The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-03-09
ARE WORKING HARD.
no ANTI-INC0NIE TAX ARGUMENT
IS LOST SIGHT OF.
Guthrie Devotes a Good Portion of
the Day In Instructing the United
States Supreme Court on the Sub
Jeet.

Washington, March Sin the
supreme court OF the United States to-
day Mr.. Guthrie resumed his argu-
ment for the appellants in the income
tax cases, He discussed the hearing
on the fifth amendment of the consti-
tuition upon the cases and also re-
ferred TO other constitutional proYi-
sions. Referring TO the fifth consti-
tutional amendment. he said its pro-
vision that no person should be de-
priVed OF life, liberty or property With.
out due process Of law had been made
for the protection of the people
against undue entertainments. He
contended tkat any law which would
impose d tax on one class Of people
and not on another was in direct con-
tradiction OF this amendment. He
then returned to the discussion Of the
question of taxation of corporations in
a different way from which individu-
ais were taxed, and said this point
was OF tranScendent importance in the
case, reasserting the property of any
corporation was the property OF the
individuals composing It.
He asserted that if Congress WaS
permitted to discriminate against in
corporations as in the income law they
would virtually have the power to
nulIify right Of states to create cor
poratiOnS. He closed With an appeal
for equality in taxation.
Its COnstitutionality
Mr.. Seward followed. also speaking
on hehalf Of the appellgklts. He
argued against the conStituti0nality Of
the income tax, He devoted himself to
the discussion of the questions as 10
whether the tax was a direct tax, and
argued that if it was, 1t must, under
the revision of the constitution, be
q n
Referring to the decision in the
Springer case, upholding the war in
come tax, he said 1t was the decision
OF a local court to sustain a law en-
acted to maintain the government at
q critical time; but now the circum-
stances were quite different, with the
country enjoying peace. He felt that
the Springer decision would not operate
as bar to the prosecution Of this
case.
Mr.. Seward said there had never been
time in the history Of the countrv
that state taxes we're designated as
other than direct taxes, He asserted
shat an income tax had been levied in
most of the colonies prior to the ado4,-
tion of the constitution. The people
had then regarded it as a direct tax.
When the words "direct tax" We're
adopted in the constitution they must
ing attached to them among the people
at large.
Mr.. Seward was discussing the ques-
ton of apportionment when Chief JUS
/ tee Fuller interrupted with the Ques-
ton: Suppose there should not be a
sufficient amount arising from the tax
alton of incomes of over $4,000 TO meet
the requirements Of "a given stateT
The Governments Case,
Tt could be DONE" replied Mr.. Sew
ard, ION the basis Of population, which
Is the only thing to he appOrtioned to, ="
Assistant Attorney-Generai Whitney
! then presented the outlines of the gov
eminent case. He explained the differ
ence between the two cases from New
! York and the one arising in the Dis
| trict. saying that in the Moore case
the effort has been to secure an in
/ junction against the collection Of the
! tax, While in the other two cases the
| effort had been made to enjoin the
/ payment of the tax. the first being an
! action against the commissioner of in
ternaI revenue and the two others
against the trust companies, of which
! the appellants were stockholders Mr..
Moore, he said. is a rich man. who
| possesses an income exceeding 5000, 600
/ a year, but did not claim to have any
property that could be reached as a
! lien for the collection of the tax
| Mr. Moore had declared this law
! could not apply to an unconstitutional
! tax, but the court had held that an
unconstitutional tax was still tax.
'fHow can Congress make law
/ compelling a man to do q thing which
/ the constitution says ne cannot? %
! asked Justice Field. But At the sug-
/ gestion of Chief Justice Fuller that
/ further discussion of the point WAS IN
/ necessary Mr.. Whitney did not at
/ tempt 10 reply and passed on to the
! Pollock case.
A Direct Tax.
He said the government had MOI
/ considered it worth While to go back
! for centuries for a definition of the
phrase direct tax" and he devoted
| himself to the consideration of the orr
! gin of the phrase in the constitution
and not TO its use since He said
/ Congress in considering the present
| law before its enactment had t1iscns-
| sed the question as to where the limit
could be drawn so as to protect the
! poorer classes, and the figure of 81, 900
/ had been agreed upon after q very
thorough comparison Of opinions. AS
/ TO the discrimination against corpora
/ tons. he c0ntended the corporation'e
! income was necessarily different from
/ that of individuals and hence there
must be different basis for fixing the
! tax.
Mr. Whitney had not concluded when