# Petitioners Brief — Weil v. United States

> Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more.

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA43086415_0439%3A2

## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Petitioners Brief
- **Published:** January 1, 1941
- **Citation:** 313 U.S. 574

## Text

ae

11

BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF PETITION FOR WRIT OF
CERTIORARI.

Pornt I

This Court should take jurisdiction to determine an im-
portant question of Federal law heretofore undecided by it.

This Court has never been presented with the question
of what constitutes a transfer ‘‘wholly by operation of
law’’ within the meaning of Schedule A-9, Title VIII of
the Revenue Act of 1926 (as amended by Section 724A of
the Revenue Act of 1932) and Treasury Regulations 71,
Articles 35 (h) and 35 (r) (See App., pp. 29-32).

The only decisions of this Court, cited by the court be-
low (R. 116), are: Raybestos Manhattan, Inc. v. U. S.,
296 U. S. 60; Founders General Co. v. Hoey, 300 U. 8S. 268;
Burnet v. Harmel, 287 U. 8. 103.

These degisions are not directly applicable to the tacts
in the case at bar but were merely cited to sustain the gen-
eral propositions of law which the court below believed
were enunciated by them. The Second Circuit apparently
believed that the decisions in the Raybestos and Founders
cases required the taxing statute to be strictly construed
against the taxpayer.

Unlike the case at bar, where the transfers are conceded,
both thie Raybestos and Founders cases were concerned with
whether or not a ‘‘transfer’’ had occurred within the mean-
ing ot the statute. The question in the instant case is
whether or not the transfers were effected ‘‘wholly by
operation of iaw’’.

Burnet v. Harmel, supra, was cited merely on the gen-

eral principle of the controlling effect of local law and did
not involve the tax statute here in question.

12

A determination of the question here presented is of the
most vital and widespread importance both to the Govern-
ment and the taxpayers.

The Series C-2 trust estate is but one of over five thou-
sand other trusts of guaranteed certificated mortgages, each
of which went through the same type of reorganization as
that involved in this case. These other trusts embody ap-
proximately 15,000 properties and mortgages and total
over $675,600,000 in principal amount. These trusts affect
approximately 250,000 certificate holders, a large percent-
age of whom are persons of only moderate means and de-
pendent for their incomes on these investments. (See Gov-
ernor Lehman’s message to Legislature, Legislative Docu-
ment 1939, No. 78, and Chapter 745 of the Laws of New
York 1933, as amended, Section 1796 of the Unconsolidated
Laws of the State of New York.) (Appendix, pp. 34-38.)

Thousands of other transfers legally identical to the sub-
ject transfers will be directly affected by a determination of
this case.

Port II.

The decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit is in direct conflict with that of the Ninth Circuit.

The decision below is in direct conflict with U. S. v.
Merchants National Trust € Savings Bank, 101 Fed. (2d)
399, C. C. A. (Ninth Circuit). In that case a banking and
trust company transferred certain stocks and securities as
a result of the sale of its entire trust business to the Bank
of America of California in accordance with Section 31 of
the California Bank Act.

A tax was assessed and collected under the ‘‘transfer of
legal title’’ provision of the Revenue Act of 1926, title VIII,
Section 300 and Schedule A3, as amended, a provision iden-

13

tical to that dealt with in the instant case, except that Sched-
ule A-3 concerns itself with transfers of stock and Sched-
ule A-9 with transfers of bonds.

Section 31 of the California Bank Act, above referred to,
provided that, upon the approval of the Superintendent
of Banks of a sale of a trust business by one bank to an-
other, the stocks and securities comprising such business
would be deemed transferred to the purchasing bank as ‘‘by
operation of law’’.

The court held that the transfers there in question were
effected ‘‘wholly by operation of law’’, and consequently
not taxable within the purview of Articles 35 (h) and 35 (r)
of Treasury Regulations 71 and, further, that the Califor-
nia State Law was controlling on the question as to what
constituted a transfer ‘‘ wholly by operation of law’’.

The facts in the case at bar are indistinguishable in prin-
ciple from the factual situation in the Merchants case.

In the instant case, the Second Circuit held that the New
York State Law was not controlling upon the Federal
Courts as to what constituted a transfer ‘‘wholly by opera-
tion of law.’’ The Second Cireuit further held that the
transfers herein were taxable and not within the purview
of the exceptions granted by Articles 35 (h) or 35 (r) (R.
116, 117).

