Pierce Butler

“ The land is owned by the heirs of the allottee. The company has a mining lease on the restricted land on terms which provide for the payment of royalties or a percentage of the gross proceeds derived from the sale of ores minded. The amount sued for is an ad valorem tax assessed by the county officials under section 9814, Compiled Statutes (Okl.) of 1921, on lead and zinc ores mined by the company in 1920, and which were in its bins on the land January 1, 1921. This tax is in addition to a gross production tax paid to the state auditor. ”

“ It is owned wholly by the Mining Company, a private Oklahoma corporation organized for profit. The ore is assessed under the general laws of the state which lays an ad valorem property tax on all property, real or personal, not exempt by law from taxation. Payment of the tax will not affect the financial return to the Indian under the lease. No state legislation exempts this property. There is no specific or general provision in any act of Congress which purports to do so. If an exemption exists, it arises directly from the federal Constitution. ”

“ It is a peculiar virtue of our system of law that the process of inclusion and exclusion, so often employed in developing a rule, is not allowed to end with its enunciation, and that an expression in an opinion yields later to the impact of facts unforeseen. ”

“ A tax upon their property has no such necessary effect. It leaves them free to discharge the duties they have undertaken to perform. A tax upon their operations is a direct obstruction to the exercise of federal powers.' Railroad Co. ”

“ We are dealing with a private 'corporation having its own purposes as well as those of the United States and interested in profit on its own account.' 263 U.S. page 345, 44 S.C.t. 122. And we are dealing with a property tax, as distinguished from an occupation tax. Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Ry. Co. v. Harrison, 235 U.S. 292, 35 S.C.t. 27, 59 L. Ed. 234; Oklahoma v. Texas, 226 U.S. 298, 301, 45 S.C.t. 101, 69 L. Ed. 296. Whether, under the circumstances, Congress had power to exempt the ore from the general property tax, we need not consider. ”

“ Since that time, the royalties have been paid directly to the secretary.
The Quapaw Indians are under the guardianship of the United States. The land and Indian owners are bound by restrictions specified in the patent and the acts referred to. It is the duty and established policy of the government to protect these dependents in respect of their property. ”

“ Mr. Justice McREYNOLDS is of opinion that the effect of the assailed tax upon the instrumentality of the United States is remote and tax is valid under the doctrine approved in Central Pac. R. R. v. California, 162 U.S. 91, 119, 16 S.C.t. 766, 40 L. Ed. 903.
Mr. Justice BRANDEIS (dissenting) .
The property taxed is lead and zinc ore in bins. The land from which the ore was extracted belongs to a Quapaw allottee under the Act of March 2, 1895, c. 188, 28 Stat. 876, 907. Restrictions on alienation of the land will not expire until 1946. ”

“ The attitude of the court in this respect has been especially helpful when called upon to adjust the respective powers of the states and the nation in the field of taxation. [4]
Notes
↑ Pennock v. Commissioners, 103 U.S. 44, 26 L. Ed. 367; Goudy v. Meath, 203 U.S. 146, 27 S.C.t. 48, 51 L. Ed. 130.↑ Keokuk v. Ulam, 4 Okl. 5, 38 P. 1080. The exemption granted the personalty of the Indians in United States v. Rickert, 188 U.S. 432, 23 S.C.t. 478, 47 L. Ed. ”