Savannah, Thunderbolt &C. Ry. v. Savannah, 198 U.S. 392 (1905)

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Savannah, Thunderbolt and Isle of Hope Railway v. Savannah

No. 238

Argued April 28, 1905
Decided May 15, 1905
198 U.S. 392

ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT

OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA

Syllabus

There is no foundation for the jurisdiction of this Court to review the judgment of the highest court of a state refusing to restrain the collection of a tax the imposition of which is not authorized by any law of the state. Barney v. City of New Orleans, 193 U.S. 430.

A classification which distinguishes between an ordinary street railway and a steam railroad making an extra charge for local deliveries of freight brought over its road from outside the city held, under the facts of this case, not to be such a classification as to make the tax void under the Fourteenth Amendment because it denies the street railway the equal protection of the law or deprives it of its property without due process of law.

Where none of the expressions in a contract between a street railway company and the municipality in regard to the extension of company’s tracks for the better advantage of, and affording more facilities to, the public import any exemption from taxation, the subsequent imposition of a tax, otherwise valid, is not invalid under the impairment of obligation clause of the Constitution.

The facts are stated in the opinion.