Gulf & Ship Island Railroad v. Hewes

Citations

• 183 U.S. 66
• 22 S. Ct. 26
• 46 L. Ed. 86
• 1901 U.S. LEXIS 1255

Syllabus

<p>Although the certificate of the chief justice of a state supreme court that a Federal question was raised is insufii cieat to give this court jurisdiction, where such question does not appear in the record, it may be resorted to, in the absence of an opinion, to show that a Federal question, which is otherwise raised in the record, was actually passed upon by the court.</p> <p>A charter of a railroad company incorporated by an act of the legislature of Mississippi, passed in 1882, contained an exemption from all taxation for twenty years. The state constitution adopted in 1869 provided that the property of all corporations for pecuniary profit, should be subject to taxation, the same as that of individuals, and that taxation■ should be equal and uniform throughout the State. Prior to the incorporation of the railroad company, the supreme court of the State had construed this provision of the constitution as authorizing exemptions from taxation, but had declared that such exemptions were repealable. Held, That this court was bound by this construction of the constitution, and, therefore, that the railroad company could not claim an irrepealable exemption in its charter. Held, also, That the exemption being repealable, the question whether it had in fact been repealed was a local' and not a Federal question.</p> <p>A ruling of a state supreme court that a repealable exemption has been in fact repealed by a subsequent statute, is one which turns upon the construction of a state law, and is not reviewable here, although if the exemption were irrepealable and thus constituted a contract, it would be the duty of this court to decide for itself whether the subsequent act did repeal it or impair its obligation.</p> <p>A privilege tax upon a railroad corporation is a tax upon property.</p>