Montana Catholic Missions v. Missoula County

Citations

• 200 U.S. 118
• 26 S. Ct. 197
• 50 L. Ed. 398
• 1906 U.S. LEXIS 1461

Syllabus

<p>In order that the Circuit Court may have jurisdiction where diverse citizenship does not exist it must appear, by a statement in legal and logical form, such as good pleading requires, that there is a controversy really involving the construction or application of the Federal Constitution or that the validity or construction of a treaty or statute made'under its authority is drawn in question.</p> <p>The Circuit Court has no jurisdiction of an action, where diverse„citizenship does not exist, to recover taxes where the right depends upon statutes of the State and no claim to exemption is based on any provision in the Federal Constitution, or on any Federal statute or treaty with Indians; nor can it be assumed from the complaint in this case on any Federal ground that cattle, belonging to a religious organization and roaming over an Indian reservation, are exempt from taxation by the State because the organization devotes its property to purposes of charity among the Indians; nor can such exemption be claimed on the ground that the property is one of the means and instrumentalities of the Federal Government.</p>