Section 38 of the Tariff Law of 1909 contains the provision that every corporation "organized for profit and having a capital stock represented by shares . . . shall be subject to pay annually a special excise tax with respect to the carrying on or doing business by such corporation . . . equivalent to one per centum upon the entire net income over and above five thousand dollars received by it from all sources."

The constitutionality of this tax, as being indirect, would seem to be supported by the decisions cited in the preceding paragraphs, and by that in Knowlton v. Moore,82 considered in the next paragraph. It is true that in the Income Tax Case83 the court held that a tax upon income from property is not to be distinguished from a tax on the property itself, but it is probable that the tax levied by Section 38 of the Tariff Law of 1909 will be held to be a tax not on the income of the corporations, but one in the nature of a franchise or excise tax. The constitutionality of such a federal tax upon corporations chartered by the States would seem to be disposed of by the argument in Veazie Bank v. Fenno.84

81 192 U. S. 397; 24 Sup. Ct Rep. 37G; 48 L. ed. 496.

82 178 U. S. 41; 20 Sup. Ct. Rep. 747: 44 L. ed. 909.

83 Pollock v. Farmers L. & T. Co., 158 U. S. 601; 15 Sup. Ct. Rep. 912; 39 L. ed. 1108.

84 8 Wall. 533; 19 L. ed. 482. See also South Carolina v. United States, 199 U. S. 437; 26 Sup. Ct Rep. 110; 50 L. ed. 261.