Low Et Al v. Austin
Citation | 13 Wall. 29,20 L.Ed. 517,80 U.S. 29 |
Parties | LOW ET AL. v. AUSTIN |
Decision Date | 01 December 1871 |
Court | United States Supreme Court |
ERROR to the Supreme Court of the State of California.
The statutes of California, in force in 1868, provided that 'all property of every kind, name, and nature whatsoever within the State' (with certain exceptions), should be subject to taxation according to its value. In 1868, and for several years before, and at the time of commencing this action, Low and others were importing, shipping, and commission merchants in the city of San Francisco, California. In 1868 they received on consignment from parties in France, certain champagne wines upon which they paid the duties and charges of the custom-house. They then stored the wines in their warehouse in San Francisco, in the original cases in which the wines were imported, where they remained for sale. Whilst in this condition they were assessed as the property of the said Low and others, for State, city, and county taxes, under the general revenue law of California above mentioned. Low and the others refused to pay the tax, asserting that it was levied in contravention of that provision1 of the Constitution, which ordained that.
'No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports,' &c.
Upon the refusal, one Austin, at the time collector of taxes for the city and county of San Francisco, levied upon the cases of wine thus stored for the amount of the tax assessed, and was about to sell them, when Low and the others paid the amount, and the charges incurred, under protest. They then brought the present action in one of the District Courts of the State to recover back the money paid; there arguing that the illegality of the tax was settled by the case of Brown v. The State of Maryland,2 in which this court declared an act of the State of Maryland, requiring all persons who should sell imported goods by wholesale, bale, or package, to take out a license from the State, for which they were required to pay $50, to be in conflict with the provision of the Constitution of the United States above quoted;—this court there holding that the license was a tax upon the articles imported; that it interecepted the goods before they had become mingled with the mass of the property of the State, and, therefore, that it was a tax upon the goods as imports, and consequently within the constitutional inhibition.
The District Court gave judgment for the plaintiffs, holding that the law under which the tax was levied was void.
The collector, Austin, now took the case to the Supreme Court of California. The view of that court did not coincide with the view of the District Court. Referring to the case of Brown v. The State of Maryland, above quoted and relied on by the importers to show the illegality of the tax, the Supreme Court of California said:
'It is contended that the property taxed in this case had not become incorporated with the mass of the general wealth of the State, simply because it was still the property of the importer, in the original packages in which it was imported.
The Supreme Court of California accordingly reversed the decree of the District Court, and to that decree of reversal the present writ was waken.
Messrs. W. A. Fisher, C. Marshall, and H. McAllister, for the plaintiffs in error.
Mr. J. Hamilton, Attorney-General of California, contra.
The simple question presented in this case for our consideration is, whether imported merchandise, upon which the duties and charges at the custom-house have been paid, is subject to State taxation, whilst remaining in the original cases, unbroken and unsold, in the hands of the importer.
The decision of this court in the case of Brown v. The State of Maryland3 furnishes the answer to the question. The distinction between that case and the present case does not affect the principle affirmed, which equally governs both.
In that case the question arose whether an act of the legislature of Maryland requiring importers of foreign goods by the bale or package, to pay the State a license tax before selling them in the form and condition in which they were imported, was valid and constitutional. The court held the act in conflict with the provision of the Constitution which declares that no State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any impost or duty on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws.
In the elaborate opinion of Mr. Chief Justice Marshall the whole subject of the power of Congress over imports is considered, and the line marked where the power of Congres...
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