Spirit of '76

An enthusiastic New Hampshire resident nick-named "Duke" has spent a chilly and voluntary week-end in the Charles Street jail because he objects to the Massachusetts non-resident income tax. A.A. ("Duke") Vautier, an engineer in a Boston firm, refused to pay a $140 income tax bill, and, apparently after some maneuvering, managed to get himself arrested, so that his could be a test case.

Behind Mr. Vautier stand a small but clearly audible group of New Hampshire citizens who work in Massachusetts, and who protest the income tax. They have been trying to get arrested for some time, and have posted signs along the roads leading into Massachusetts with mottos like "entering Tax-achusetts. Watch your wallets." After Mr. Vautier's arrest, they precipitated a minor riot around the Charles Street Jail, pointing out that their children do not go to Massachusetts schools, and that they partake very little in the benefits of the tax system of the state of Massachusetts. But more than that, they argue, this is a matter of principle. It is, in fact, taxation without representation. What we fought against in '76 has reappeared here, in this stronghold of liberty.

The officials of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts were at first amused, then bewildered, and then annoyed. The Boston newspapers have headlined the story, and made Vautier into some sort of Thoreauesque hero. Yet he has no valid legal stand. The non-resident income tax law is not new, or is it unique. Twenty-nine other states have similar statutes, and never has any been seriously contested.

The New Hampshire group has asked for an amendment to the Federal Constitution abolishing the non-resident income tax. But the federal government has never attempted to abrogate the right of the state to tax those working within its jurisdiction nor does it appear ready to do so now.

Today "Duke" Vautier will be released on bail. He will face a hearing in Suffolk County Superior Court. Whatever happens he will hardly get anywhere in his constitutional struggle. And after not very long, the public will cease to be amused, and the headlines of the Globe, the Herald, and the Traveler will occupy themselves with something else.