Superior Oil Co v. State of Mississippi Knox, No. 28
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | HOLMES |
| Citation | 280 U.S. 390,74 L.Ed. 504,50 S.Ct. 169 |
| Parties | SUPERIOR OIL CO. v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI ex rel. KNOX, Atty. Gen |
| Docket Number | No. 28 |
| Decision Date | 24 February 1930 |
v.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI ex rel. KNOX, Atty. Gen.
Page 391
Messrs. William H. Watkins, of Jackson, Miss., and Warren Lee Guice, of Biloxi, Miss., for appellant.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 391-392 intentionally omitted]
Page 393
Messrs. James W. Cassedy, Jr., of Brook-haven, Miss., and E. C. Sharp, of Jackson, Miss., for appellee, pro hac vice by special leave of Court.
Mr. Justice HOLMES delivered the opinion of the Court.
This is a suit by the State of Mississippi to collect a tax on distributors of gasoline of three and four cents respectively per gallon sold, according to the statute in force at the time of the sales. The defense was that the sales were in interstate commerce.
The Supreme Court of the
Page 394
State upheld the tax, 119 So. 360, and the defendant, the Superior Oil Company, appealed to this Court on the ground that the statutes as applied violated the commerce clause of the Constitution of the United States. Article 1, section 8.
The facts are as follows. The Superior Oil Company, a corporation created and doing business in Mississippi, sold gasoline to packers in Biloxi in that State and delivered it at the packers' wharves. The latter loaded the oil upon their own fishing boats and sent it out to the neighborhood of Grants Pass, Louisiana, where they delivered it to shrimp fishermen for use in fishing. The firshermen brought their catch back to Biloxi, sold it to the packers and were charged with the cost of the oil in account. The appellant received in each case from the purchaser what is called a bill of lading, signed by the master of the boat on which the oil was loaded and reading in part: 'Consigned to Gussie Fontaine Pkg. co. (or other purchasers). Destination: Grants Pass, La. By boat Frank Louis, owned or operated by Gussie Fontaine Pkg. Co.' The instrument then provided that 'the property consigned herein remains the property of said Superior Oil Company until it shall be delivered to consignee or consignee's agent at point of destination,' with provisions throwing all risks upon the purchasers. The seller of course paid no freight. The document seems to have had no other use than, as the Supreme Court of Mississippi said, to try to convert a domestic transaction into one of interstate commerce. There was no consignee at the point of destination. The goods were delivered to the so-called consignee before they started, and were in its...
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United States v. Mills, No. 2247.
...L. R. 546; Utah Power & Light Co. v. Pfost, 286 U. S. 165, 52 S. Ct. 548, 76 L. Ed. 1038; Superior Oil Co. v. Mississippi, 280 U. S. 391, 50 S. Ct. 169, 74 L. Ed. 504; Hammer v. Dagenhart, 247 U. S. 251, 272, 38 S. Ct. 529, 62 L. Ed. 1101, 3 A. L. R. 649, Ann. Cas. 1918E, 724; Oliver Iron C......
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Apt v. Birmingham, Civ. No. 424.
...Gregory v. Helvering, 1935, 293 U.S. 465, 469, 55 S.Ct. 466, 79 L.Ed. 596, 97 A.L.R. 1355; Superior Oil Co. v. State of Mississippi, 1930, 280 U.S. 390, 395, 396, 50 S.Ct. 169, 74 L.Ed. 504; Bullen v. State of Wisconsin, 1916, 240 U.S. 625, 630, 36 S.Ct. 473, 60 L.Ed. 830; United States v. ......
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Herbert v. Riddell, No. 13096.
...6 Gregory v. Helvering, 1935, 293 U.S. 465, 469, 55 S.Ct. 266, 79 L.Ed. 596; Superior Oil Co. v. State of Mississippi ex rel. Knox, 1930, 280 U.S. 390, 395-396, 50 S.Ct. 169, 74 L.Ed. 504; Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Tower, 1946, 327 U.S. 280, 288, 66 S.Ct. 532, 90 L.Ed. 670; United......
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Gardella v. Chandler, No. 98
...52 L.Ed. 828, 14 Ann.Cas. 560; Irwin v. Gavit, 268 U.S. 161, 168, 45 S.Ct. 475, 69 L.Ed. 897; Superior Oil Co. v. State of Mississippi, 280 U.S. 390, 50 S.Ct. 169, 74 L.Ed. 504; Empire Trust Co. v. Cahan, 274 U.S. 473, 478, 47 S.Ct. 661, 71 L.Ed. 1158, 57 A.L.R. 921; Haddock v. Haddock, 201......
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United States v. Mills, No. 2247.
...L. R. 546; Utah Power & Light Co. v. Pfost, 286 U. S. 165, 52 S. Ct. 548, 76 L. Ed. 1038; Superior Oil Co. v. Mississippi, 280 U. S. 391, 50 S. Ct. 169, 74 L. Ed. 504; Hammer v. Dagenhart, 247 U. S. 251, 272, 38 S. Ct. 529, 62 L. Ed. 1101, 3 A. L. R. 649, Ann. Cas. 1918E, 724; Oliver Iron C......
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Apt v. Birmingham, Civ. No. 424.
...Gregory v. Helvering, 1935, 293 U.S. 465, 469, 55 S.Ct. 466, 79 L.Ed. 596, 97 A.L.R. 1355; Superior Oil Co. v. State of Mississippi, 1930, 280 U.S. 390, 395, 396, 50 S.Ct. 169, 74 L.Ed. 504; Bullen v. State of Wisconsin, 1916, 240 U.S. 625, 630, 36 S.Ct. 473, 60 L.Ed. 830; United States v. ......
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Herbert v. Riddell, No. 13096.
...6 Gregory v. Helvering, 1935, 293 U.S. 465, 469, 55 S.Ct. 266, 79 L.Ed. 596; Superior Oil Co. v. State of Mississippi ex rel. Knox, 1930, 280 U.S. 390, 395-396, 50 S.Ct. 169, 74 L.Ed. 504; Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Tower, 1946, 327 U.S. 280, 288, 66 S.Ct. 532, 90 L.Ed. 670; United......
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Gardella v. Chandler, No. 98
...52 L.Ed. 828, 14 Ann.Cas. 560; Irwin v. Gavit, 268 U.S. 161, 168, 45 S.Ct. 475, 69 L.Ed. 897; Superior Oil Co. v. State of Mississippi, 280 U.S. 390, 50 S.Ct. 169, 74 L.Ed. 504; Empire Trust Co. v. Cahan, 274 U.S. 473, 478, 47 S.Ct. 661, 71 L.Ed. 1158, 57 A.L.R. 921; Haddock v. Haddock, 201......