Atlantic Pacific Telegraph Company v. City of Philadelphia

• Decision Date: 01 June 1903
• Docket Number: No. 163,163
• Parties: ATLANTIC & PACIFIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY, Plff. in Err. , v. CITY OF PHILADELPHIA
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

190 U.S. 160

23 S.Ct. 817

47 L.Ed. 995

ATLANTIC & PACIFIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY, Plff. in Err.,

v CITY OF PHILADELPHIA.

No. 163.

Argued February 24, 1903.

Decided June 1, 1903.

Messrs. John F. Dillon, H. B. Gill, Silas W. Pettit, George H. Fearons, Rush Taggart, Henry D. Estabrook, and Messrs. Brown & Wells for plaintiff in error.

Messrs. John L. Kinsey and James Alcorn for defendant in error.

Statement by Mr. Justice Brewer:

This action was commenced in the common pleas court of Philadelphia on December 31, 1891, to recover the sum of $3,715 as license fees alleged to be due the city for the six preceding years. The case was removed by the defendant to the circuit court of the United States for the eastern district of Pennsylvania. A trial was had before the court and a jury, which resulted in a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff for a part of the sum claimed, which judgment was thereafter reversed by the circuit court of appeals. A second trial was had in April, 1901, before the court and a jury, which resulted in a verdict and judgment for the full amount claimed, with interest. From such judgment the case was brought to this court directly on writ of error, on the ground that it involved the construction and application of the Constitution of the United States; that the action was brought to recover from the telegraph company certain license charges imposed by the city which the company claimed the city had no right or power to impose, for the reason that it was a regulation of commerce between the states.

Mr. Justice Brewer delivered the opinion of the court:

The question presented is as to the validity of the charges imposed by the ordinances of the city of Philadelphia upon the defendant (plaintiff in error), a corporation engaged in interstate commerce. Few questions are more important or have been more embarrassing than those arising from the efforts of a state or its municipalities to increase their revenues by exactions from corporations engaged in carrying on interstate commerce. There have been many cases, in whose decision some propositions have been adjudicated so often as to be no longer open to discussion.

First. As said by Mr. Justice Bradley, speaking for the court, in Robbins v. Shelby County Taxing Dist. 120 U. S. 489, 492, 30 L. ed 694, 696, 1 Inters. Com. Rep. 45, 46, 7 Sup. Ct. Rep. 592, 593:

'The Constitution of the United States having given to Congress the power to regulate commerce, not only with foreign nations, but among the several states, that power is necessarily exclusive whenever the subjects of it are national in their character, or admit only of one uniform system, or plan of regulation.'

In addition to the many cases referred to by him, the following subsequent decisions may also be cited: Fargo v. Michigan, 121 U. S. 230, 246, sub nom. Fargo v. Stevens, 30 L. ed. 888, 894, 1 Inters. Com. Rep. 51, 7 Sup. Ct. Rep. 857; Philadelphia & S. Mail S. S. Co. v. Pennsylvania, 122 U. S. 326, 336, 346, 30 L. ed. 1200, 1201, 1205, 1 Inters. Com. Rep. 308, 7 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1118; Western U. Teleg. Co. v. Pendleton, 122 U. S. 347, 357, 30 L. ed. 1187, 1189, 1 Inters. Com. Rep. 306, 7 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1126; Bowman v. Chicago & N. W. R. Co. 125 U. S. 465, 497, 31 L. ed. 700, 711, 1 Inters. Com. Rep. 823, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 689, 1062; Leloup v. Port of Mobile, 127 U. S. 640, 648, 32 L. ed. 311, 341, 2 Inters. Com. Rep. 134, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1380; Asher v. Texas, 128 U. S. 129, 131, 32 L. ed. 368, 369, 2 Inters. Com. Rep. 241, 9 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1; Stoutenburgh v. Hennick, 129 U. S. 141, 148, 32 L. ed. 637, 639, 9 Sup. Ct. Rep. 256; Leisy v. Hardin, 135 U. S. 100, 110, 34 L. ed. 128, 132, 3 Inters. Com. Rep. 36, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 681; Lyng v. Michigan, 135 U. S. 161, 34 L. ed. 150, 3 Inters. Com. Rep. 143, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 725; McCall v. California, 136 U. S. 104, 109, 34 L. ed. 391, 392, 3 Inters. Com. Rep. 181, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 881; Re Rahrer, 140 U. S. 545, 555, sub nom. Wilkerson v. Rahrer, 35 L. ed. 572, 574, 11 Sup. Ct. Rep. 865; Crutcher v. Kentucky, 141 U. S. 47, 58, 35 L. ed. 649, 652, 11 Sup. Ct. Rep. 851; Brennan v. Titusville, 153 U. S. 289, 304, 38 L. ed. 719, 723, 4 Inters. Com. Rep. 658, 14 Sup. Ct. Rep. 829; Interstate Commerce Commission v. Brimson, 154 U. S. 447, 471, 38 L. ed. 1047, 1055, 4 Inters. Com. Rep. 545, 14 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1125; United States v. E. C. Knight Co. 156 U. S. 1, 21, 39 L. ed. 325, 332, 15 Sup. Ct. Rep. 249; Schollenberger v. Pennsylvania, 171 U. S. 1, 43 L. ed. 49, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep. 757; Addyston Pipe & Steel Co. v. United States, 175 U. S. 211, 44 L. ed. 136, 20 Sup. Ct. Rep. 96; Stockard v. Morgan, 185 U. S. 27, 46 L. ed. 785, 22 Sup. Ct. Rep. 576.