The decisions of the Second Circuit in the case at bar and
the Ninth Circuit in the Merchants case are thus in conflict
in three independent respects, any one of which is sufficient
to justify this Court in accepting jurisdiction. These con-
flicts involve the applicability of State law and the inter-
pretation and application to the facts in the ease at bar of
Articles 35 (h) and 35 (r) of Treasury Regulations 71.

It is submitted that if jurisdiction is accepted by this
Court, a favorable determination of any one of these con-
flicts will require a reversal of the judgment.
3b

14

A.
Tue Conriict RecGarDING THE APPLICABILITY OF State Law.

The decisions of the Second and Ninth Circuits are dia-
metrically opposed regarding the controlling effect of State
Law as to the nature of the transfers. Both courts adopt
the doctrine of ‘‘necessary implication’’ as enunciated by
Burnet v. Harmel, 287 U. S. 1038, and reach opposite con-
clusions as to whether the taxing statute and Articles 35
(h) and 35 (r) by necessary implication make their opera-
tion dependent upon State law. Proceeding from this di-
vergence of basic construction and applying the law to sets
of facts which are legally identical, the Ninth Circuit ac-
cepted State law as controlling on the question of whether
the transfers were ‘‘wholly by operation of law’’ and the
Second Circuit completely rejected it.

B.

THe Conriict Recarpine ARTICLE 35 (H) or TREASURY
REeuations 71. :

While the facts in the Merchants case and in the case at
bar are legally identical, within the meaning of Article 35
(h), nevertheless the Ninth Circuit held that Article 35 (h)
afforded an exemption and the Second Circuit held to the
contrary.

In the Merchants case, the Ninth Circuit found that the
transfers were from a named resigned trustee to a named
substituted Trustee appointed in accordance with the terms
of the trust agreement and therefore conformed precisely
to the requirements of Article 35 (h) which exempted such
transfers from tax. The court found that since the Cali-
fornia Banking Act was in existence at the time the trust
agreement was executed, the provisions for the substitution

15

of the Trustees, as contained in the statute, were incorpo-
rated in the trust agreement as a matter of law. The Act
provided for the substitution of trustees in a manner which
brought the transfers within the provisions of Article 35
(h).

Similarly, the facts in the case at bar precisely conform
to the facts in the Merchants case insofar as the require-
ments of Article 35 (h) are concerned. There was a trans-
fer from a named resigned trustee (the Mortgage Commis-
sion) to a named substituted Trustee (the petitioners
herein). The substitution of the Trustees in both cases
was pursuant to the statutes of the State in which the trans-
fers occurred.

The Mortgage Commission Act (which incorporated part
of the provisions of the Schackno Act by reference, Article
VIII, Section 1769 Unconsolidated Laws of New York) was
the trust instrument pursuant to which the Mortgage Com-
mission derived all of its powers in the operation of the
trust estate for the benefit of the cestwis que trustents, the
certificate holders.

The substitution of the Trustees was in accordance with
the provisions of this trust instrument (the Mortgage Com-
mission Act).

People v. Title and Mortgage Guaranty Company, 264
N. Y. 69, 79, 89.

Judge Goddard, holding for the petitioners in the District
Court, said:

«* * * the legal relationship between the Super-
intendent of Insurance and the Mortgage Commission
on one side, and the certificate holders on the other, was
that of Trustee and cestui. See People v. Title and
Mortgage Company, supra, at pp. 79 and 89. Plain-
tiffs therefore took over the securities as Successor

16

Trustee and under the authority of United States v.
Merchants National Trust and Savings Bank, supra,
a transfer to them is not taxable’’ (R. 102).

C.

Tue Conruicr Recarpine ArtiIcLe 35 (r) or TREASURY
Reeutations 71.

The transfers involved in the Merchants case were held
to have been effected ‘‘wholly by operation of law’’ within
the meaning of Article 35 (r) and therefore exempt. As
the petitioners will demonstrate in Port IV, infra, the facts
in the instant case are so analagous to those in the Mer-
chants case, that the same legal result should properly fol-
low in the case at bar. Notwithstanding, the Second Circuit
concluded that Section 35 (r) of Regulations 71 had no
application and that the transfers were taxable.

Pornt III.

The Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has
decided a Federal question in conflict with applicable deci-
sions of this Court concerning the controlling effect of State
law.

The law of the State of New York is well settled that
transfers identical in legal effect with the transfers in the
instant case are by operation of law.

