Marshall v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 49.

• Decision Date: 23 January 1945
• Docket Number: No. 49.,49.
• Parties: MARSHALL v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

147 F.2d 75 (1945)

MARSHALL v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE.

No. 49.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

January 23, 1945.

James Marshall, Simon Gross, Marvin J. Bloch, Mark Eisner, and Ferdinand Tannenbaum, all of New York City, for petitioner James Marshall, executor of will of Robert Marshall.

Samuel O. Clark, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Sewall Key, A. F. Prescott, and Robert Koerner, all of Washington, D. C., for respondent, Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

Before SWAN, AUGUSTUS N. HAND, and CHASE, Circuit Judges.

AUGUSTUS N. HAND, Circuit Judge.

The question raised by this appeal from a decision of the Tax Court determining a deficiency in estate taxes on the part of the Estate of Robert Marshall, deceased, to the amount of $322,772.15 is whether the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Tax Court were right in holding that certain bequests in trust made by the will of Robert Marshall were not deductible as bequests for charitable, scientific or educational purposes when computing the amount of the estate subject to estate taxes. The will provided for the creation of three different trusts.

The provisions of the will setting forth the objects and purposes of the first or so-called "Economic Trust" are as follows:

"The education of the People of the United States of America to the necessity and desirability of the development and organization of unions of persons engaged in work or of unemployed persons and the promotion and advancement of an economic system in the United States based upon the theory of production for use and not for profit. The objects and purposes herein set forth shall be carried out through lawful means and only through lawful means, and for the purpose of carrying out such objects and purposes, I grant to the Trustees named full power and authority to employ and pay organizers, lecturers and writers and such other assistants and employees as they may deem necessary for properly fulfilling the objects and purposes of the trust as set forth by me herein, and to print, publish and distribute pamphlets, books, magazines and newspapers and generally to use any and all lawful means toward the furtherance of such objects and purposes, and they shall further have the authority to draft bills and acts, laws and other legislation and use all lawful means to have the same enacted into the law of the various States of the United States of America and by the Congress of the United States of America."

The provisions of the will setting forth the second or "Civil Liberties Trust" are as follows:

"The safeguarding and advancement of the cause of civil liberties in the United States of America and the various States and subdivisions thereof by all lawful means and actions, with full power and authority to the Trustees to print, publish and distribute pamphlets, books, magazines and newspapers and generally to use any and all lawful means to bring to the knowledge of the citizens of the United States of America the importance and necessity of preserving and safeguarding the cause of civil liberties. Said Trustees shall have the power to draft bills and acts, laws and other legislation and use all lawful means to have them enacted into the law of the various States and subdivisions thereof and by the Congress of the United States to the end that the civil liberties guaranteed to the citizens of the United States by their Federal constitution and by the various State constitutions be forever maintained, preserved and developed."

The provisions of the will setting forth the third or "Wilderness Trust" are as follows:

"The preservation of the wilderness conditions in outdoor America, including, but not limited to, the preservation of areas embracing primitive conditions and transportation, vegetation and fauna, and to that end said Trustees shall have full power and authority to employ and pay lecturers and writers and such other assistants and employees as they may deem necessary for properly carrying out the purposes of the trust and to print, publish and distribute pamphlets, books, magazines and newspapers and generally to use any and all lawful means to increase the knowledge of the citizens of the United States of America as to the importance and necessity of maintaining wilderness conditions in outdoor America for future generations, and said Trustees shall be empowered to use all lawful means in opposing statutes or regulations which will or may affect adversely the maintenance of wilderness conditions, and said Trustees shall have the power to draft such bills and acts, laws and other legislation and use all lawful means to have the same enacted by the various States of the United States of America and by the Congress of the United States as will tend to safeguard and preserve wilderness conditions in outdoor America."

By the Eighth Article of the will, if the trustees should...