“ The court held it to be an excise or franchise tax, not a property tax, and therefore not subject to the express limitations imposed by the state Constitution upon taxes of the latter kind, but only to such limitations as were to be implied from certain other provisions of the Constitution, respecting which the court said (p. 594) :
'The Constitution was established to 'promote our common welfare.' Preamble to the Constitution. Government is instituted for the equal protection and benefit of the people. ”

“ Nor do we think that from the facts of the present case it is to be inferred that the franchises of plaintiffs in error are valueless merely because it appears that the present earnings of the railroads are not sufficient to pay more than can be derived from legitimate high-grade investment securities that are readily available on the market, or (in the case of one of the roads) are not even sufficient to pay operating expenses. ”

“ Certainly, in the absence of a construction by the state court of last resort to the effect that the receipts from foreign commerce are to be included, and without any attempt on the part of the taxing authorities to include them, the Federal courts ought not to place a construction upon the act that would render it unconstitutional. ”