Terminals Transportation Corp. v. State, 169 Mise. 708,
8 N. Y. S. Supp. (2d) 282, affd. 14 N. Y. Supp. (2d)
493, 281 N. Y. 889 +23;

Electric Bond and Share Company v. State, 249 App.
Div. 371, Affirmed 274 N. Y. 625;

Rockefeller Foundation v. State, 144 Mise. 460, 258 N. Y.
Supp. 812;

Phelps-Stokes Estates v. Nixon, 222 N. Y. 93.

17

The Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has
recognized that:

‘‘The New York decisions in Terminals & Transporta-
tion Corp. v. State, 169 Mise. 703, aff’d 257 App. Div.
1028, and Electric Bond & Share Co. v. State, 249 App.
371, aff’d 274 N. Y. 625, that transfers similar to those
here were by operation of law * * *’’ (R. 116).

While the taxing statute with which we are here concerned
does not expressly make its operation dependent upon State
law, Articles 35 (h) and 35 (r) of Treasury Regulations 71
do so by clear and necessary implication.

Burnet v. Harmel, 287 U.S. 103;
U. S. v. Merchants National Trust and Savings Bank,
101 F. (2d) 399.

The reference in Article 35 (r) to transfers ‘‘wholly by
operation of law’’ is explicable only by the law which ef-
fectuates the transaction, the legal effect of which is to be
determined. Thus, Article 35 (1) contains the general, ne-
cessary implication that the law creating the transaction
must define and determine its legal effect. Should the
nature of the transaction sought to be taxed be determined
by Federal law, then, by necessary implication, the Federal
law must be adopted to ascertain whether the transfer is
‘‘wholly by operation of law’’. Conversely, as in the case at
bar, should the transfer in question be effectuated by State
law, then, by necessary implication, the State law must be
adopted in determining whether the transfers were effected
‘‘wholly by operation of law’’. This is particularly true
where a State law, which is sui generis, initiated and by its
very terms effectuated the transfer. Once the State law
defines ihe legal effect of what it has accomplished, this de-
terminatiou is controlling on the Federal courts and the re-

18

maining question is whether the Federal statute taxes the
transaction so determined.
Morgan v. Commissioner, 309 U. 8S. 78;
Lang v. Commissioner, 304 U. S. 264, 267;
Blair v. Commissioner, 300 U.S. 5, 9, 10;
Freuler v. Helvering, 291 U.S. 35, 45;
U. S. v. Merchants National Trust and Savings Bank,
101 F. (2d) 399;
Legg’s Estate v. Commissioner, 114 F. (2d) 760;
Dayton & Michigam R. R. Co. v. Commissioner, 112 F.
(2d) 627;
Leser v. Burnet (4th Cir.), 46 F. (2d) 756, 760.

In Legg’s Estate, supra, the Fourth Circuit has recently
summarized the controlling authority concerning the ap-
plicability of State law as follows, at page 763:

‘*And the application of this rule is not affected by
the fact that a question of federal taxation is ultimately
involved, for while we look to federal decisions as au-
thoritative in interpreting the federal statute imposing
the tax, we look to the law of the state as laid down by
its courts in determining whether there has been such a
transfer of property as is subject to the tax under that
interpretation. ‘State law creates legal interests and
rights. The federal revenue acts designate what in-
terests or rights, so created, shall be taxed’ ’’ (citing
authorities).

Aside from the impossibility of determining the question
involved without resorting to and adopting the State law
defining the nature of the transfer, Article 35 (r) patently
indicates that the statute contemplated the adoption of State
law by the very example which it sets forth, i. e. the transfer
of stock from decedent to executor. This example definitely
contemplates a transfer by operation of the law of a State.
Congress does not and probably has no constitutional power

ee

19

to regulate or provide for the transfer of property at death.
Since the example of a transfer ‘‘wholly by operation of
law’’ (described in the Regulations) is necessarily a trans-
fer by operation of State law, Article 35 (r) certainly can-
not be construed to exclude transfers wholly by operation
of State law. The Treasury Department has recognized this
and, in fact, ruled that whether or not a given transfer
of legal title to shares of stock results wholly from operation
of law depends upon the effect given to the transaction by
the law of the State in which the transaction occurs.

G..D; 737;

S. T. 5-21-250.

While the Government relied upon Cliffs Corporation v.
U. S., 103 F. (2d) 77, C. C. A. Sixth Circuit, certiorari de-
nied, 60 8. Ct. 91, to support its contention that the State
law is not controlling in this case, the court below tacitly
recognized the inapplicability of that case to the facts herein
by not even citing the Cliffs case in its opinion.

