Note 222 — Chapter XXIII · TAXATION AND PUBLIC FINANCE

Every state undoubtedly has power to lay such a tax. There is some doubt whether the national government also possesses it, because a tax on the products of labor is in reality a means of regulating the conditions of labor, and the constitution gives the national government no authority to regulate the conditions of labor; such authority belongs to the states. The question whether the national government can levy a tax on the products of child labor is now pending before the Supreme Court. See also p. 415.