Alabama v. United States

This is a suit brought in the Court of Claims by the State of Alabama to recover from the United States a tax imposed by the law of the State upon the privilege of manufacturing and selling hydro-electric power, together with interest at eight per cent, and a penalty of fifteen per cent, for failure to pay the tax when due. The claim is based upon a sale by the United States of the surplus power generated by it at its dam at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, under the Act of June 3, 1916, c. 134, § 124; 39 Stat. 166, 215. The Government demurred on the ground that the petition does not set forth a…