Supreme Court of the United States, 1931

State Tax Comm'n of Miss. v. Interstate Natural Gas Co.

Supreme Court of the United States · Decided November 23, 1931 · Holmes

284 U.S. 41; 52 S. Ct. 62; 76 L. Ed. 156; 1931 U.S. LEXIS 460 (United States Reports)

Counsel

Mr. Edward R. Holmes, Jr., argued the cause for appellants, appearing pro- hae vice by leave of Court; and Messrs. George T. Mitchell, Attorney General of Mississippi, and J. A. Lauderdale, Assistant Attorney General, were on the brief., Mr. David Clay Bramlette for appellee.

Cases that cite this one

32 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.

United Fuel Gas Company v. Battle (W. Va. 1969)
Ideal Cement Company v. United Gas Pipe Line Company, Scott Paper Company v. United Gas Pipe Line Company (5th Cir. 1960)
Coleman v. Trunkline Gas Co. (Miss. 1953)
Federal Power Commission v. East Ohio Gas Co. (Supreme Court of the United States 1950)
United Gas Pipe Line Co. v. Lee (Fla. 1944)
Electric Bond & Share Co. v. Securities & Exchange Commission (2d Cir. 1937)
Arkansas-Louisiana Pipe Line Co. v. Coverdale (District Court, W.D. Louisiana 1935)
Interstate Oil Pipe Line Co. v. Stone (Supreme Court of the United States 1949)
Memphis Natural Gas Co. v. Stone (Supreme Court of the United States 1948)
Pajaro Dunes Rental Agency, Inc. v. Spitters (In re Pajaro Dunes Rental Agency, Inc.) (United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. California 1994)
Master Craft Engineering, Inc v. Department of Treasury (Mich. Ct. App. 1985)
Michigan Wisconsin Pipe Line Co. v. State (Mich. Ct. App. 1975)
Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. v. Commonwealth (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1975)
State Tax Commission v. Memphis Natural Gas Co. (Miss. 1944)
Memphis Natural Gas Co. v. McCanless (Tenn. 1944)
State v. Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. (Mont. 1943)
Stone v. Interstate Natural Gas Co. (5th Cir. 1939)
Kentucky Natural Gas Corp. v. Public Service Commission (District Court, E.D. Kentucky 1939)
Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Henneford (Wash. 1938)
Arkansas-Louisiana Pipe Line Co. v. Coverdale (District Court, W.D. Louisiana 1937)
Gully v. Interstate Natural Gas Co. (5th Cir. 1936)
Interstate Natural Gas Co. v. Gully (District Court, S.D. Mississippi 1934)
Texoma Natural Gas Co. v. Railroad Commission of Texas (District Court, W.D. Texas 1932)
South Carolina Power Co. v. South Carolina Tax Commission (District Court, E.D. South Carolina 1932)
Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana (Supreme Court of the United States 1981)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion

Mr. Justice Holmes

delivered the opinion of the Court.

.This is an appeal from a decree of three Judges sitting according to statute in the District Court, by which the íax Commission of the State of Mississippi is permanently enjoined from enforcing a Privilege Tax Law of that State, being c. 88 of the laws of 1930, against the Interstate Natural Gas Company, the plaintiff in this suit.

The facts are agreed. The plaintiff has a trunk line of pipe extending from gas fields in Louisiana through Mississippi and back to Louisiana; 72.42 miles having a diameter of 22 inches, 8.11 miles having a diameter of 12 inches and 4.99 miles a diameter of 10 inches. It sells daily to distributors in Louisiana about 70,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas in summer and'about 75,000,000 feet in winter. In Mississippi it sells as will be explained from 204,000 to 520,000 feet according to the season. The gas flows continuously from the gas fields in Louisiana and obviously, for much the greater part at least, in interstate commerce. But the appellants rely upon business done under two' similar contracts made in New York to show that there was intrastate commerce in Mississippi that may be taxed without burdening the main activity that the State cannot touch. Ozark Pipe Line Corp. v. Monier, 266 U. S. 555, 563. East Ohio Gas Co. v. Tax Commission, 283 U. S. 465, 470. Distributing companies tap the plaintiff’s pipes near Natchez and the town of Woodville. The gas withdrawn by the distributors is measured by a thermometer and a metér furnished by the plaintiff which is the only way in which it can be measured. The pressure of the gas is reduced by the plaintiff *44 before it passes into the purchaser’s hands. The work done by the. plaintiff is done upon the flowing gas to help the delivery and seems to us plainly to be incident to the interstate commerce between Louisiana and Mississippi. The plaintiff simply transports the gas and delivers it yyholésale not otherwise worked over than to make it ready for delivery to the independent parties that dispose of it by retail. Missouri v. Kansas Gas Co., 265 U. S. 298. Public Utilities Comm. v. Landon, 249 U. S. 236, 245. Ozark Pipe Line Corp. v. Monier, 266 U. S. 555.

Decree affirmed.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.