extends not only to the letter but to the spirit of the Constitution. It will be a lamentable exhibition of a lack of what may well be termed constitutional morality if, in the debates on the pending measures, we shall again hear the suggestion that objects concededly outside the scope of any power delegated to the national government may nevertheless be accomplished indirectly by means of a federal inheritance tax, in violation of the reserved rights of the state governments. If, in framing an inheritance tax law, Congress will bear in mind that the regulation of successions to the property of decedents is a matter solely within the jurisdiction of the states and ought not to be usurped by the federal government, the object of raising revenue alone may lead to fair and reasonable taxes levied impartially upon all who should be called upon to pay for the support and maintenance of the common government whose protection they enjoy. It would then, perhaps, be better appreciated that the states have important and extensive governmental functions to perform; that they need inheritance taxes for the support of their governments, schools, charities, police and public improvements, and that any heavy federal succession taxes would embarrass and cripple them. It is, of course, one thing to resort to a federal inheritance tax as a temporary war measure, when patriotism inspires ready acquiescence and willing sacrifice, and quite a different thing to establish such a tax as a permanent method of raising national revenue in times of peace and prosperity when the effect may be to withdraw that source of revenue from the states. The subject of federal income taxes remains to be considered. There is no doubt that any state may levy income taxes. Nor is there any doubt that, under the federal Constitution as it now stands, Congress may levy an income tax provided it be apportioned according to population as required in regard to all direct federal taxes. There is also no doubt that Congress, by means of an excise tax, may reach income derived from any business or profession, and that any such tax, being essentially an excise tax on business, need not be apportioned but need merely be uniform throughout the United States. For example, a tax on the earnings of railroads and manufacturing businesses could be levied without apportionment, and it would produce a large revenue. It would also have the advantage of tapping income at the source. A tax by Congress on lands and personal property as such would, no one disputes, be a direct tax and subject to the rule of apportionment, and a tax on the income of property is in substance and practical and legal effect the equivalent of a tax on the property itself.