Opinion · Supreme Court of the United States

Minnesota v. Blasius

290 U.S. 1

Type
Opinion
Court
Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction
Federal
Date
1933-11-06
Topic
general

How later courts describe this case

  • holding that storage of inventory awaiting orders served owner’s business purpose
  • explaining that the purpose of the stoppage was central to determining whether property remained in transit
  • emphasizing that because commerce might be “subject to the regulating power of the Congress,” does not mean the state cannot lay a nondiscriminatory tax
  • “If the interstate movement has not begun, the mere fact that such a movement is contemplated does not withdraw the property from the state’s power to tax it.”
  • “[I]f a treaty fairly admits of two constructions, one restricting the rights 9 which may be claimed under it, and the other enlarging it, the more liberal construction is to be 10 preferred.”
  • repacking and blending of flour

Citator

UpLaw has not yet analyzed Minnesota v. Blasius. The absence of a flag is not a finding that it is good law.

Cited by
201 opinions

Headnotes

  1. Constitutional Law — Commerce Clause Because a flow of interstate commerce is subject to the regulating power of Congress, it does not necessarily follow that, absent a conflict with the exercise of that power, a State may not lay a non-discriminatory tax upon property which, although connected with that flow as a general course of business, has come to rest and has acquired a situs within the State. 290 U.S. 1, 9-10
  2. Constitutional Law — Commerce Clause The States may not impose direct burdens upon interstate commerce by regulating or restraining that which by its nature should be under the control of the national authority; this limitation applies to the exertion of the State's taxing power as well as to other state interference with the essential freedom of interstate commerce, and the States may not tax interstate commerce by laying the tax upon the business constituting such commerce or the privilege of engaging in it, or upon the receipts derived from it. 290 U.S. 1, 9
  3. Constitutional Law — State Taxation — Property in Transit The States may not tax property in transit in interstate commerce, but by reason of a break in the transit the property may come to rest within a State and become subject to the State's power to impose a non-discriminatory property tax; such an exertion of state power belongs to the class of cases in which, by virtue of the nature and importance of local concerns, the State may act until Congress, if it has paramount authority over the subject, substitutes its own regulation. 290 U.S. 1, 9
  4. Constitutional Law — State Taxation — Continuity of Transit The crucial question in determining whether a State's taxing power may be exerted over property connected with interstate commerce is the continuity of transit. 290 U.S. 1, 9 (quoting Carson Petroleum Co. v. Vial, 279 U.S. 95, 101)
  5. Constitutional Law — State Taxation — Commencement of Interstate Movement If the interstate movement has not begun, the mere fact that such a movement is contemplated does not withdraw the property from the State's power to tax it. 290 U.S. 1, 9-10
  6. Constitutional Law — State Taxation — Continuation of Transit If the interstate movement has begun, it may be regarded as continuing, so as to maintain the immunity of the property from state taxation, despite temporary interruptions due to the necessities of the journey or for the purpose of safety and convenience in the course of the movement; formalities such as the forms of billing and mere changes in the method of transportation do not affect the continuity of the transit. 290 U.S. 1, 10
  7. Constitutional Law — State Taxation — Interruption of Transit Whether an interruption in transit is sufficient to subject property to a State's taxing power is always a question of substance, and in each case it is necessary to consider the particular occasion or purpose of the interruption during which the tax is sought to be levied. 290 U.S. 1, 10
  8. Constitutional Law — State Taxation — Power of Owner to Divert The mere power of the owner to divert a shipment already started does not take it out of interstate commerce if it appears that the journey has already begun in good faith and the temporary interruption of the passage is reasonable and in furtherance of the intended transportation. 290 U.S. 1, 10 (citing Hughes Bros. Co. v. Minnesota, 272 U.S. 469, 476)
  9. Constitutional Law — State Taxation — Property at Rest Where property has come to rest within a State, being held there at the pleasure of the owner for disposal or use so that he may dispose of it either within the State or for shipment elsewhere as his interest dictates, it is deemed to be a part of the general mass of property within the State and is thus subject to its taxing power. 290 U.S. 1, 10
  10. Constitutional Law — State Taxation — Goods Held for Sale in Open Market Coal mined in one State and sent by water to a market in another State to be sold there in the open market had come to its place of rest for final disposal or use and was a commodity in the market of the destination State, and thus subject to taxation under the general laws of that State, even though after arrival the property might be sold for shipment to a foreign port. 290 U.S. 1, 10-11 (discussing Brown v. Houston, 114 U.S. 622)
  11. Constitutional Law — State Taxation — Storage for Business Purposes Where oil gathered from one State was stored at a depot in another State for division and distribution to various points for the business purposes and profit of the company, the first shipment had ended and the storage facility had become a depot in the company's oil business for preparing the oil for another interstate journey. 290 U.S. 1, 11 (discussing General Oil Co. v. Crain, 209 U.S. 211)
  12. Constitutional Law — State Taxation — Withdrawal from Transit for Private Benefit Where a taxpayer withdrew grain from carriers and stored it in his private elevator for inspection, weighing, grading, and mixing, with power to change its ownership, consignee, or destination or to restore it to the carrier for delivery in another State, the grain was at rest within his complete power of disposition and was taxable by the State; his storing of the grain was not to facilitate interstate shipment or save it from the danger of the journey but established a local facility for his own benefit, so that while the grain was there at rest it was properly included with his other property in an assessment for taxation made in the usual way without discrimination. 290 U.S. 1, 11-12 (discussing Bacon v. Illinois, 227 U.S. 504)
  13. Constitutional Law — State Taxation — Situs of Livestock Purchased in Market Where cattle consigned from another State to a stock market had reached that destination, been sold, and were being held in stockyard pens at the buyer's expense and subject to his free disposition, they had acquired a situs for local state taxation as the buyer's property, even though in the course of his business he was offering them for resale in the same market when the tax was imposed and sold them shortly afterward for interstate consignment; the original shipment was ended rather than suspended, the buyer was free to sell within or outside the State, and the cattle were not held to promote their safe or convenient transit. 290 U.S. 1, 12