22

19

Nashville, C. & St. L. Ry Co. N. v. Wallace.

Appellant brought suit under Uniform Declaration
Judgment Act to secure judicial declaration that
a state excise tax levied on storage of
gasoline is as applied to appellant, invalid
under the commerce clause and the XIV
amendment. Question is whether this litigation
presents a case within the appellate jurisdiction
of this Court. Court is concerned with
substance not with form. If suit had been
instituted by taxpayer to enjoin tax collection
it would have constituted a case. It is
not necessary to exercise of judicial function
that can result in judgment with an
award of process or execution to carry it out.
Constitution does not require traditional form
of procedure, invoking only traditional
remedies ∴ court has jurisdiction to consider
the constitutional questions raised by appeal.
---Notes ---
A declaratory judgment, may be a perfectly good
case. It is a very good idea.
Prior to this case, a Ky. case in 1927,
the Sup. Ct. refused to judge or a declarator