The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 30, 1952
History
The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 30, 1952
Constitutional law -- United States; Constitutions -- United States
facto_ unconstitutional. The leading case is Welton _v._ Missouri,[569]
decided in 1876, in which a peddler's license tax confined to the sale
of goods manufactured outside the State was set aside. The doctrine of
Welton _v._ Missouri has been reiterated many times.[570]
STOPPAGE IN TRANSIT
It also follows logically from Coe _v._ Errol,[571] and the cases
deriving from it, that a State may impose a nondiscriminatory tax when
there is a break in interstate transit, and the goods have not been
restored to the current of interstate commerce. The effect of an
interruption upon the continuity of an interstate movement depends upon
its causes and purposes. If the delay is due to the necessities of the
journey, as in the Coe case, where the logs were detained for a time
within the State by low water, they are deemed "in the course of
commercial transportation, and * * * clearly under the protection of the
Constitution."[572] Intention thus often enters into the determination
of the question whether goods from another State have come to rest
sufficiently to subject them to the local taxing power. In a typical
case the Court held that oil shipped from Pennsylvania and held in tanks
in Memphis, Tennessee for separation, distribution and reshipment, was
subject to the taxing power of the latter State.[573] The delay in
transportation resulting from these proceedings on the part of the
owners, the Court pointed out, was clearly designed for their own profit
and convenience and was not a necessary incident to the method of
transportation adopted, as had been the delay of the logs coming from
Maine in Coe _v._ Errol. The distinction is fundamental.[574]
Applying this rule in more recent cases, the Court has upheld State
taxation: on the use and storage of gasoline brought into the State by a
railroad company and unloaded and stored there, to be used for its
interstate trains;[575] on gasoline imported and stored by an airplane
company and withdrawn to fill airplanes that use it in their interstate
travel;[576] on supplies brought into the State by an interstate
railroad company to be used in replacements, repairs and extensions,
and installed immediately upon arrival in the taxing State;[577] on
equipment brought into the State by a telephone and telegraph company
for operation, maintenance, and repair of its interstate system.[578] In
all these cases the Court applied the principle that "use and storage"
are subject to local taxation when "there is an interval after the
articles have reached the end of their interstate movement and before
their consumption in interstate operation has begun."[579] On the other
hand, in the absence of such an "interval," the Court declared invalid
State gasoline taxes imposed per gallon of gasoline imported by
interstate carriers as fuel for use in such vehicles, and used within
the State as well as in their interstate travel.[580]
THE DRUMMER CASES; ROBBINS _v._ SHELBY COUNTY TAXING DISTRICT
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account