The Supreme Court of the United States has struck some
millions a year out of the Budget. That is to Bay, the -Judges, by a vote of 5 to 4, declared that any Income-tax whatever is unconstitutional "unless apportioned accord- ing to representation,"—that is, unless levied on each State as a State in proportion to population without reference either to the wealth of the State or the income of the individual. No tax will ever be levied in that form, and the decision simply &ills the Income-tax, unless in some hour of dire necessity the people compel the Legislatures to modify the national Constitution. The decision is an extreme instance of the power of the Supreme Court under the Constitution, and it is probable that it would be over-ridden in some way, but that it is popular with the people, who cannot be reconciled to direct taxation for national purposes, even by special taxation on the rich. The decision is an immense victory for the capi- talist interest ; but it tends, like many another decision—the great decision about slavery, for instance—to make Americans doubt whether they are not permitting themselves to be bound too completely in paper withes.
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