a continuation one of the other. Matter of Prime, 136 N. Y. 347. So that the reference in the existing act to "this act" and "this article " apply to and include the original and each successive act. Matter of Embury, 20 Misc. Rep. 75, 45 N. Y. S. 821.

The Act of 1891 did not operate to prevent a subsequent assessment and collection of a tax on the estate of a decedent who dies intermediate the Act of 1887 and the Act of 1891 (Matter of Prime, 136 N. Y. 347); nor did the change made in the act by the passage of chapter 908 of the Laws of 1896 prevent the assessment and collection of a transfer tax against the estate of a party dying on December 9, 1895. Matter of Brundage, 31 App. Div. 348, 52 N. Y. S. 362.

The particular law of taxable transfers in force at the time of the testator's death is generally the one which governs in the determination and fixing of the tax. Matter of Milne, 76 Hun, 328, 27 N. Y. S. 727; Matter of Roosevelt, 143 N. Y. 120. But where an estate is actually in the process of settlement, it is competent for the State to impose a tax upon property in the estate not taxable at the time of the probate of the will. The State has general power to fix the time at which the right of succession should be taxed, and to define what shall be a transfer, within the meaning of the statute, so long as such definition does not involve a violation of either contract or vested rights. The original act did not constitute a contract between the State and a person living at the time of its enactment, that if he should die while the

law was in full operation, and unchanged, he might dispose of his estate without the imposition of any further tax upon any rights or interests acquired under his will than the tax imposed by that law. Matter of Vanderbilt, 50 App. Div. 246, 63 N. Y. S. 1079; affd., 163 N. Y. 597; followed, Matter of Vanderbilt, 58 App. Div. 619, 68 N. Y. S. 1150; affd., 166 N. Y. 640.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

While the Inheritance and Transfer Tax Law has been referred to as a tax upon the estates of the dead, and has received more or less criticism from those who were particularly affected by its provisions, yet, after the lapse of twenty years, it is generally considered a fair and reasonable method of providing, in part, for the support of Government, and it is undoubtedly the least burdensome of any of the methods of taxation which contribute to that end.

It is safe to predict that no system of taxation will ever be welcomed, but it would seem that a tax imposed upon the succession to property which a beneficiary has not contributed to produce, or even to keep safely while it was accumulating, should not be grudgingly paid, when we consider the sovereign right of the State, in providing for the support of Government, to lawfully impose a tax upon one's home, his business, or even his annual earnings.

The present Transfer Tax Law is the result of numerous amendments enlarging not only the class of taxable persons, but also the property included in the transfer, until in 1891 the taxable transfers included transfers to lineals as well as collaterals, and since 1903 has included the transfers of real as well

as personal property to both classes of taxable per

sons.

The amendments by chapter 368 of the Laws of 1905, reference to which is hereinafter made at the end of each section, respectively, do not enlarge or change materially the provisions of the Transfer Tax Law in force during the past six years, but certain provisions which have become inoperative, either by amendment since their enactment, or by decisions of the courts, have been omitted, and the material provisions, wherever necessary, have been arranged consecutively and under appropriate headings, or as separate paragraphs, so that it is possible now to find any particular provision from the context of each section, without reading the whole section through.

The author has endeavored to place in a concise form the law relating to the provisions embraced in each section, so that, in referring to any particular provision or section, the whole law relating thereto will be found immediately following. The provisions of several of the sections of the law are discussed under separate chapters, whenever it has appeared that the subject-matter was of sufficient importance to call for such treatment, and reference should therefore first be made to the Table of Contents, immediately following, in order to more fully understand the scope and plan of the work.

The number of nonresident appraisals have greatly increased since 1902, when the statute imposed a penalty upon all banks, stock companies, or other deposi

tories who permitted the stocks or other property of nonresident decedents under their control to be turned over to the representatives of the estate, without first obtaining the consent of the State Comptroller, and Chapter VII relates wholly to the proceedings in cases of nonresident decedents. Considerable of the text in the leading cases, in respect to the taxation of transfers made by this class of decedents, is given in this chapter in order that the nonresident practitioner, who possibly may not have access to the New York Reports, may more readily understand the liability of the estate he represents to taxation under our laws.

FINALLY, -This work is the result of the author's personal daily attention to transfer tax matters during the past four years, as assistant chief clerk in the Transfer Tax Bureau of the State Comptroller's office, and notations made from time to time during that period. It is placed in the hands of the publishers, not altogether as a treatise upon the subject, but as a reference book, containing the statutes and decisions. arranged in such a manner that the practitioner who only occasionally refers to this branch of the law may find the information he desires as readily as one who has been enabled to give considerable time and attention to the subject-matter embraced herein.

I am confident that an examination of the work will commend it to those having occasion to refer to this branch of the law.

ALBANY, N. Y., July, 1905.

GEORGE W. MCELROY.