The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-04-09
ROANOKE, VA, TUESDAY MORNING, APRIL 9. 18g5

| r'Ru1 VI leVylng lmpOSt8 duties anC
excuses, but it was evident did MOI
mean to transfer to the general govern
ment the right to levy direct taxes ex
cept in case of great emergency. This
compact, the chief Justice said. had
been observed up to the time Of the
passage of the act of August, 1894.
The fact that such tax as that uude II
consideration had been provided by
congress at time when the country
was enjoying profound peace was
averted TO and this, the Justice said,
was circumstance which should call
Tor the exercise of especial circumspec.
ton In considering the present law. 1t
was an innovation Of most striking
and significant character, and was
clearly In contravention of the wishes
OF the States when they, independent
sovereigns up to that time in them
selves. parted with q portion of their
prerogatlves in respect to taxation.
| Much OF this reasoning was meant to
apply to she question Of the taxation OF
incomes derived from rents, but the
chief justice devoted considerable
part OF the opinion to the especial con.
sideration Of this branch of the injury,
and held that taxing the income de-
rived from land, 1t virtually and to all
lntents and purposes taxed the land IT.
self, for, he asked, what was the land
10 anyone but for the profit derived
from 1T? He failed to see any distino-
ton between tax on tho land itself
and the profit derived from it, and no
| one had gone 80 far as to contend that
tax on land would not be direct tax.
| The same conclusion was reached in
| regard to the provision for taxing State,
county and municipal bonds, but into
this question the chief Justice did not
| go as fully as into that OF rent incomes.
He said in effect that it was clearly
never intended by the States to delegate
authority to the national Congress to
weaken their credit by providing q tax
upon their instru mentalities and rev.
enue agencies.
Power to tax these agencies must of
necessity imply the exercise of an In
fiuence upon contract before it was
made. Such an exercise of. power was
repuRnant to the constitution, and there.
fore the portion of the law putting it
into execution must also be declared
! invalid.
! On the other points involved the
opinion did not venture because of the
even division of the court.
In the course of the decision, the
Chief Justice referred at length to the
cases cited by the defense in iustifica-
tion and support Of the income tax but
he declared that in mono OF these cases
had the specific question of the power
of Congress to tax rents and municipal
bonds been passed upon, but only by
inference or incidentally; hence the
| opinion OF the court IS now announced
was not In opposition to previous rul-
inFs OF that tribunal. Indeed, he as
serted, that from the time of the deu
cision in the Hylton case to that in the
Springer case, 1t had been uniformly
conceded that q tax ON land was IN the
nature OF direct tax, while as had
been shown, tax on land profits was
the aame thing as tax on the land
itself.
The court is of the opinion that sc
much of the act OF August Is, 1894, as
attempts to impose q tax upon the rent
or income OF real estate without appor-
tionment, is invalid. The court is fur
thor OF opinion that tho act of August
10, 1894, is invalid so far as it attem pts
to impose tax to be derived from mu-
nicipal bonds Upon each OF the other
questions argued Mt the barr l. Whether
the void provisions as to rents and in
! comes from real estate invalidates the
whole ac.?
| End. Whether as to the income from
personal property as such the act ia
unconstitutional as laying direct taxes?
| 3rd. Whether any part of the tax, if
not considered as direct tax, is in
valid for want of uniformity on either of
the grounds uggested?-The justices
who heard the argument are equally
divided and therefore no opinion is ex-
| pressed.
The result Is that the decree of the
circuit court is reversed and the cause
| remanded with directions TO enter de.
cree in favor OF com plainant in respect
only OF the voluntary payment of the
| taxes on the rents and income of it's
| real estate and that which IL holds in
| trust and on the income from the munic
| iphl bonds owned or so held byit
The chief justice vas followed by
Justice Field, who read the frat dis
senting opinion.
The effect of all the opinions de-
livered is to show that the court was
unanimous in the opinion that the law
| is unconstitutional as to municipal and
State bonds, that Chief Justice Fuller
and Justices Gray, Brewer, Brown and
Shlras held it to be invalid on incomes
derived from rents, and that Justices
Harlan and White dissented from this
opinion as to rents 1t is impossible to
state the exact division as to the valid
ity OF the other parts Of the law further
than was disclosed by the proceedings.
No Information from Madagascar.
WASHINGTON. April s.-The State
Department officials are puzzled over
| the delay In receiving an official report
| upon the case OF ex- United States Con-
0,,l