According  to  the  decision  in  the  Mjelde  Case,  coal  in  land
acquired  from  the  United  States  pursuant  to  the  coal  land  laws
is  not  taxable,  although  not  developed.  If,  then,  undeveloped
coal  in  land  granted  to  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company,
or  other  lands,  title  to  which  was  acquired  otherwise  than  pur-
suant to  the  coal  land  laws  of  the  United  States,  is  subject  to
taxation,  there  is  clearly  a  classification  solely  with  reference
to  the  law  pursuant  to  which  title  was  acquired.     Such  a  classi-


54  Mont.]    Northern  Pac.  Ry.  Co.  v.  Musselshell  Co.        99

fication  is  wholly  arbitrary  and  is  not  based  upon  any  difference
between  the  subjects  thus  classified.  Furthermore,  such  a  classi-
fication is  violative  of  section  11  of  Article  XII  of  the  Con-
stitution, which  declares  that  taxes  "shall  be  uniform  upon  the
same  class  of  subjects  within  the  territorial  limits  of  the  au-
thority levying  the  taxes.' '  (Gulf,  C.  &  S.  F.  Ry.  Co.  v.  Ellis,
165  U.  S.  150,  41  L.  Ed.  666,  17  Sup.  Ct.  Eep.  255;  1  Cooley
on  Taxation,  3d  ed.,  72  et  seq.;  Southern  Ry.  Co.  v.  Greene,
216  U.  S.  400,  54  L.  Ed.  536,  30  Sup.  Ct.  Rep.  287 ;  Connolly
v.  Union  Sewer  Pipe  Co.,  184  U.  S.  540,  46  L.  Ed.  679,  22  Sup.
Ct.  Rep.  431 ;  CunningJiam  v.  Northwestern  Imp.  Co.,  44  Mont.
180-211,  119  Pac.  554,  1  N.  C.  C.  A.  720;  Essex  County  Park
Com.  v.  Town  of  Orange,  77  N.  J.  L.  575,  73  Atl.  511 ;  State  v.
Cudahy  Packing  Co.,  33  Mont.  179,  114  Am.  St.  Rep.  804,  8
Ann.  Cas.  717,  82  Pac.  833;  State  v.  Eoyt,  71  Vt.  59,  42  Atl.
