William Howard Taft

“ Mere intention by the owner ultimately to send the logs out of the state does not put them in interstate commerce, nor does preparatory gathering for that purpose at a depot. It must appear that the movement for another state has actually begun and is going on. Solution is easy when the shipment has been delivered to a carrier for a destination in another state. It is much more difficult when the owner retains complete control of the transportation and can change his mind and divert the delivery from the intended interstate destination as in the Champlain Company Case. ”

“ The paper company had an interest in the timber and so had the timber company. Although the point was at first made by the timber company that the logs were not taxable in the name of the timber company May 1, 1922, the day fixed as the tax day, that point is not pressed. The contract and the method of complying with it are all circumstances, however, throwing light on the question whether the transportation in interstate commerce began at the beginning of the drive when the ice broke up or at the point of loading on the lake. ”