Ogilvie v. Crawford County
| Decision Date | 11 May 1881 |
| Citation | 7 F. 745 |
| Parties | OGILVIE v. CRAWFORD COUNTY. |
| Court | United States Circuit Court, District of Iowa |
A. B. & J. C. Cummins, for plaintiff.
J. F McJunkin, for defendant.
LOVE D.J.
This case is before the court on demurrer to the petition. The petition alleges that the plaintiff, who is a citizen of Canada, had on January 1, 1879, certain cribs of corn which had been purchased in Crawford county, Iowa, for the purpose of shipment to Canada; that said corn had been moved by the plaintiff from its place of production towards its destination beyond the state and temporarily placed in cribs that it was in cribs, awaiting shipment by the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, on the first day of January, 1879; that the plaintiff's intention was at all times to move said corn in bulk beyond the state, and not to use, sell, or manufacture the same within the state of Iowa; and that the corn has since been removed in bulk out of the state, no part of the same having been sold, or manufactured therein.
It is alleged further that while the corn was so temporarily in cribs it was assessed as property of a non-resident, a tax levied upon the same, and a warrant issued to the sheriff, whereby the plaintiff was compelled, in order to save his property, to pay the taxes levied aforesaid.
There is a second count stating different circumstances, but presenting the same question. The petition prays judgment for the amount of taxes paid, amounting to $502.22, with interest.
The question thus presented is whether or not the property taxes was, on the first day of January, 1879, when it was assessed for taxation, in the course of transportation from the state of Iowa to any other state or country as an article of commerce. In a word, was it in commercial transit? That a state cannot levy a tax upon property in transit to other states and countries is clear, because the property then has no situs in the state, in the proper legal sense of that word. It would be a most serious evil, and a direct obstruction to interstate commerce, for any state to exercise the power of taxing property while in commercial transit to other states or counties.
The question then is, was the property in commercial transit? The petition is not as clear and explicit as it might be, but the fair construction of it is that the plaintiff, having purchased the corn from various parties, caused it to be removed to the railway and there put in cribs temporarily, to await transportation, and with the purpose on his part to have it carried beyond the state.
This allegation of intention is essential, because otherwise a purchaser might crib his corn on a railway with no purpose of immediate shipment, but for the purpose of awaiting the future course of the...
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