The court, in the Cliffs case, recognized the doctrine con-
tended for by the petitioners herein when it said:

‘‘In many Federal taxing statutes the tax is made to
follow at the time the State law creates a legal inter-
est. In such cases the state law will be applied to de-
termine such interest but the Federal Statute deter-
mines when and how it shall be taxed * * *.’’

Congress, in enacting the Rules of Decisions Statute
(U. S. Code, title 28, Sec. 725), has specifically provided and
indicated its intent that:

“The laws of the several states, except where the
Constitution, treaties, or statutes of the United States
otherwise require or provide, shall be regarded as rules
of decision in trials at common law, in the courts of the
United States, in cases where they apply.’’

20

This Court has given effect to that intent by consistently
holding that the Federal courts are bound by State law, ex-
cept where a Federal statute specifically requires or pro-
vides otherwise :

Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64;

Vandenbark v. Illinois Glass Co., 61 S. Ct. 347 (not yet
reported in United States reporter) ;

Morgan v. Commissioner, 309 U. S. 78;

Lang v. Commissioner, 304 U. 8. 264, 267;

Blair v. Commissioner, 300 U.S. 5, 9, 10;

Dayton & Michigan R. R. v. Commissioner, 112 F. (2d)
627.

Point IV.

The transfers herein were not taxable under the Fed-
eral law.

Petitioners have maintained in the preceding point that
Federal law requires the application of State law in deter-
mining the nature of the transfers here in question. How-
ever, even assuming that State law is not controlling on the
nature of the transfers, they must be held exempt from
taxation under the Federal law on any one of two separate
and distinct bases. They should have been exempted from
taxation under the provisions of Article 35 (h); and simi-
larly under the provisions of Article 35 (r).

A.

Tue Transrers Fir Precisetry WITHIN THE EXEMPTION
AFFORDED BY ARTICLE 35 (H).

To render a transfer not taxable as having been effected
‘wholly by operation of law’’, Article 35 (h) requires three
essential elements:

(1) a named, resigned Trustee;

21

(2) a named substituted Trustee, and

(3) each appointed in accordance with the terms of the
original trust agreement.

In Port II under Subdivision B, supra, we have estab-
lished that these essential elements existed in these trans-
fers. It is a necessary corollary, therefore, that the pro-
visions of the statute automatically operate and the court
must find the transfers were effected ‘‘wholly by operation
of law’’ and are consequently not taxable.

The subject transfers precisely and realistically repre-
sent the situation contemplated by the statute. The trust
agreement (Mortgage Commission Act) specifically con-
templated and anticipated the very succession of trustees
which in fact occurred. Thus, the substituted trustee was
not only appointed in accordance with the original trust in-
strument, (the Mortgage Commission Act), but the original
trust instrument by its terms contemplated such appoint-
ment.

People v. Title € Mortgage Guarantee Co. (1934) 264
N. Y. 69;

To the same effect, see
Matter of New York Title € Mortgage Co. (1934) 264
N. Y. 475.

In its opinion, the Court below completely disregarded the
application of Article 35 (h) to the instant transfers, al-
though no sound and cogent reason has yet been advanced
as to why these transfers are not governed by it.

B.

Tue Transrers Were WHOLLY BY OPERATION oF Law AnD
ConsEQuENTLY Exempt FRoM TAXATION PURSUANT TO
Articte 35 (r).

The court below, in arriving at its conclusion that the

4b

22

taxing statute should be applied strictly to the transfers in
suit, said:

‘‘The Supreme Court construed the Statute imposing
the transfer tax literally in Raybestos-Manhattan Inc.
vs. United States, 296 U. S. 60, and Founders General
Corp. v. Hoey, 300 U. S. 268, and was altogether strict
in subjecting the transfers to a tax.’’ (R. 116).

While the words just quoted were applicable to the facts
in the Raybestos and Founders cases, this Court, in White
v. U. S., 305 U. S. 281, has very recently ruled that neither
the taxpayer nor the taxing authority should be favored in
interpreting taxing statutes but that it is the duty of the
courts to decide fairly what the construction of the statutes
shall be.

In substantiation of its position regarding the construc-
tion to be placed upon the taxing statute, the court cited
Koppers Coal & Transportation Company v. U. S., 107 F.
(2d) 706, decided by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the
Third Circuit. It is for this reason that we advert to that
case, since neither from the standpoint of the facts nor of
the legal principles enunciated does that case have any
similarity to the case here presented. There are numerous
grounds of distinction between the cases. It is only neces-
sary to refer to the fact that the transfers there presented
were specifically taxable under Article 34 (r), a Regulation
in no way applicable to or involved in this case. The Court
in the Koppers case properly so held and aptly stated:

‘‘Such a transfer of title is within the express lan-
guage of Schedule A3 of Section 800 and is precisely
the example given in Article 34 (r) of Treasury Regula-
tions 71.’’

