United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Citizens' Savings Bank of Owensboro v. Owensboro, 173 U.S. 636 (1899)

Citizens' Savings Bank of Owensboro v. Owensboro

No. 669

Argued February 27-28, 1899

Decided April 3, 1899

173 U.S. 636

Syllabus

The questions raised by the eighth and ninth assignments of error, relating to alleged violations of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, are not presented by the record, and do not result by necessary intendment therefrom, and are therefore not considered by the Court, under the well settled rules that the attempt to raise a federal question for the first time after a decision by the court of last resort of a state is too late, and that where it is disclosed that an asserted federal question was not presented to the state court or called in any way to its attention, and where it is not necessarily involved in the decision of the state court, such question will not be considered by this Court.

The mere grant for a designated time of an immunity from taxation does not take it out of the rule subjecting such grant to the general law retaining the power to amend or repeal, unless the granting act contain an express provision to that effect.

The Act of the Legislature of Kentucky of February 14, 1856, and the Act of May 12, 1884, c. 1412, incorporating the Citizens' Savings Bank of Owensboro, and the Act of May 17, 1886, commonly known as the Hewitt Act, and other acts referred to, did not create an irrevocable contract on the part of the state protecting the bank from other taxation, and therefore the taxing law of Kentucky of November 11, 1892, c. 108, did not violate the contract clause of the Constitution of the United States.

The case was argued with Nos. 148, 149, 150 and 151, the reports of which follow it.

Page 173 U. S. 637