Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Indiana

Citations

• 165 U.S. 304
• 17 S. Ct. 345
• 41 L. Ed. 725
• 1897 U.S. LEXIS 1969

Syllabus

<p>The provision in § II of the act of March 6, 1893, c. 171, Of. the legislature-of Indiana, that on the failure or refusal of á telegraph company .“to pay any tax assessed against -it in any county or township in the State,' in addition to other remedies provided by law for the collection of taxes, an action may be prosecuted in the name of the State of Indiana by the prosecuting attorneys of the different judicial circuits of the State . . ., and the'judgment tn said action shall include a penalty of fifty per cent of the amount of taxes so assessed-and unpaid,” does not, as to the penalty clause, contravene the Constitution of the United States ; and the question' whether, in this case, that penalty was properly in- • eluded in the judgment rendered against the telegraph company was for the determination of the state courts.</p> <p>In enforcing the. collection of taxes one rule may be adopted in-,respect of ' the admitted use of one kind of property, and another rule in respect of the admitted use.of another, in order that all .may be compelled to contribute their proper share to the burdens of government.</p> <p>The amount of penalty to be enforced for non-payment of taxes is a matter within legislative discretion, . •</p>