South Central Bell Telephone Co. v. State

(Interim Order)

This is a franchise-tax case.

The Century Dictionary (1891), Vol. VI, p. 6201, defines the word "tax" in its first definition as follows:

"(1) A disagreeable or burdensome duty or charge; an exaction; a requisition; an oppressive demand; strain; burden; task."

The same dictionary, Vol. II, p. 2360, defines "franchise" as:

"A privilege arising from the grant of a sovereign or government or from prescription, which presupposes a grant; a privilege of a public nature conferred on individuals by grant from government: as, a corporate franchise (the right to be and act as a…