Omaha daily bee., 1907-03-05
OPINION IN THE TAX CASE
Attorney General Receives the Text frsm
Federal suprsms Court
SUBSTANCE OF IT ALREADY WELL KNOWN
Governor sheldon ReappOints Mrs.
McMahan superintendent of the
Industrial school at
Geneva.
(From a stan Correspondent

z LINCOLN, March 4.-(Special )-Attorney
General Thompson today received copy
OF the opinion written by the supreme court
of the United States in the railroad tax
Y Injunction cases. The opinion follows:
NArhese are bills to declare void assess.
OF Equalization and Assessment for the
year 1904 and TO entOin the collection OF
the same beyond certain sums rendered
The bills allege that the board, coerced by
political clamor and its fears, arbitrarily
determined I'm advance to add about 49,
100000 to the assessment of railroad prop
erty for the previous year, and then pre-,
tended to fix the values of the several
roads by calculation. They allege that the
assessments we're fraudulent, and void for
want of jurisdiction. and Justify these gen
eral allegations by more specific state
ments. One is that other property in the
state. especially land, was valued at a
lower rate than that OF the railroads. An
other. of more Importance, is TO the enect
that the board adopted a valuation Dy
stock and bonds and then taxed the APP
pellants upon the proportion OF the Value
80 reached that their mileage WITHIN the
state bore to their total mileage without
deducting a large amount OF personal
property owned outside the state, or spe-
cially valuable terminals, ETC. east OF the
Missouri river. The principle OF this last
objection was sanctioned I'm Fargo against
Hart, 1893 L. S. 40. under the commerce
clause of the constitution, article one, sec
ton viii but later cases have decided that
tangible property permanently outside the
Jurisdiction is exempted from taxation by
the fourteenth amendment. Delaware,
Jackawanna q Western railroad against
Pennsylvania, 1875 L. S. 3f; Union Re
frigerator Transit company against Ken
lucky 1879 u. s. 1874. and the fourteenth
amendment alone, somewhat inadvertently
referred to. Is the foundation OF these APP
peals DemurTers to the bills were over
ruled mainly, # not wholly, on the GROUND grNiis
Answers then were filed denying the ma
terial allegations and after hearing on
evidence the bills were dismissed
The dominant purpose of the b1llS Is TO
charge political duress, so to speak, and
a consequent scheme of fraud, Illustrated
by the specific wrongs alleged. and In that
way TO make out that the taxes were void.
AS the cases come from the circuit court.
other questions beside that under the con-
stitution are open. and therefore 1t Is
proper to state at the outset that the
foundation for the bills has failed, The
suggestion of political duress Is adhered
to IN ono of the printed briefs but Is dis
pose 2 by the finding of the trial judge,
which thcre is no sufficient reason to dis
quately alleged. Missouri against Dockerv.
191, Y. s. 165, 10, was very slightly pressed
at the argument, and totally fails on the
facts. Such charges are easily made. and,
II Is to be feared. often are made without
IN making them Before the decree could
be reversed II would he necessary TO con-
slider seriously whether the constitutional
was not so pleaded as part OF the alleged
fraudulent scheme that IL ought mot to be
out. Eyre against Potter. Is How, AZ, Sc
French against Shoemaker. IA Wall, 314
1885, Hlckson against Lombard, l.. r., l. II
L. 324. Both sides In error.
Both Sides In Error.
When we turn to the evidence there IL
equal ground for criticism The members
of the board were called, including the
governor of the state and submitted to an
elaborate Characterization with regard
to the operation of their minds in valuing
and taxing the roads. This was wholly
improper. In this respect the case does not
differ from that of a jury umpire
II we assume that the members of the
board were not entitled to the possibly
higher immunities OF a Judge. Duke OF
Buccleuch against Metropolitan Board OF
Works, l.. r. 8, II. L. AS, 49, Jurymeu
l&Rnnot be called, even on a motion for q