The court below considered, therefore, that any voluntary
act was sufficient to take the transfers out of the operation

23

of Article 35 (r) and render them taxable. The two-thirds
consent of the certificate holders (required by the statute)
was relied upon as the single voluntary act which prevented
the transfers from being exempt from taxation as ‘‘wholly
by operation of law’’ within the meaning of Article 35(r).
The fallacy in taxing these transfers because of the two-
thirds consent required by the statute can best be clarified
by an analysis of the circumstances surrounding their exe-
cution. In order properly to comprehend the significance
of this consent, it is necessary to review the manner in
which the transfers were effected.

A judicial decree effected the transfers herein taxed after
a series of legal steps activated by the machinery of the
Mortgage Commission Act.

The Mortgage Commission Act authorized the Mortgage
Commission to promulgate a plan of reorganization on its
own initiative without any act on the part of the cestuis.
In the case at bar, the transfers were consummated accord-
ing to the steps indicated by the statutory machinery; the
promulgation of the plan and the application to the court
for the approval thereof by the Mortgage Commission; the
obtaining of two-thirds consent of the certificate holders in
the event that an interlocutory order of approval was made
by the court; the making of a final order approving the plan
and finally, the appointment and qualification of the Trus-
tees. Upon the qualification of the Trustees, the transfers
were automatically effected under and pursuant to the
court order approving the plan and title immediately vested
in the Trustees without further act or instrument (R. 50-51).

The plan itself provides that:

‘‘ypon the execution of the Declaration of Trust * * *
all of the securities against which such mortgage in-
vestments have been issued * * ®* shall immediately
vest in the Trustees’’ (R. 50-51).

The implication is clear from the opinion of the court be-
low that, were it not for the two-thirds consent of the certifi-

24

cate holders, the transfers herein were effected wholly by
operation of law and consequently not taxable. However,
when the true nature of this consent is analyzed, it is readily
discernible that in no wise did such consent constitute a
voluntary act, the effect of which would render the transfers
taxable.

The late Mr. Justice Frankenthaler, who was largely re-
sponsible for the existing body of law in this field, expressed
the belief that certificate holders had no alternative but to
approve the plan. He said in Matter of New York Title and
Mortgage Company (Series N-81), 1"' Mise. 865 at page
866:

‘‘It may well be that their execution of consents to
the proposed pian was due to the fact that they were
faced with the alternative of either approving the plan
submitted to them or else going without any plan at
all.’

See also People v. Title d Mortgage Guaranty Co., 264
N. Y. 69;

Terminals Transportation Corp. v. State, 169 Misc. 708,
8 N. Y.S. (2d) 282, affd. 14 N. Y. 8S. (2d) 493, 281 N.
Y. 889 #23.

See also opinion of Mr. Justice Goddard in the Dis-
trict Court in this case. (R. 99).

A failure to consent to the plan on the part of the certifi-
cate holders would have meant that the future administra-
tion of the trust estate was completely undetermined.
Moreover, the Mortgage Commission could not continue to
exist beyond 1939. The certificate holders were, therefore,
in a position of uncertainty as to how or by whom their in-
vestments woi.'d be administered in the event that they re-
jected the plan. In this connection, it is significant to note
that the Mortgage Commission was created as a temporary
agency to administer, liquidate and turnover to permanent

on

liquidating trustees the issues administered by it before its
existence terminated. In a speech to the Legislature of the
State of New York made on March 21, 1939, regarding the
Mortgage Commission, Governor Lehman said:

‘It was ne-essary for the Commission immediately
(upon its creation) to set up an organization * * .
to promulgate reorganization proceedings for the ap-
pointment of Trustees to act for the certificate holders
in the future.’’ (parenthesis ours).