Second. No state can compel a party, individual, or corporation to pay for the privilege of engaging in interstate commerce. Gloucester Ferry Co. v. Pennsylvania, 114 U. S. 196, 211, 29 L. ed. 158, 164, 1 Inters. Com. Rep. 382, 5 Sup. Ct. Rep. 826; Pickard v. Pullman Southern Car Co. 117 U. S. 34, 29 L. ed. 785, 6 Sup. Ct. Rep. 635; Robbins v. Shelby County Taxing Dist. 120 U. S. 489, 30 L. ed. 694, 1 Inters. Com. Rep. 45, 7 Sup. Ct. Rep. 592; Fargo v. Michigan, 121 U. S. 230, 245, sub nom. Fargo v. Stevens, 30 L. ed. 888, 894, 1 Inters. Com. Rep. 51, 7 Sup. Ct. Rep. 857; Philadelphia & S. Mail S. S. Co. v. Pennsylvania, 122 U. S 326, 336, 30 L. ed. 1200, 1201, 3 Inters. Com. Rep. 308, 7 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1118; Leloup v. Port of Mobile, 127 U. S. 640, 645, 32 L. ed. 311, 313, 2 Inters. Com. Rep. 134, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1380; Asher v. Texas, 128 U. S. 129, 32 L. ed. 368, 2 Inters. Com. Rep. 241, 9 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1; Lyng v. Michigan, 135 U. S. 161, 166, 34 L. ed. 150, 153, 3 Inters. Com. Rep. 143, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 725; McCall v. California, 136 U. S. 104, 113, 34 L. ed. 391, 394, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 881; Crutcher v. Kentucky, 141 U. S. 47, 58, 35 L. ed. 649, 652, 11 Sup. Ct. Rep. 851; Adams Exp. Co. v. Ohio State Auditor, 165 U. S. 194, 220, 41 L. ed. 683, 695, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 305.

