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The provisions of the 1894 Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act had stated that, for a five-year period, any "gains, profits and incomes" in excess of $4,000 would be taxed at 2 percent. So, in compliance with the Act, the New York-based Farmers' Loan & Trust Company announced to its shareholders that it would not only pay the tax, but also provide to the collector of internal revenue in the Department of the Treasury the names of all people for whom the company was acting and thus were liable for being taxed under the Act.
Charles Pollock was a Massachusetts citizen who only owned ten shares of stock in the Farmers' Loan & Trust Company, but nevertheless he sued the company to enjoin it from paying the tax. Pollock lost in the lower courts, but finally appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.
The Court handed down its decision on May 20 1895, with Chief Justice Melville Fuller delivering the opinion of the Court. He ruled in Pollock's favor, stating that the tax levied by the Wilson-Gorman Act was unconstitutional because it was a direct tax, irrespective of the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, which require that direct taxes be levied in proportion to states' population. As Chief Justice Fuller neatly summarized:
Justices John Marshall Harlan, Jackson, White and Brown, however, dissented from the majority opinion. Justice White aptly concluded,
In a nation where the Federal government was beginning its battle against monopolies and trusts, where the great bulk of wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few, the decision in Pollock unpopular, much like the decision in United States v. E. C. Knight Co., 156 U.S. 1 (1895) of the same year. The following year, the Democratlogo depicts a stylized donkey in red, white, and blue. The Democratic Party is one of the two major United States political parties. The Party is currently the minority in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, as wic Party, which had grabbed hold of the Populist movement, included an income tax plank in its election platform. The decision, in the minds of the vast majority of Americans, was viewed as a method to keep the large corporations from bearing their share of the cost of the government.
NebraskaNebraska ( In Detail) (Full size) State nickname: Cornhusker State Other U. States Capital Lincoln Largest City Omaha Governor Mike Johanns Area Total Land Water % water Ranked 16th 200,520 km˛ 199,099 km˛ 1,247 km˛ 0. 6% Population Total ( 2000) Density senator Norris Brown publicly decried the Court's decision, and instead proposed specific language permitting an income tax that was later incorporated into the Sixteenth Amendment . Fourteen years would pass, however, before the Amendment was finally passed by CongressA congress is a gathering of people. Congress is the name of the main legislative body in a state that operates under a congressional system of government. A congress is different from a parliament in that legislative initiative is vested into it. In a co in 1909Events January 5 Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. January 16 Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole. January 28 United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War. February 12 The National. Upon ratification in 19131913 is a common year starting on Wednesday. click on link for calendar) Events January-March January 30 House of Lords rejects Irish Home Rule Bill February 1 New York City's Grand Central Station opens as the world's largest train station. February 3 Th, the Amendment formally made the decision in Pollock moot when it finally implemented an income tax.