American Baseball Club v. Philadelphia

Dissenting Opinion by

Me. Justice Maxey :

The so-called “license fee” imposed by the City of Philadelphia on the two major league baseball clubs of that city clothes the department of public safety with the arbitrary and unrestricted power to fix the fee or tax. This tax and the manner of its imposition are so completely repugnant to our federal and state Constitutions and to our entire theory of government that no decision of any American court has been or can be cited to sustain it. An analysis of every case cited in the majority opinion will reveal that none of them sustains such an…