United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Whitbeck v. Mercantile Nat'l Bank of Cleveland, 127 U.S. 193 (1888)

Whitbeck v. Mercantile National Bank of Cleveland

No. 970

Argued March 20, 1888

Decided April 23, 1888

127 U.S. 193

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED

STATES FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO

Syllabus

The auditor of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, fixed the taxable value of shares in a national bank at 60 percent of their true value in money, in accordance with the practice adopted for the valuation of other moneyed capital of individuals in the courts and state, and transmitted the same to the State Board of Equalization for incorporated banks. That board increased the valuation to 65 percent, and this value, being certified back to the auditor, was placed by him on the tax list without a corresponding change being made in the valuation of other moneyed capital of individuals. Held that this was such a discrimination as is forbidden by § 5219 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.

The statutes of Ohio regulating assessments for taxation allow an owner of moneyed capital other than shares in a national bank to have a deduction equal to his bona fide indebtedness made from the amount of the assessment of the value of such moneyed capital, but they make no provision for a similar deduction from the assessed value of shares in a national bank, and provide no means by which such a deduction may be obtained.