In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) 17 U.S. 316, Chief Justice Marshall overturned a tax levied directly by the State of Maryland on the Bank of the United States. The basis for the decision was the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. McCulloch establishes clearly the proposition that states may not impose a tax directly on the federal government, and more generally may not impose "taxes the legal incidence of which falls on the Federal government." Id. at 459. McCulloch was at one time more broadly read to forbid taxation on those who contracted with the federal government, its agents or instrumentalities, if such taxation might increase the cost of doing business for the federal government. McCulloch v. State of Maryland, was the leading case dealing with the supremacy of Federal law in matters of Federal concern, Mr. Chief Justice Marshall laid down certain principles that this Court considers controlling here. He said: "The government of the United States, then, though limited in its powers, is supreme; and its laws, when made in pursuance of the constitution, form the supreme law of the land, `anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding'." Chief Justice Marshall gave a broad interpretation to that clause in upholding congressional action under the commerce clause: "We admit, as all must admit, that the powers of the government are limited, and that its limits are not to be transcended. But we think the sound construction of the constitution must allow to the national legislature that discretion, with respect to the means by which the powers it confers are to be carried into execution, which will enable that body to perform the high duties assigned to it, in the manner most beneficial to the people. Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional. " Chief Justice Marshall referred to the power of Congress to establish post offices and post roads: "This power is executed, by the single act of making the establishment . . . . It may be said, with some plausibility, that the right to carry the mail, and to punish those who rob it, is not indispensably necessary to the establishment of a post-office and post-road. This right is indeed essential to the beneficial exercise of the power, but not indispensably necessary to its existence."