People of the State of New York On the Relation of Cornell Steamboat Company v. William Sohmer

Citation35 S.Ct. 162,59 L.Ed. 355,235 U.S. 549
Decision Date05 January 1915
Docket NumberNo. 62,62
PartiesPEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK ON THE RELATION OF CORNELL STEAMBOAT COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. WILLIAM H. SOHMER, as Comptroller of the State of New York
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

Messrs. H. T. Newcomb, Amos Van Etten, and Lewis E. Carr for plaintiff in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 550-552 intentionally omitted] Mr. Franklin Kennedy and Mr. Thomas Carmody, Attorney General of New York, for defendant in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 552-555 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justic Day delivered the opinion of the court:

The proceeding which resulted in the judgment here complained of originated in an application by the Cornell Steamboat Company to review by certiorari a decision of the comptroller of New York, denying a petition for revision and readjustment of taxes imposed by the comptroller on the steamboat company for the years 1902 and 1903. These taxes were imposed under § 184 of the Tax Laws of New York, which, so far as it is pertinent here, reads:

'Section 184. Additional franchise tax on transporta- tion and transmission corporations and associations.—Every corporation . . . formed for . . . navigation . . . purposes . . . shall pay for the privilege of exercising its corporate franchises or carrying on its business in such corporate or organized capacity in this state, an annual excise tax or license fee which shall be equal to 5/10 of 1 per centum upon its gross earnigns within this state, which shall include its gross earnings from its transportation or transmission business originating and terminating within this state, but shall not include earnings derived from business of an interstate character.'

In the years 1902 and 1903, the comptroller of the state imposed upon the steamboat company taxes on its earnings for those years, and denied the application for a revision and readjustment. The writ of certiorari was afterwards issued from the supreme court of New York upon petition to review and correct the determination of the comptroller. The matter was heard in the appellate division of the supreme court of New York, and that court affirmed the determination of the comptroller. Appeal was taken to the court of appeals of New York, and that court affirmed the order appealed from, and remitted the case to the supreme court of the state. 206 N. Y. 651, 99 N. E. 1115. This writ of error is sued out to reverse the judgment.

Taxes were assessed upon the return of the steamboat company for the year 1902: 'Gross earnings, not interstate business, derived from all sources during the above period, $377,146.33;' also on the return for the year 1903: 'Gross earnings on business commenced and terminated in the territorial limits of New York, derived from towing charges upon the Hudson river (navigable waters of the United States), earned with vessels enrolled and licensed by the U. S. government, i. e., business which is regulated by the U. S. government, and which it is claimed is not taxable by the state of New York, $394,505.59;' which return was followed by a supplemental return: 'State of New York, County of Ulster, ss. George Coykendall, being duly sworn, says that he is the vice president of the Cornell Steamboat Company; that the report of gross earnings in the stat of New York, of the Cornell Steamboat Company for the year ending June 30th, 1903, verified by me on September 17th, 1903, should be amended as follows: That the statement in such report of business commenced and terminated within the territorial limits of the state of New York, deriver from towing charges upon the Hudson river, is made up largely of towing done in the following manner, as deponent knows from personal knowledge and information derived from the superintendent of the company, to wit: Tows for up-river points on the Hudson river are made up at a stakeboat located at Weehawken, within the territorial limits of the state of New Jersey; that there are two stakeboats anchored in the river just below Weehawken ferry; that vessels and boats reported for the up-river tows are taken to the stakeboats and there made fast, and the tow is there made up, the towing vessels are attached, and the course pursued by the steamers in going up the river is in the territory of New York and New Jersey; that tows coming down the river pursue a like course, going into the territory of both states, and when the tow arrives in New York harbor, the entire tow, or the greater part thereof, is, as a usual thing, turned in the river, going into the territory of New Jersey and making the turn. Deponent further says that nearly all earnings of the company are from business done within the territorial limits of New York and New Jersey, to such extent as the state of New Jersey is included in the Hudson river and New York bay, and that it is absolutely impossible to state just when the vessels are within the territorial limits of either state. Deponent further says that he desires to file this affidavit as a correction of the report verified September 17th, 1903, by him, which report was filed with the state comptroller on or...

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  • Sea-Land Services, Inc. v. Municipality of San Juan
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico
    • September 18, 1980
    ...with such constitutional exigencies. The municipal license tax is obviously neither a franchise tax, Cornell Steamboat Co. v. Sohmer, 235 U.S. 549, 35 S.Ct. 162, 59 L.Ed. 355 (1915), nor an ad valorem in lieu of property tax. See Adams Mfg. Co. v. Storen, 304 U.S. 307, 58 S.Ct. 913, 82 L.Ed......
  • Central Greyhound Lines, Inc of New York v. Mealey
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    • June 14, 1948
    ...S.Ct. 806, 36 L.Ed. 672; Ewing v. Leavenworth, 226 U.S. 464, 33 S.Ct. 157, 57 L.Ed. 303; People of State of New York ex rel. Cornell Steamboat Co. v. Sohmer, 235 U.S. 549, 35 S.Ct. 162, 59 L.Ed. 355. The Ewing case was based on the Lehigh Valley case; the Cornell Steamboat case relied on th......
  • Norfolk & W. Ry. Co. v. Field
    • United States
    • West Virginia Supreme Court
    • December 3, 1957
    ...be reasonably entertained * * *'. See Central Greyhound Lines of N. Y. v. Mealey, supra; People of State of New York ex rel. Cornell Steamboat Co. v. Sohmer, 235 U.S. 549, 35 S.Ct. 162, 59 L.Ed. 355; Ewing v. City of Leavenworth, 226 U.S. 464, 33 S. Ct. 157, 57 L.Ed. 303; Hanley v. Kansas C......
  • United Fuel Gas Co. v. Battle
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    • West Virginia Supreme Court
    • June 24, 1969
    ...0.28 of a mile in Kentucky. In that case this Court, quoting from People of the State of New York ex rel. Cornell Steamboat Company v. Sohmer, 235 U.S. 549, 35 S.Ct. 162, 59 L.Ed. 355, used this language: 'Transportation between ports of a State is not interstate commerce to the extent of b......
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