Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ Whether this property could be taxed in any other form or not, it cannot be reached as profits or income from leases such as those before us. The same considerations that invalidate a tax upon the leases invalidate a tax upon the profits of the leases, and, stopping short of theoretical possibilities, a tax upon such profits is a direct hamper upon the effort of the United States to make the best terms that it can for its wards. ”

“ Chapter 164, Oklahoma Laws of 1915, makes every person of the State liable to a tax upon his entire net income arising from all sources, except such as is exempt from taxation by some law of the United States or of the State. Under that statute Oklahoma seeks in these proceedings to hold the defendant, the plaintiff in error, liable for taxes for the years 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918, upon net income derived by him as lessee from leases of restricted Indian (Creek and Osage) lands, the leases being of the kind dealt with in Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf R. R. Co. ”

“ The criterion of interference by the States with interstate commerce is one of degree. It is well understood that a certain amount of reaction upon and interference with such commerce cannot be avoided if the States are to exist and make laws. ”