ABSTRACT
The ratification process of the income tax amendment consumed just over three years and seven months. Because the amendment was proposed after most state legislatures had completed their 1909 sessions and because most legislatures met only biennially, nearly a year and a half ensued before the majority of the states had an opportunity to consider the measure. The admission of Arizona and New Mexico in 1912 raised the necessary number to thirty-six, but materially aided the cause of the amendment by adding two certain ratifications. Determination of the number of ratifications was confused and complicated by the problem of state legislatures reversing their original actions. The Times downplayed the significance of Alabama’s ratification and applauded Georgia for returning to “old time Democracy.” The defeat of the measure in the Louisiana Senate proved that ratification was far from a certainty in al1 the states of the Deep South.
