Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Name: Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court
Author: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court

Summary

“Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court”, is a work by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.. It explores elements such as mortgage, tax and plaintiff.

Quotes from Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.)

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court

“ But it is an amazing proposition of constitutional law that the law cannot fix its eye on tangibles alone and tax them by present ownership without regard to obligations that, when performed, would make some of them change hands; for instance, that, under the 14th Amendment, a man having a thousand sheep as his only property could not be taxed for their full value without allowance for an unsecured debt of $5,000, even if his creditors should be left untaxed,- a matter that hardly would concern him. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court

“ The ground of the bill, so far as it is before us, is that the tax, if completed, will be contrary to the 14th Amendment. Some criticism might be made and was made on the form of the allegations, but we will take them as presenting what we believe they were intended to present,-the question whether, consistently with the Constitution of the United States, a man owning land subject to a mortgage can be taxed for the full value of the land, while, at the same time, the mortgage debt is not deducted from his personal estate. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court

“ The plaintiff has many difficulties in his way. In the first place, the mode of taxation is of long standing, and, upon questions of constitutional law, the long-settled habits of the community play a part as well as grammar and logic. If we should assume that, economically speaking, the present system really taxes two persons for the same thing, the fact that the system has been in force for a very long time is of itself a strong reason against the belief that it has been overthrown by the 14th Amendment, and for leaving any improvement that may be desired to the legislature. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court

“ And it may perhaps be doubted whether there is even a logical objection to the sovereign power giving notice to all persons who may acquire property within its domain that, when it comes to tax, it will not look beyond the tangible thing, and that those who buy it must buy it subject to that risk. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court

“ The weight of the plaintiff's argument is that he is taxed for what he does not own. The bill seems to have been drawn on the dominant notion of a right attached specifically to the mortgaged property,-that is to say, the notion that the property represents so many units of value, from which the mortgage subtracts so many, leaving only the remainder subject to be taxed ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court

“ If he lives, and remains solvent, the chances are that he will pay the mortgages out of personalty. Therefore, the true deduction is not the amount of the mortgages, but the speculative chance that the land may have to be sold for the debt,-a chance that would be insured at different rates to different persons. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court

“ If he owned other property, still there would be the chance that the sheep might be seized on execution, and, as we have said, the liability of the mortgaged land is no more, although the chance may be greater. It is a sufficient answer to say that you cannot carry a constitution out with mathematical nicety to logical extremes. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court

“ If there is no personal liability in New York, the levy of a tax is a proceeding in rem, whatever requirements may be made for notice by naming parties in interest, and even if naming them is a condition to the validity of the tax. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Paddell v. City of New York — Opinion of the Court

“ It does not appear that he has not received AN ALLOWANCE FOR HIS MORTGAGE DEBT EXCEPT BY A CONJECTURAL INFERENCE. among the matters that we do not consider is whether the plaintiff has any remedy except proceedings for an abatement, when he admits that he was liable to a tax, and disputes only the amount. ”

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

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