KENTUCKY. 



cipline, with a view of introducing needed im- 

 provements into the prisons of Kentucky. 



The question of the power of a State to tax 

 United States bonds for State purposes came 

 up during the year in the County Court of 

 Jefferson County, and a decision was rendered 

 by Judge Hoke. This was the first case testing 

 the constitutionality of the act of the General 

 Assembly of Kentucky, passed in March, 1867, 

 providing for the taxation of the income de- 

 rived as interest on United States bonds. 



The defendants, the Louisville City National 

 Bank, claimed that the act of the Legislature 

 was in violation of the Constitution, that it 

 impaired the obligation of contracts, that it 

 was double taxation, and not uniform. 



Judge Hoke, after remarking that "this case 

 brings for the first time before the courts the 

 constitutionality of the power of a State, 

 through its Legislature, to tax the interest of 

 United States bonds for State purposes," gave 

 a full review of the law bearing upon the point 

 at issue, showing that the act of the Legislature 

 was constitutional. 



Affirming the principle that "the taxing 

 power is inherent in sovereignty, and must, 

 upon the supposition that the States are sov- 

 ereign, belong to them, unless it can be shown 

 that they have surrendered it," he said : "Every 

 species of property located in a State, except 

 such as is owned by the United States, is 

 subject to the sovereign power of the State, 

 and the power of the State exists, by virtue of 

 the authority inherent in the State itself, not 

 subject to the control of the General Govern- 

 ment. The right of taxation exercised by the 

 State over all property belonging to corpora- 

 tions or individuals is older than the Govern- 

 ment, and a sacred right, to be restrained only 

 when in conflict with the carrying into effect 

 some power belonging to the General Govern- 

 ment. The Federal Government is the crea- 

 ture, and the States the creator the Union 

 being supreme only in such powers as have 

 been delegated. In denying this you deny 

 the sovereignty of the States, making them 

 mere creatures of the Union, holding the same 

 relation to the Government that the counties 

 bear to the State." In the case above referred 

 to, the court said : " If the right were conceded 

 to the General Government to limit or control 

 taxation in the States, it would involve the 

 power to prohibit their collection, and the 

 power to prohibit involves the authority to 

 render the power to raise the revenue neces- 

 sary for the support of the State Government 

 useless, if not impossible." 



Holding that national banks, although in- 

 corporated by Congress, are protected by and 

 subject to State law, the judge, in closing, 

 said : "I am unable to see any illegality or un- 

 fairness in the enforcing of the act of the 

 Legislature. I find it as a law, and am not 

 willing, because of some mere inconvenience 

 to the national Government, to decide the act 

 unconstitutional." 



KING, JONAS. 



379 



The General Assembly, having determined 

 to test the constitutionality of the Civil Eights 

 Bill, counsel were employed, and two cases 

 involving the validity of the act have been 

 carried to the Supreme Court of the United 

 States for decision. At present there is no 

 law in Kentucky requiring the registration 

 of births and marriages, the statute for this 

 purpose having been repealed about the begin- 

 ning of the war. The medical societies through- 

 out the Commonwealth- having urged the en- 

 actment of a similar law, the matter was 

 brought before the last Legislature. 



During the year improvements have been 

 effected, and others are in progress on various 

 land and water lines, which will give greatly- 

 increased facilities for travel and the transpor- 

 tation of freight. In railroad matters an im- 

 portant event of the year was the formal 

 opening of the Louisville and Cincinnati Kail- 

 road, which event was celebrated at Louisville 

 on the 28th of June. The length of the road 

 is 106 miles, and the running time between the 

 two cities five hours. 



One of the National Commercial Conventions 

 was held at Louisville, Ky., commencing on 

 the 13th of October. For an account of its 

 proceedings, see the article on COMMERCIAL 

 CONVENTIONS. 



Since the war, a growing need has been felt 

 in Kentucky for labor and capital, to promote 

 the material prosperity of the State ; and the 

 subject of immigration as the best means of 

 accomplishing this end has been increasing in 

 interest and importance. The attention of the 

 last Legislature was called to this matter by 

 the Governor, in order that some system might 

 be adopted, either of cooperating with other 

 Southern States, or of acting alone, for dissem- 

 inating information in Europe showing the 

 material resources and the industrial advan- 

 tages of the State, and the good feeling of its 

 citizens toward immigrants. It was suggested 

 to the Legislature, that Kentucky might es- 

 tablish a conjoint agency with Virginia, West 

 Virginia, and Tennessee, for the purpose of 

 preparing accurate statements embodying the 

 social, political, and industrial statistics of these 

 States, to be translated and published in the 

 various languages, and distributed among the 

 different nations of Europe, in order to remove 

 any prejudice or error in regard to the country 

 and people of the South, that might exist in 

 the minds of emigrants before their departure 

 for America. The rich deposits of iron-ore 

 and the vast coal-fields of Kentucky need but 

 the aid of the capitalist and the laborer to 

 make them a source of wealth and revenue to 

 the State. Toward this end efforts have al- 

 ready been made, and greater will be made in 

 the future. 



KING, JONAS, D. D., an American Congrega- 

 tionalist clergyman, and missionary to Greece, 

 born in Hawley, Mass., July 29, 1792; died at 

 Athens, Greece, May 22, 1869. He was fitted 

 for college under the instruction of Eev. Moses 



