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5 Legal Op. 1 (1873)

handle is hein.journals/legop5 and id is 1 raw text is: iolGL OPIXIoN Vol. V. HARRISBURG, PA., MAY 10, 1873. No. 1. Acts ofAssembly-1878 AN ACT to increase the compensation of county commissioners, witnesses, super- visors, township auditors and tile sheriff, for boarding prisoners in the county of Clarion. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Sen- ate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in general assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the samo, That from and after the first day of January, A. D, 1873, the compensation of the county commis- sioners of Clarion county shall be. three dollars for each day necessarily spent in discharging the duties of their office, and the compensation of the township auditors in said county shall be two dollars for each day necessarily spent in the discharge of the duties of their office. SEC. 2. That the court of quarter ses-, sions of the peace, in and for the county of Clarion, shall have the power to increase or decrease from time to time, tile compen- sation of the sheriff of said county for boarding prisoners in the county jail: Provided, That said compensation shall not exceed sixty cents per day for each prisoner. SEC. 3. That hereafter the fees of wit. nesses attending all courts of record in Clarion county Lhall bc one dollar per day. SEC. 4, That the compensation of su- pervisors of roads shall be two dollars for each day necessarily spent in the discharge of his or their official duties in said Clarion county. Approved March 28, 1873. U. S. Supreme Court. THE PHILADELPHIA AND READ- ING R. R. CO., Plaintiffs in Error, v. THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENN- SYLVANIA. Gross Receipt 2ax Cas:s. A statute of Pennsylvania that lc es a tax of three-fourths of one per cent. on the gross re- ceipts of all railroad companies, is not in con- flict with the constihtion of the United States, because it taxes the gross receipts, part of which may be derived from goods transferable beyond the State. States have authority to tax the estates, real -id personual, of all their corporations, including carrying companies preciely as they ma y tax siilar property belonging to natoral persons and to the sime extent. All gross receolts of railroad or canal companies, after they have reachd the treasury of the car- rier, though they may have i en derived in pait from transpol uition of freight between States, become subject to legitinute taxation, as also do the net earnings of any corporation. Miller, Field and Hunt, JJ., dissent. Legal Int'r. In Error to the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Opinion by Mr. Justice STaoNo. March 10, 1873. By an act of the Legislature of Pennsyl- vania, passed on the 22d day of February, 1866, entitled An Act to amend the rev- enue laws of the commonwealth, a tax was imposed upon the gross receipts of cer- tain companies. The second section is as follows: In addition to the taxes now provided by law, every railroad, canal, and transportation company incorporated under the laws of this commonwealth, and not liable to the tax upon income under ex- isting laws, shall pay to the commonwealth a tax of three-fourths of one per centum upon the gross receipts of said company; the said tax shall be paid semi-annually upon the first days of July and January, commencing oi the first day of July, 1866; and for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of the same, it shall be the duty of the treasurer or other proper officer of said company, to transmit to the Auditor General a statement, under oath or affir- mation, of the amount of gross receipts of the said company during the preceding six months; and if such company shall refuse, or fail, for a period of thirty days after such taxes become due, to make said re- turn, or to pay the same, the amount thereof, with an addition of ten per cen- tum thereto, shall be collected for the use of the commonwealth, as other taxes are recoverable by law from said compa- nies. Under this law a tax was levied upon the plaintiffs in error of three-quarters of one per centuim of the gross receipts of the company during the six months ending December 31, 1867, and the question now is, whether the act imposing it is in con- flict with the third clause of the eighth see- tion, article first, of the constitution of the United States, which confers upon con- gress power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes; or whether it is in conflict with the second clause of the tenth section of the same ar- ticle, which prohibits the States, without the consent of Congress, from laying any imposts, or duties on imports, or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing the inspection laws. It was claimed in the State courts that the act is unconstitutional so far as it taxes that por- tion of the gross receipts of companies which are derived from transportation from the State to another State, or into the State from another, and the Supreme Court of the State having decided ad- versely to the claim, the case has been brought here for review. HN e have recently decided[ in another case between these parties that freight transported from State to State is not sub- ject to State taxation, because thus trans- ported. Such a burden we regard as an invasion of the domain of Federal power, a regulation of inter-State commerce, which Congress only can make. If then a tax upon the gross receipts of a railroad, or a canal company, derived in part from the carriage of goods from one State to another is to be regarded as a tax upon inter-State transportation, the question be- fore us is already decided. The answer which must be given to it depends upon the prior question whether a tax upon gross receipts of a transportation company is a tax upon commerce, so far as that commerce consists in moving goods or pas- sengers across State lines. No doubt every tax upon personal property, or upon occu- pations, business, or franchises, affects more or less the subjects, and the opera- tions of commerce. Yet it is not every- thing that affects commerce that amounts to a regulation of it, within the meaning of the Constitution. We think it may safely be asserted that the States have au- thority to tax the estate, real and per- sonal, of all their corporations, including carrying companies, precisely as they may tax similar property when belonging to natural persons, and to the same extent. We think also that luch taxation may be laid upon a valuation, or may bean excise, and that in exacting an excise tax from their corporations, the States are not ob- liged to impose a fixed sum upon the fran- chises or upon the value of them, but they may demand a graduated contribution, proportioned either to the value of the privileges granted, or to the extent of their exercise, or to the results of such exercise. No mode of effecting this, and no forms of expression which have not a meaning be- yond this can be regarded as violating the Constitution. A power to tax to this ex- tent may be essential to the healthy exist- ence of the State governments, and the Federal Constitution ought not -to be so construed as to impair, much less destroy, anything that is necessary to their efficient existence. But, on the other hand, the rightful powers of the National govern- ment must be defended against invasion from any quarter, and if it be, as we have seen, that a tax on goods and commodities transported into a State, or out of it, or a tax upon the owner of such. goods for the right thus to transport them, is a regula- tion of inter-State commerce, such as ii within the province of Congress, it is, as we have shown within the former case, in- hibited by the Constitution. Is, then, the tax imposed by the act of February 23, 1866, a tax upon freight trans- ported into, or out of, the State, or upon the owner of freight, for the right of thus tiansporting it? Certainly it is not di- rectly. Very manifestly it is a tax upon the railroad company, measured in amount by the extent of its business, or the degree to whitlh its franchise is exercised. That

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