Court Opinion

ID: 9757697
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 22:55:05.4525+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:42.981778
License: Public Domain

Concurring Opinion by
Mr. Justice Bok:
I agree with the result of the Majority’s opinion but think that its moving reason is wrong. The sale of *327natural gas is not subject to the Mercantile License Tax, but not because gas is intangible and invisible. Water is both tangible and visible, but the local water company is not on that account a vendor or dealer in goods, wares, and merchandise. The real reason for the distinction is that government has decided to control, otherwise than by taxation on sales, what are known as the public utilities: gas, oil, water, and electricity, the rates for which are fixed by a public body with regard to the public’s rights and welfare. It is an altogether different conception of regulating an activity in which the factor of competition is minimal.