor nor Se0re oY r{Ga 81 income oTs
Justice Harlan-Do you concede that any exception
Nir Choate-We do not.
While discussing the inequalities OF exemption &C.
STCwn 6f s. COO 10 the ndydua was allowed
reasonable amount for domcs,ic and Household TX
penditures. while the corporation Is not coMpe"ed
to fpeqcah o snylhMns h8T nsiS Your
the law is made alike for the corporation ana IN
form Of business which Their States ss4 held out
Referring to the exceptions made in behalf OF
caprcious secretion of the accumulations OF great
ont iust6caton upon any principle Of law or Of
public policy" Mr. Choate said that Trinity Church
'' CHEZ Justice FueT~Is TRINITY church exempt,
Columbia, Yale Harvard colleges with their i'm
Dakota and other Western states pay to make up
the deficit thus occasione1 but ley that go, %"
generous before YOU are just" Regarding the ehcc,
of the exception OF mutual insurance companies
and banks and savings banks. Mr.. Choaic faid
that the provisions regarding savings banks w9u.4
millions TO put then into saDnss ham an 1ont shS
mutual Insurance companies relieved from taxation
Was fully sl2oScocc 90 Was that reasonable *
ercise of Congressional polcy. or was II caprr"3
by the author Of the bill. It in the bin as
il left the House BY some means y was smusglcd
in while the bin was in possession of Senate com
Mir. Choate said his learned friend NIr Carter
had argued that these mutual companies We're
Organized TO divide the losses Of insurance among
h se coninnd Aba ' BEEN ,he Legal adviser Of the
Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company for forty
mgjnt,ons ms amount 10 ,icGoC1 lie has seen it
issue reports year after year giving me result o,
imagine that his friend the venerable president Of
the COMPANY would l2ngh in ns IA, face h yn9H
you are business solely for the purpose Of divid-
Whatever its effect upon Mr Jones might be. the
suggestion was too much for the gravity Of those
;on o the court Another slght ebulltion Of
laughter was created Il moment later. Mr. Choatr
one whose sS5,CoCto of surplus would escape taxa
is the Equitable a mutual company" asked Jus
Well answered Mr.. Choate with slight sus,
pcion OF chuckle in his tones. 1T has a capital
stock Of slooco, but transacts business OH the mu-
State and municipal bonds were entitled 70 *
emptiOn from the operation OF the law upon the
from State taxation. Mr.. Carter had argued that
tho power to borrow money which would he I'M
paired II it's bonds were subject to unlimited taNa-
ton by the State necessary 10 the sovereignty
Of the sae b but sat yas not Csse Gd5 to me
necessary an ingredient in the sover -ignty
,ne be faci that b c OF Of York ar
ranging TO borrow SONoo0 with which to provide
rapid transit for its Inhabitants. The contention
that the Federal Government should have the same
power to the bonds Of the States az they have
10 tax the bonds OF each other Mr.. Ch0ate SAID
met by the statement tina. the States tad
entered into no such agreement with each ether
they had with the Federal Government
After apologizing 20 the Court for having tres
passed upon their time and attention until pos
sbly. he had weared them, Mr.. choa'e said in
closing:
Il have felt the responsibility Of this case as J
have never felt one before. and never expect 10
again. do not b"Iev" any member Of this
has sat, or ever will Sit to hear and decide "A
the consequences Of which Will be far
reaching the present one: not the venerable
member OF the court CIr rici,D who survives from
the early days Of the Civil War and has sat upon
every question OF reconstruction, OF National des-
tiny. OF State destiny, that has up this
court during the last thirty years. no member OF
the court will live long enough to hear in
volving question more vital than this, which af-
fecis seriously the people Of these United States
who rely upon the guarantees OF the COnsi tuition
which our fathers made and under which our peo-
PIE have lived until this time.
"If II is true. as my learned friend CMr Carter
said in closing that the passions Of the people are