OCR Text |
Show Ot) THE INCOME TAX AMENDMENT. The National City Bank Circular, which is regarded as an authority on all matters pertaining to Washington and governmental affairs, is very decided de-cided in Its statements on a matter which has been supposed to he In doubt the action of the states in relation re-lation to the proposed amendment to the constitution to tax incomes. It says: "Thore is no constitutional; limit to the tlmo during which a proposed pro-posed amendment must bo ratified or rejected. Once submitted to the states, it remains pending until ratified. rati-fied. There has never been a teat of this provision which would lead to a construction of it by the supreme court, but In the absence of such a construction It is held by able constitutional consti-tutional lawyers that a proposod amendment neer dies. It may be ratified rat-ified and become pait of tho constitution, constitu-tion, but It cannot be killed, not even by the positive action of more than one-fourth of the states in rejecting it, bocnuse it Is always possible for a subsequent legislature to undo this positive rejection and pass a resolii tlon of ratification. Tho procedure Is i hold to be the same with amendments j as It was with the original constitu- I tion itself The civil war determined once for all that a state, having once adopted the constitution, could never undo that act A state might refuse to Join tho union, at the start, as :v many times as It pleased and siml- Jf larly now It may refuse to accept an amendment as many times as It likes hut once It accepts, that action Is ( forever binding. Consequently, with n 30 states already registered as in fa- j; vor of the Income tax amendment, 1; and only six more ratifications necea- t3 snry, cvon with the admission of the jv two new states, it is practically cer- jj; tain tha't the near future will sec con- i' gress clothed with the power to levy such a tax." Perhaps! |