Evening star., 1939-05-30
Supreme Court Rules
More Than One State
May Tax Securities
Right Of Persons Born
In U. S. to Re-estubIish
Citizenship Upheld

the summer next Monday, the Su-
preme Court yesterday cleared its
docket of half dozen cases in
which the principal issues involved
were taxation and naturalization
legislation.
In two decisions which may have
some bearing on the four-State dis
pute over the right to tax the s36,-
600 900 estate Of the late Col. E. H
r. Green. the court held that death
taxes on intangible property (secu-
rites may be levied both in the
State in which the deceased per-
son had domicile and in other States
where the property is located.
Another decision sustained a per-
sonal property assessment imposed
by Newark, N. j.. on securities
owned by three insurance COM
panies incorporated in New jersey
but having their principal business
Offices in New York.
In the test of the naturalization
law, the court decided that a per-
son born in this country is entitled
to re-establish citizenship by de-
claratlon of intent upon reaching
majority, even though during mi
nority he may have been subject to
a foreign government.
Hughes Writes Dissent.
The death tax decisions, in each
case by a 5-4 vote, were delivered
by Justice Stone, and found Chief
Justice Hughes and Justices Nc
Reynolds, Butler and Roberts dis
senting. The cases concerned New
York and Colorado and Alabama
and Tennessee.
Shares of corporate stock Jus
tice Stone said, may be taxed at
the domicile of the shareholder and
also at that of the corporation
which the taxing State has created
and controls; and income may be
taxed both by the State where it
is earned and by the State of the
recipients domicile'
Chief Justice Hughes, writing his
first dissent in about two years in
the New York Colorado case, said
the majority decision went to an
unWarranted extreme and thus pro-
duces an unjust result"
In the Green case, decided March
l3, the court held that Massachu-
setts was the legal domicile of the
son of the famous Hetty Green,
that State, with Florida, New York
and Texas seeking the right to tax
his holdings.
In the New Jersey case, counsel
for the litigants had said it would
affect many taxpayers.
Corporations directly involved
were the Newark Fire Insurance Co.,
Universal Insurance Co. and In
demnity Insurance Co.
The decision, read by Justice Reed,
affirmed a judgment by the New
Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals.
When a State" he said, "exer-
cises its sovereign power to create
a private corporation, that corpora
ton becomes a citizen and domi-
ciled in the jurisdiction of it's Gre
ator. There it must dwell The
dominion of the State over its crea-
ture is complete
In the naturalization case the
court upheld the contention of Miss
Marie Elizabeth Elg of Mount Kisco,
N. Y, that she is citizen of this
country and not subject to deporta-
ton proceedings by the Labor De-
partment. The decision. viewed by
the department as important be-
cause there are pending cases in the
same category, affirmed that rem
dered by the Court of Appeals for.
the District.
Born in United States.
Miss Elg was born in New York
City in 1907 after her father became
a naturalized citizen, in 1911 she
was taken by her mother to Sweden
where she lived until 81 years old.
Miss Elg's father returned to
Sweden in 1922 and. Secretary
Perkins contended, voluntarily re-
linquished his American citizen
ship. This, the department argued,
made his minor daughter citizen
of Sweden.
But, said the court, in the decision
by Chief Justice Hughes, "it has
long been a recognized principle
in this country that if child born
here is taken during minority to
the country of his parents origin,
where his parents resume their
former allegiance, he does not
thereby lose his citizenship in the
United States provided that on at
tanning majority he elects to re-
tain that citizenship and to return
to the United States to assume his
duties"
Then he added: "As at birth she
(Mi2G T11l hAra ma q n4fizoy, ~ tha