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Show CORPORATION TAX ATTACK Washington, March 11. '"For taking tak-ing away our charters' wa3 one f the grievances of tho American colonies against the king of Great Britain. Al the lime the dcclnralon (containing these very words i was written, tb people of Vermont bad already rendered rend-ered conspicuous service In tho war of Independence. It would be an astonishing aston-ishing result If. yeaitf after that independence in-dependence had been won, U should )e found that thn government established estab-lished by the colonials themselves hud become an instrument 'for taking away our charters.' " That is the climax in the brlf ol Maxwell F.yerett and Henry S. Ward-ner, Ward-ner, counsel for Stella P. Flint ol Windsor, Vt . llled today In the supremo su-premo court in opposition to the constitutionality con-stitutionality of the corpora' Ion tax. Thi- main point Is. that Ihe law, as far as it effects the Stone-Tracy company com-pany is unconstitutional because H Invades the sovereignty of the stnta of Vermont. It Is also claimed thai tbo company would be deprived of iti property for public use without jusl compensation and that the tax Is a direct one ou tbe franchise and therefore there-fore unconstitutional because not ap portioned. Mr. Everett started the litigation over the constitutionally ol the tax and he is relied upon largelj to present tho views of tho corporations corpora-tions to the court. In the oral arguments argu-ments of the 1)0 cases next week. The invasion of state sovereignty through the corporation tax Is actual and real." says the brief. "No per son of the slightest business expert ence can doubt th it tbe Imposition ol the tax and tho lorccj publicity ol corporate affairs as distinguished frorc tho privacy of the affairs of partner ships and individuals and their ex emptlon from a lik- .ax, will drive t the wall this defendant eorporalioi nud all similar small corporation! which compote with partnerships cni Individuals. "It may not seriously affect the larg er and stronger corporations. All th reserve power of the state to creau I ihe;e small Corporations would bo rcn dered as useless as If it never had cx lsted." I Tbe court is told that to dcclar the law unconstitutional involved t dlmunitloD of the potential resourcei of the national government aa was urgod would be the caso in tho inconn i cases. |