The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-08
.ABATTLE ROYAL OVER THE TAX
THE ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENER-
Al ENDS HIS ARGUMENT.

Case for the Government in sup
port of the Law-JoseBh n. ChOate
Begins the Closing Addresses.
Washington. May THE second days
proceedings of the re-argument of the in
come tax case began In the supreme court
of the United States at noon to-day. IN
the presence Of greatly reduced audience
OF spectators, lawyers as well as the pub
lie I'm general Among the spectators who
to-day attracted attention was Col. Will
lam jay, one of the counsel for the Oppo-
nents Of the law, a grandson of Chief
Justice jay. who was a member of the
court when the first decision Of the court
was made on the subject of direct taxes
the celebrated Hilton case Of 1874, al
though he did not take part in the decis-
ion.
Assistant Attorney General Whitney re-
sumed his argument in support of the
constltutionality Of the law under consid-
Mr.. Whitney argued that there was no
settled definition of the word duty IN
the Jurisprudence Of this country, and that
the court was left to the definition given
to the term I'm the decisions in previous
cases Tor guidance in determining It's
meaning.
Recurring then to the term direct taxes.
Mr.. Whitney said that the research made
by him had led him to conclude that until
II had found place in the American con-
cLiuLloNs IL ndu never neen KNOWN OF
recognized as a legal term.
Proceeding to discuss the decision of the
court Mr.. Whitney said: Great weight
should be given to every principle clear
ly and deliberately laid down by the court.
although not necessarily involved in the
decision. The doctrine of Stare Decisis
should have its EXTREMIST extension in
cases involving the fundamental princi-
pies Of taxation. The necessity for the
application Of the doctrine was never
greater than in the present case. 1t would
be national disaster If congress could
not, in times of sudden stress, rely impli-
city not only on the precise ruling. but
on the principles and definition deliber-
ately enunciated by this court"
Discussing the exemptions in the law
TO which exceptions have been taken by
the parties to the litigation. Mr.. Whitney
called attention to the fact that they were
not originally in the law, and were not
placed there by It's friends, but its OPP
pOnents. one was suggested by Senator
Morrill,, one by Senator Cullom and an
other by senator Hill upon grounds OF
public policy and philanthropy. 1t was
argued that to tax incomes from savings
banks would tend to discourage habits
of thrift and accumulation, and in reliev-
ing some of the cooperative institutions
of the tax others with great accumula-
uOns OF money had also escaped the
burden imposed upon others. But without
going into these in detail Mr.. Whitney
called the attention of the court to the
long line of decisions upholding the power
OF congress TO make exemptions in gem
eral.
In concluding. Mr. whitney appealed to
the justices to consider the whole case
including the question of the tax on rents.
as If II had never been before them, and
if so doing they gave due weight to all
the facts and the law, there was no doubt
in his mind what the Judgment of the
court would be.
MIR. Whitney finished at 22O o'clock and
was followed by Attorney General Oh
ney, who closed the case for the govern
ment in support of the law
fffrIa Il
vanced on behalf of the United States at
the former hearing he again cOntended
that judged by the language of the law it
self It did not create "a tax which was
nece ssarily to be deemed a tax on real
estate.
The opinion of the court he said, dealt
with the case as if rents were the only
subject of the income tax law. as II all the
rest of the statute We're omitted, and it
simply provided for assessing land own
ers according to their rents. That was not.
looking at the matter But sup
pose 81 to be adopted, what follows?
We then have a statute dealing with
landlords as class-taNing them because
OF their vocation of landlord and measur-
ing the tax by the rents actually received;
Such a tax was perfectly legitimate and
perfectly familiar. There was not call
ing nor pursuit in life which was not sub
ject to ii at the will of the legislature
What is legally and theoretically pos
sible is one thing-what is actually ana
practically possible is quite another How
does this new doctrine that personality
generally, together with all incomes
must be taxed by the rule OF apporuon-
ment--how does this new doctrine WORK
in practice and what is its operation as
between individual taxpayers? Why, II IS
conceded on all hands that it will cause
the most startling lnequahues-rnaklh NJ
one man in one part of the union pay nVe,
six or ten times as much as another man
pays in another part OF the union IN re-
spect of the same amount OF property.
h.. eHranf 10 -
therefore | submit, to suffer ourselves
to be beguled with the fattering JUNCTION
that under this new constitutional uOc-
trine the federal government does not
sustain serious impairment in one Of the
most important attributes of sovereign
ty. Theoretically, its taxing power may
be unaffected. Practically, 1t is cut up Dy
the roots a to a very large share OF the
wealth of the country, as to all income
and as to the great mass OF all personal
property. Such a result, If 1t must be,
will. 1 firmly believe, when fully compre-
hended by the American people be uni
versally deprecated as a great public ca
lamity They have come to take pride in
the United states -55, as repre-
tionality, as political sovereign
equal in authority to any other on the
face of the globe. adequate to all emer-
gencies, foreign or domestic, and having
at its command for offense and defense
and for all governmental purposes all
the resources of the nation [ will be an
unwelcome awakening for them TO dis
cover that this thing of their faith and
their pride IS but a manned and crippled
creation after all, invested with but a
fraction of the most important Of govern
mental powers and weakest exactly whore
its strength should be the greatest. Nor
viii IL lessen or mitigate their surprise
to learn that a constitution, which has
long been lauded to the skies as the culmi-
nation and crowning glory of a people s
taxation war, IS now found to be so con-
trived that, while accumulated wealth
shirks and escapes its due share of the
public burdens under cover of its pro-
visions, the less fortunate members of
society whom the government reaches
through what they eat and drink and
wear and all other things they must
have and must buy, are wholly without
constitutional protection and in the mat
ter of taxation and are practically at the
mercy of congress"
Chief Justice Fuller questioned the at
torney general as to his opinion when rents
became taxable as money, to which he an
swered that It was after they had been
received and were in his actual possession.
Continuing on that suggestion, the at
torney general said: 1T is intimated that,
logically speaking, if a tax on real estate
is a direct tax. so is a tax on personal
property; and that if tax on rents is a
tax on real estate, so is a tax on in
terest and dividends q tax on the capital
producing it. That the ologarchial pro-
e.s - rfrf1I