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Special Franchise Tax Law and Decisions Upholding Its Constitutionality
Special Franchise Tax Law and Decisions Upholding Its Constitutionality Author:Robert Earl Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. Eael, Referee.— I will, in this opinion, examine the contention of the relators that the Special Franchise Tax Act, chapter 712 of the L... more »aws of 1899, violates the provision of the Federal Constitution forbidding the State to pass any "law impairing the obligation of contracts." The arguments and illustrations bearing upon this contention have been so numerous (as well as able and ingenious) that it must not be inferred because some of them have not been noticed in this opinion that they have been overlooked, as I have given all of them careful consideration. These franchises were all granted by municipalities under statutory authority, or by the State, and the terms and conditions of each grant were specified in the law or ordinance- granting the same. The grantees were required to pay, as a consideration, or in full satisfaction, a gross sum, or annual sums, or a percentage on receipts, or license fees, and generally to conform to other-conditions and stipulations contained in the grants more or less burdensome in the use of the franchises granted. These were all considerations for the grants (Mayor, etc. v. Second Avenue Railroad Company, 32 N. Y. 261), and most of them were periodical or continuous during the existence of the franchise rights granted. While the grantees were under continual obligations of some sort, the grantors were under no obligation to do anything subsequently to the grants, except what every grantor is bound to do, to wit, not to nullify or impair the grant. So far as concerns the grantors, the grants were executed grants, while, on the part of the grantees, the obligations were generally executory, and thus these grants were contracts in a broader sense than grants completely executed on both sides when made. (State of New York ...« less