Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-04-10
TALKING OF THE DECISION
Some Remarkable Utterances of Mr.. Carter
Recalled.
A Threat of Revolution If the Law
Was Not Sustnincd-Justice
Fields Opinion.

1t Is evident that the decision Of the
United States Supreme Court on Monday
last in the income tax case is to be lead
ing topic until there shall be some definite
adjustment of the questions involved on
a very different basis. The decision leaves
the law in the condition which shocks the
An erican notion of fair play.
The opinion of Mr.. Justice Field, the old
est member of the court, has been much
read. 1t is the one opinion which was at
once accessible. and was cheerfully fur
nished to the press. The opinion Is q
severe indictment of the constitutionality
of the whole law. This opinion sustains
the view which was held by many of the
ablest lawyers in the two houses of Con-
gress when the measure was under consid-
GRAFTON.
Origin of the Law.
The decision of the court and its failure
to decide has caused much discussion as to
the origin and purpose of the income tax
law
Thoughtful men in both parties were op-
posed to the law because 1t was avowedly
an attempt to inaugurate class legislation.
1t was a law behind which many claimed
were the threats of socialstic revolution
This was made clear in the remarkable
speech of Mr.. James B. Carter of New
York in the United States Supreme Court in
support of the constitutionality of the law
Mr.. Carter has become a peSsimist. He is
of the opinion that the increase of trusts
threaten the stability of the republic, and
1t appears to be his judgment that, unless
the Congress and the courts shall change
their course, the existence of the republic
is threatened by revolution. Accordingly,
he made, in the United States Supreme
Court in the argument of this case, a
threat such as was never heard there be-
fore.
He told those eminent gentlemen who con-
stitute the highest tribunal in the land
that unless they found the law to be consti-
tutional, and should agree with him in his
construction of the statute, they might be
driven from their places by social revolu-
ton. He distinctly attempted to set up in
the court the barricade of the French So
cialists. and threa tened and defied the court.
1t was matter of intense surprise that he
was not rebuked by the chief justice for his
threats.
1t Went Unrefutcd.
One of the oldest of the justices said. when
the argument of Mr.. Carter was concluded
as he was leaving the chamber:
IF I had not supposed that the chief
Justice would have rebuked him for such
an extraordinary utterance, I should my
self. from my place upon the bench, have
protested against such an attempt to in
timidate the court by an appeal to revolu-
tionary and socalistic prejudices'
1t was this sentiment which Mr.. Justice
Field rebuked in these sentences:
IF the provisions of the Constitution can
be set aside by an act of Congress, where
is the course of usurpation to end? The
present assault upon capital is but the be-
ginning. 1t will be but the stepping stone
to others, larger and more sweeping. till
our political contests will become a war of
the poor against the rich; war constantly
growing in intensity and bitterness.
IF the court sanctions the power of dis
elimination in taxation, and nullifies the
uniformity mandate of the Constitution, as
said one who has made all his life study
of our institutions, it will mark the hour
when the sure decadence of our present
government will commence"
Further consideration of the decision
seems to have added to the confusion. All
admit that the decision in it's legal aspect
is far from being satisfactory, and the only
hope that remains is in the truth of Presi-
dent Lincoln's remark: Nothing Is settled
in this country until it Is settled right"