Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-04-09

the time OF the passage Of the act OF
August, 1891. The chief justice held
that in taxing the income derived from
land II virtually and to all intents and
purposes taxed the land Itself. for, he
asked. what was the land 10 any one
but for the profit derived from III The
name OF the tax was unimportant, but
the efect was OF small consequence.
and as there could he neither distinc-
ton nor material difference between
taxing the land and the profit derived
from II the court had reached the opin-
lon that this portion OF the law was in
valid and could not be sustained. The
same conclusion was reached In regard
10 the provision for taxing state. colony
and municipal bonds. he said in effect
that IL was clearly never intended by
the states to delegate authority to the
national congress TO weaken their
efcoit sy proNluiug tax dpln their M
atrumenialitles and revenue agencies.
such an exercise Of power was re-
pusnant 20 the constitution and there
Iore the portion. ot the law uutting IL
INTO execution must also be declared in
valid.
On the other points involved the 0pin-
Ion did not venture because OF the even
division OF the case.
The chief Justice was not prepared TO
give out the fun text Of the decision.
but finished the following summary OF
press,
lie began by stating tlr. executions to
the law az made by COUNSEL for the an
pellant rs follows:
j. That the act imposes a direct tax
IN respect or the real estate, rents. ia-
sues and profits as well as OF the in-
come ana PROFITS OF personal property.
ana not being apporuoned. is in Viola
uqn 81 section OF article OF the con-
.. 1hat the law II not Innoslne n
direct tax IS nevertheless unconstitn-
uonal In that It's provisions are not
UNIFORM throughout the United states
anu DO not operate with tho same
force ana erect upon the sub ject OF the
tax wherever found. In that II provides
exemptions Ia favor of individuals and
co-pHrtnerships while denying an cx-
Suptlons to corporations having siml-
lar income derived from Ike property
and values and provides FOR other eX-
empuons ana Inequalities In violation
OF section Of article 1 OF the cons,l-
tuition
8, The act provides no exemption Of
the tax upon Incomes derived from the
stocks and bonds of states OF the Uni
ted States and counties and munlei-
tiles therein, which stocks and bonds
power of congress.
The lncous from these securities I'm
The United States amounts to over
$biW)O 600 per anuum ON which the
total annual income tax would be ST.
100000. He then took up the constiiu-
tlonal points involved, dwelling upon
the fact that the constitution required
the npp0rtonment OF direct taxes and
uniformity In excuses and imposts. He
also dwelt upon the question OF repre-
sentauun and taxation which was, he
SAID, q foremost one when the conati-
ton was adopted lie then took up
the question OF tax on rents and In do
Ing SO, discussed at considerable length
the uestion OF direct tax as consider
cred NJ the time OF the framing OF the
constitution The trainers Of the con-
stltutlon Were, he said. well veracd In
the government OF the colonies and
European countries, and were we'll
yersod In the literature OF the period
including works on political economy
and well calculated TO pass intelllgcntly
on this kind,
He quoted various supreme court do
clsions and sought to show that while
the income tax question had been be-
fore the court, the question had only
been considered as applying to the
point at issue in the particular cases
Coming down to the present tarin
act he said that the law was passed In
a time Of profound peace, and It was
to be taken as evidence that congress
had sought IN this matter to form a
precedent and establish departure
from established line, and II therefore
became important TO inquire into the
circumstances with some attention TO
detail, and the purpose OF comparison
he went back to the enactment of an
income tax during the civil war. He
quoted from the decision in the Sprin-
ger case, giving n history OF the case
and dcvoting much attention to It, MS
he said il was upon this case that the
defense had apparently relied upon this
more generally than upon any preco-
dent. 1t Is, he said, conceded In all
the cases from Hilton to Springer that
taxes on land are direct taxes. while
In some OF them II is determined that
taxes on rents derived from land are
indirect taxes. Was thore. he asked,
any distinction between the tax on
land and the income derived from the
land.
what, in other words, was the land
but the profit on ~ The name OF the
tax ~ unlmportant and the court has
been unable TO see any distinction. He
closed by saying that the court had
reached the conclusion that the land
and rents were involved. The chief
Justice took up the question Of the
taxation OF municipal and state bonds
The decision was also adverse to this
part of the law MS repugnant to the
constitution. on the other points the
court was divided and therefore no
opinion could be given. >
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