Third. This immunity does not prevent a state from imposing ordinary property taxes upon property having a situs within its territory, and employed in interstate commerce. State Tax on Railway Gross Receipts, 15 Wall. 284, 293, sub nom. Philadelphia & R. R. Co. v. Pennsylvania, 21 L. ed. 164, 167; Delaware Railroad Tax, 18 Wall. 206, 232, sub nom. Minot v. Philadelphia, W. & B. R. Co. 21 L. ed. 888, 896; Western U. Teleg. Co. v. Texas, 105 U. S. 460, 464, 26 L. ed. 1067, 1068; Gloucester Ferry Co. v. Pennsylvania, 114 U. S. 196, 211, 29 L. ed. 158, 164, 1 Inters. Com. Rep. 382, 5 Sup. Ct. Rep. 836; Western U. Teleg. Co. v. Atty. Gen. 125 U. S. 530, 31 L. ed. 790, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 961; Marye v. Baltimore & O. R. Co. 127 U. S. 117, 123, 32 L. ed. 94, 96, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1037; Leloup v. Port of Mobile, 127 U. S. 640, 649, 32 L. ed. 311, 314, 2 Inters. Com. Rep. 134, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1380; Pullman Palace Car co. v. Pennsylvania, 141 U. S. 18, 35 L. ed. 613, 3 Inters. Com. Rep. 595, 11 Sup. Ct. Rep. 876; Atty. Gen. v. Western U. Teleg. Co. 141 U. S. 40, 35 L. ed. 6, 28, 11 Sup. Ct. Rep. 889; Pittsburgh, C. C. & St. L. R. Co. v. Backus, 154 U. S. 421, 38 L. ed. 1031, 14 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1114; Western U. Teleg. Co. v. Taggart, 163 U. S. 1, 41 L. ed. 49, 16 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1054; Adams Exp. Co. v. Ohio State Auditor, 165 U. S. 194, 220, 41 L. ed. 683, 695, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 305.

Fourth. The franchise of a corporation, although that franchise is the business of interstate commerce, is, as a part of its property, subject to state taxation, providing, at least, the franchise is not derived from the United States. Delaware Railroad Tax, 18 Wall. 206, 232, sub nom. Minot v. Philadelphia, W. & B. R. Co. 21 L. ed. 888, 896; Postal Teleg. Cable Co. v. Adams, 155 U. S. 688, 696, 39 L. ed. 311, 316, 5 Inters. Com. Rep. 1, 15 Sup. Ct. Rep. 268, 360; New York, L. E. & W. R. Co. v. Pennsylvania, 158 U. S. 431, 437, 39 L. ed. 1043, 1045, 15 Sup. Ct. Rep. 896; Central P. R. Co. v. California, 162 U. S. 91, 40 L. ed. 903, 16 Sup. Ct. Rep. 766; Western U. Teleg. Co. v. Taggart, 163 U. S. 1, 18, 41 L. ed. 49, 55, 16 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1054; Western U. Teleg. Co. v. Missouri ex rel. Gottlieb, 190 U. S. ——, ante, 730 23 Sup. Ct. Rep. 730.

Fifth. No corporation, even though engaged in interstate commerce, can appropriate to its own use property, public or private, without liability to charge therefor. Western Union Packet Co. v. St. Louis, 100 U. S. 423, 25 L. ed. 688; Cincinnati, P. B. S. & P. Packet Co. v. Catlettsburg, 105 U. S. 559, 26 L. ed. 1169; Parkersburg & O. River Transp. Co. v. Parkersburg, 107 U. S. 691, 27 L. ed. 584, 2 Sup. Ct. Rep. 732; Huse v. Glover, 119 U. S. 543, 30 L. ed. 487, 7 Sup. Ct. Rep. 313; Ouachita & M. River Packet Co. v. Aiken, 121 U. S. 444, 30 L. ed. 976, 1 Inters. Com. Rep. 379, 7 Sup. Ct. Rep. 907; St. Louis v. Western U. Teleg. Co. 148 U. S. 92, 37 L. ed. 380, 13 Sup. Ct. Rep. 485, 149 U. S. 465, 37 L. ed. 810, 13 Sup. Ct. Rep. 990; Postal Teleg. Cable Co. v. Baltimore, 156 U. S. 210, 39 L. ed. 399, 15 Sup. Ct. Rep. 356; Richmond v. Southern Belt Teleph. & Teleg. Co. 174 U. S. 761, 771, 43 L. ed. 1162, 1167, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 778.

The tax sought to be collected in this case was not a tax upon the property or franchises of the company, nor in the nature of rental for occupying certain portions of the street. Neither was it a charge for the privilege of engaging in the business of interstate commerce, but it was one for the enforcement of local governmental supervision, such as was presented in Western U. Teleg. Co. v. New Hope, 187 U. S. 419, ante, 204, 23 Sup. Ct. Rep. 204, where we said (p. 427, ante, p. 205, Sup. Ct. Rep. p. 205):

'This license fee was not a tax on the property of the company, or on its transmission of messages, or on its receipts from such transmission, or on its occupation or business, but was a charge in the enforcement of local governmental supervision, and, as such, not in itself obnoxious to the clause of the...