It was clear that if certificate holders were to leave their
investments with the Mortgage Commission for even a lim-
ited period of time it would have been disastrous and re-
sulted in complete chaos in the future administration of
the trust estate. The powers granted to the Mortgage Com-
mission by its trust agreement (the statute) were so limited
that it was unable properly to administer a group series
organized in the manner of the Series C-2 Issue. Tilustra-
tive of one of its limitations was the requirement to obtain
court approval upon consent of two-thirds (or failure to
dissent of one-third) of the certificate holders for each sale,
modification, extension or adjustment made in connection
with a mortgage or a property. This trust estate consists
of over 100 mortgages and properties involving invest-
ments ranging from less than $5000 to over $2,000,000 in
principal amount (R. 35-39, inel.). To have required, in
each transaction, the consent of two-thirds of 7500 certifi-
eate holders scattered widely over the United States would
have been totally impractical and prohibitively expensive.
When it is realized that the Mortgage Commission, at that
time, did not even have the power to satisfy a mortgage,
when the full principal plus accrued interest were offered
in payment thereof, the utter impossibility of permitting
the trust estate to remain with them becomes apparent.

26

While the Commission administered the Series C-2 issue,
a mortgagor actually did. attempt to pay off the full prin-
cipal amount of his mortgage and the payment was refused
because of the statutory inability of the Mortgage Commis-
sion to accept the same. Thus, the Mortgage Commission
was a liquidating trustee unable to liquidate.

The plan of reorganization (R. 33-56, incl.), however,
removed all of these limitations and gave to the prospective
Trustees a facility and latitude of powers which were re-
quired for an orderly and effectual administration and
liquidation of the trust estate.

A further analysis of the so-called ‘‘choice’’ of the cer-
tificeate holders by the two-thirds consent required by the
statute reveals that such consent did not cause or insure an
approval of the Plan by the court. If, after the required
consents had been obtained, the court did not see fit to ap-
prove the Plan, it was not required to do so, and conversely,
if the certificate holders who had filed consents desired to
withdraw them, they could not have done so.

In re New York Title and Mortgage Company (Series
N81), 154 Mise. 865, 278 . Y. Supp. 556.

Furthermore, if the plan were approved in accordance
with the statutory machinery, even though one-third of the
certificate holders opposed the plan they were bound
thereby. Certainly the certificate holders who refused to
consent and in fact opposed the plan cannot be said to have
performed a ‘‘voluntary’’ act.

Weil v. President and Directors of Manhattan Com-
pany, 275 N. Y. 238.

The true meaning of the ‘‘choice’’ given to the certificate
holders was that they were compelled to accept the plan
or to have no plan at all, which essentially means no
‘*choice’’ at all.

27

It has repeatedly been held that it is the underlying es-
sence of a transaction which determines its taxability.
See:
Helvering v. Tex-Pen Oil Co., 300 U. S. 481, 493, 57
S. Ct. 569, 81 L. Ed. 755;
Bowers v. Lawyers Mortgage Co., 285 U. S. 182, 188, 52
S. Ct. 350, 76 L. Ed. 690;
United States v. Phellis, 257 U. S. 156, 168, 42 S. Ct.
63, 66 L. Ed. 180;
Commissioner of Int. Rev. v. Schumacher Wall Bad.
Corp., 9 Cir., 93 F. (2d) 79, 81.

A realistic analysis of this situation may be found in the
following excerpt from the Harvard Law Review in its dis-
cussion of the opinion below in this case.

‘«And indeed a less meticulous concern for the vol-
untary aspect of the rehabilitation could have been
justified by a realization that the required approval is
often little more than a reluctant choice over the un-
attractive alternative of permitting the Mortgage Com-
mission to continue with enforced liquidation. See
Terminals & Transportation Corp. v. State, 169 Misc.
703, 705, 8 N. Y. S. (2d) 282, 284, 285 (Ct. Cl. 1938),
54 H. L. R. 890, at 891, 892.’’

Conclusion.

The taxpayers in this case consist of investors of small
and moderate means who invested in guaranteed mortgage
certificates not as a speculative venture but to conserve
their limited assets for future security. They were deluded
into believing that impregnable assets and guaranties but-
tressed their small investments which were legal for trust
funds in the State of New York.

The State created agencies to mitigate the losses sus-
tained as a result of the debacle of 1933. These agencies
acted as mere conduits to permanent liquidating Trustees,

28

the ultimate salvaging agents. It is upon this last salvag-
ing operation initiated and effectuated by State law that the
Government seeks to impose a further burden. It could not
have been the intention of Congress to tax as a voluntary
act a transfer resulting through the operation of State ma-
chinery designed to retrieve the remnants of their invest-
ments.

Respectfully submitted,
Evcene J. Morris,
Counsel for Petitioners.

Eveene J. Morris,
Hersert Burton Bri,
Wuusim EF. Russext, JRr.,
TrroporE TANNENWALD,
Auuan Rogow,

Of Counsel.

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA43086415_0439%3A2. Public record. Not legal advice.
