Hayes, respondents' decedent, died testate in 1936 and was at the time of his death a resident of and domiciled in Oregon. In earlier years when he had resided in the middle west he placed in possession of an Illinois trust company various stocks, bonds and other intangibles, which trust company acted as his agent in collecting principal and income on those securities and in the investment of his funds. When decedent established a domicile in Oregon in 1933, he continued that arrangement with the Illinois trust company, with the result that those securities were always physically present in Illinois, never in Oregon. August 8, 1935, about six months before decedent's death, he directed the Illinois trust company to sell and liquidate sufficient of his bonds held under that agency arrangement in Illinois to procure a sum which, together with cash balances in his checking account with the trust company, would equal $450,000 and to purchase therewith, as his agent, federal reserve notes of the face amount of $450,000. Between August 8, 1935 and August 12, 1935, the Illinois trust company complied with decedent's directions and prior to August 15, 1935, it purchased $450,000 of federal reserve notes and held them in Illinois as agent for decedent for a few days.
On August 15, 1935, decedent executed in Oregon a trust agreement under which the Illinois trust company was designated as trustee and by which decedent transferred to it as trustee the federal reserve notes. That trust was for the benefit of certain designated relatives and was irrevocable. Under it decedent retained no interest or power whatsoever. The trust company held those federal reserve notes under the trust agreement for about five days. Then from time to time after August 19, 1935, the Illinois trust company used the federal reserve notes, pursuant to the terms of the trust agreement, to purchase bonds and other personal property for the account of the trust.
Admittedly, Oregon had jurisdiction to tax but for the alleged prohibition in the Fourteenth Amendment, U.S.C.A.Const., for the statute in question imposed a tax on intangibles as well as tangibles which passed by deed or gift made in contemplation of the death of the grantor. But the Supreme Court of Oregon held that that constitutional prohibition was present since neither the securities or cash used to purchase the federal reserve notes nor the notes themselves were ever in Oregon but always in Illinois. Though admitting that intangibles would have been taxable by Oregon under such circumstances, the court in reliance on Blodgett v. Silberman, 277 U.S. 1, 48 S.Ct. 410, 72 L.Ed. 749, concluded that the federal reserve notes were tangibles. And since decedent had retained them in Illinois for a few days prior to August 15, 1935, without any intention of bringing them to Oregon, they had acquired a so-called business situs in Illinois which constitutionally prevented Oregon from exacting a tax for their transfer. And this conclusion was reached though admittedly the transfer of the notes under the agreement of August 15, 1935, was made in contemplation of death. We granted certiorari, 308 U.S. 531, 60 S.Ct. 76, 84 L.Ed. --, because of the importance of the constitutional question involved and of an alleged probable conflict with the principles underlying such decisions as Curry v. McCanless, 307 U.S. 357, 59 S.Ct. 900, 83 L.Ed. 1339.
We disagree with the conclusion of the Supreme Court of Oregon. Oregon having jurisdiction to tax by reason of the statute was not deprived of it by the Federal Constitution.