The right to grant corporate charters for ordinary business purposes is an attribute of sovereignty belonging to the states, not to the General Government. The United States is a government of enumerated powers. The Constitution nowhere expressly confers upon Congress the right to grant corporate charters, and it is well settled that this right exists only in the limited class of cases where the granting of charters becomes incidental to some power expressly conferred on Congress, e.g., the power to establish a uniform currency, or the power to regulate interstate commerce. On the other hand, the right of the separate states to grant charters of incorporation is unquestionable. By the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution it is expressly provided: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states respectively or to the people." The Supreme Court long ago said: "A state may grant acts of incorporation for the attainment of those objects which are essential to the interests of society. _This power is incident to sovereignty._"[1] [Footnote 1: _Briscoe v. Bank of Kentucky_, 11 Peters, 257, 317.] The power to grant the franchise of corporate capacity being therefore inherent in the sovereignty of the states, will not a tax imposed by Congress upon the exercise of the franchise constitute an interference with the power? If so the tax is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held, that the National Government "cannot exercise its power of taxation so as to destroy the state governments or embarrass their lawful action."[1] In the case of _California vs. Central Pacific R.R. Co._[2] the question was whether franchises granted to the Central Pacific Railroad Company by the United States were legitimate subjects of taxation by the State of California. The Supreme Court, in language frequently quoted in subsequent cases, discusses the nature and origin of franchises, concluding that a franchise is "a right, privilege, or power of public concern" existing and exercised by legislative authority. After enumerating various kinds of franchises, the Court remarks: "No persons can make themselves a body corporate and politic without legislative authority. Corporate capacity is a franchise." The Court continues: