AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
v.
INDIANA; ADAMS EXPRESS COMPANY V. INDIANA; UNITED STATES EXPRESS COMPANY V. INDIANA

U.S. | 1897-02-01
Nos. 469, 470, 471
165 U.S. 255 Supreme Court of the United States (1897) Negative Treatment
Also reported at: 41 L. Ed. 707 · 17 S. Ct. 991 · SCDB 1896-084 · 1897 U.S. LEXIS 1964
Cited by 9 cases
Opinion of the Court
Mr. Chief Justice Fuller

Mr. Chief Justice Fuller delivered the opinion of the court. These were three actions instituted by the State of Indiana, in the Circuit Court of Marion County in that State, against the American Express Company, the Adams Express Company and the United States Express Company, to recover unpaid taxes for the years 1893 and 1894-,

The defendants filed answers, setting up, among other, de-fences, that the act under which the taxes were assessed was invalid because in' contravention of the Constitution of the United States.

The causes were consolidated and tried by the Circuit Court, which made a special finding of facts and stated conclusions of law thereon in favor of the defendants, and entered judgment accordingly. The consolidated cause having been carried on appeal to the Supreme Court of the State* the judgment below was reversed, and the cause' remanded, with instructions to restate the conclusions of law and to enter judgment against the defendant in each case as specifically directed. 42 N. E. Bep. 483. This was done, and from the judgments so entered writs of error were sued out from this court.

The legislation of the State of Indiana, the validity of which is attacked in these cases, so far corresponds with that of the-State of Ohio, that the questions presented upon this record arexthe same, in effect, as those considered in Adams Express Co. v. Ohio State Auditor, and other cases, just decided, 165 U. S. 194, and require no reexamination.

For the reasons there given the judgments are

Affirmed.

Dissent
Mr. Justice White

Mr. Justice White dissenting.

Mr. Justice Field, Mr. Justice IIarlan, Mr. Justioe Brown and myself dissent from the judgment-of the court in these cases. As there is no substantial difference between the legal questions presented in the Ohio cases and those in the present cases, the reasons stated in the dissent announced in the former are relevant here, and ¿re referred to as furnishing the reasons for this dissent.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By

  • Adams Express Co. v. Ohio State Auditor, 166 U.S. 185 (U.S. 1897)
  • Nw. Airlines, Inc. v. Minnesota, 322 U.S. 292 (U.S. 1944)
    …entire property including rolling stock have been sustained if apportioned according to mileage, Pittsburgh, C., C. & St. L. Ry. Co. v. Backus, 154 U. S. 421; Adams Express Co. v. Ohio, 165 U. S. 194, 166 U. S. 185; American Express Co. v. Indiana, 165 U. S. 255; Adams Express Co. v. Kentucky, 166 U. S. 171; Wells, Fargo & Co. v. Nevada, 248 U. S. 165; St. Louis & E. St. L. Ry. Co. v. Hagerman, 256 U. S. 314; Southern Ry. Co. v. Watts, 260 U. S. 519; Nashville, C. & St. L. Ry. v. Browning, 310 U. S. 362,…
  • Fargo v. Hart, 193 U.S. 490 (U.S. 1904)
    …$22,059,055.35.- The market value of what for brevity we may call its .stock was $21,600,000. The state board of .tax commissioners has undertaken to tax the property of the company under the law which was upheld in American Express Co. v. Indiana, 165 U. S. 255; Adams Express Company v. Ohio State Auditor, 165 U. S. 194; S. C., 166 U. S. 185; Adams Express Company v. Kentucky, 166 U. S. 171, by treating the whole business as a unit and assessing the company on a proportion of the total value of its propert…

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