Farmers Mechanics Savings Bank of Minneapolis v. State of Minnesota’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 federal appellate · 8 district · 61 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 194 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is, however, further suggested that the judgment under review does not sustain a tax upon the bonds as property, but only a tax upon the surplus of the savings bank, computed by taking into the account all of its assets, amounting to about $12,000,000, of which the bonds were only about $700,000, and deducting therefrom its liabilities. But as the surplus is treated as property and taxed as such, it is obvious that some portion of the burden of the tax is attributable to the ownership of the municipal bonds. In Bank of Commerce v. New York City, 2 Black (U. S.), 620, it was held that the State of New York in taxing the capital of banks according to its valuation must leave out of the calculation that portion of the capital invested in stocks, bonds, or other securities of the United States not liable to taxation by the State. And see Bank Tax Case, 2 Wall. (U. S.) 200; Home Savings Bank v. City of Des Moines, 205 U. S. 503, 509 (27 Sup. Ct. 571). “It results that the inclusion of the bonds now in question in the list of the assets of plaintiff in error, in ascertaining its surplus for the purpose of imposing a State property tax thereon, was repugnant to the Constitution of the United States.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Packard Motor Car Co. v. City of Detroit

2. “The right to tax the contract to any extent, when made, must operate upon the power to borrow before it is exercised, and have a sensible influence on the contract. The extent of this influence depends on the will of a distinct government. To any extent, however inconsiderable, it is a burden on the operations of government.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Indian Motocycle Co. v. United States

3. ““But we deem it entirely clear that a tax upon the exercise of the function of issuing municipal bonds is a tax upon the operations of the government, and not in any sense a tax upon the property of the municipality.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. McAlester-edwards Coal Co. v. Trapp