Memphis & Little Rock Railroad Co. (as reorganized) v. Berry et al.
important functions of government."—Pierce on Railroads, 491.
"The surrender of the taxing power is not to be presumed unless the purpose of the State to part with it clearly appears. The power is essential to the existence of government, and is of vital importance that it should remain unimpaired." A State cannot strip itself of this most essential power by doubtful words. It cannot by ambiguous language be deprived of this highest attribute of sovereignty.—Erie Railway v. Pennsylvania, 21 Wall., 499.
JUDGE FIELD in Delaware Railroad Tax, 18 Wall., 225, thus states the rule: "All public grants are strictly construed. Nothing can be taken against the State by presumption or inference. The established rule of construction in such cases is that rights, privileges and immunities, not expressly granted, are reserved. There is no safety to the public interest in any other rule. And with special force does the principle upon which the rule rests apply when the right, privilege or immunity claimed calls for an abridgment of the powers of the government, or any restriction upon their exercise. The power of taxation is an attribute of sovereignty, and is essential to every independent government. As this court has said, the whole community is interested in maintaining it undiminished, and has a right to insist that its abandonment ought not to be presumed in a case in which a deliberate purpose of the State to abandon it does not appear. If the point were not already adjudged, it would admit of grave consideration, whether the legislature of a State can surrender this power and make its action in this respect binding upon its successors, any more than it can surrender its police power or its right of eminent domain. But, the point being adjudged, the surrender, when claimed, must be shown by clear, unambiguous language, which will admit of no reasonable
