Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/181/283/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 00:56:42+00:00

Document:
A stamp tax on a foreign bill of lading is, in substance and effect, equivalent to a tax on the articles included in that bill of lading, and therefore is a tax or duty on exports, and therefore in conflict with Article I, § 9, of the Constitution of the United States, that "No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state."
An act of Congress is to be accepted as constitutional unless, on examination, it clearly appears to be in conflict with provisions of the federal Constitution.
If the Constitution in its grant of powers is to be able to carry into full effect the powers granted, it is equally imperative that, where prohibition or limitation is placed upon the power of Congress, that prohibition or limitation should be enforced in its spirit and to its entirety.
Company, an export bill of lading upon certain wheat exported from Minnesota to Liverpool, England, without affixing thereto an internal revenue stamp as required by the Act of June 13, 1898, 30 Stat. 448. Upon that conviction, he was sentenced to pay a fine of $25. His contention on the trial was that that act, so far as it imposes a stamp tax on foreign bills of lading, is in conflict with Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution of the United States, which reads: "No tax or duty shall be laid on any articles exported from any state." This contention was not sustained by the trial court, and this writ of error was sued out to review the judgment solely upon the foregoing constitutional question.
"SEC. 6. That on and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, there shall be levied, collected, and paid, for and in respect of the several bonds, debentures, or certificates of stock and of indebtedness, and other documents, instruments, matters, and things mentioned and described in schedule A of this act, or for or in respect of the vellum, parchment, or paper upon which such instruments, matters, or things, or any of them, shall be written or printed, by any person or persons or party who shall make, sign, or issue the same, or for whose use or benefit the same shall be made, signed, or issued, the several taxes or sums of money set down in figures against the same respectively, or otherwise specified or set forth in the said schedule."
"Bills of lading or receipt (other than charter party) for any goods, merchandise, or effects, to be exported from a port or place in the United States to any foreign port or place, ten cents."
and cancelled, as is in this act provided, to each of said bills of lading, manifests, or other memorandum, and to each duplicate thereof, a stamp of the value of one cent."
"Provided, That the stamp duties imposed by the foregoing schedule on manifests, bills of lading, and passage tickets shall not apply to steamboats or other vessels plying between ports of the United States and ports in British North America."
"The Constitution is either a superior paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, and, like other acts, is alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it."
part be true, then written constitutions are absurd attempts on the part of the people to limit a power in its own nature illimitable."
"Certainly all those who have framed written constitutions contemplate them as forming the fundamental and paramount law of the nation, and consequently the theory of every such government must be that an act of the legislature repugnant to the constitution is void."
"This theory is essentially attached to a written constitution, and is consequently to be considered, by this Court, as one of the fundamental principles of our society. . . ."
"It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases must of necessity expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each."
"So if a law be in opposition to the Constitution, if both the law and the Constitution apply to a particular case, so that the court must either decide that case conformably to the law, disregarding the Constitution, or conformably to the Constitution, disregarding the law, the court must determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case. This is of the very essence of judicial duty."
"If, then, the courts are to regard the Constitution, and the Constitution is superior to any ordinary act of the legislature, the Constitution, and not such ordinary act, must govern the case to which they both apply."
"The particular phraseology of the Constitution of the United States confirms and strengthens the principle, supposed to be essential to all written constitutions, that a law repugnant to the Constitution is void, and that courts as well as other departments are bound by that instrument."
between constitutions and statutes have been easily found by some courts. It has been said, and not inappropriately, that in certain states, the courts have been strenuous as to the letter of the state constitution, and have enforced compliance with it under circumstances in which a full recognition of the spirit of the Constitution and the general power of legislation would have justified a different conclusion. We do not care to enter into any discussion of these varied decisions. We proceed upon the rule, often expressed in this Court, that an act of Congress is to be accepted as constitutional unless, on examination, it clearly appears to be in conflict with provisions of the federal Constitution.
"The subject is the execution of those great powers on which the welfare of a nation essentially depends. It must have been the intention of those who gave these powers to insure, as far as human prudence could insure, their beneficial execution.
This could not be done by confining the choice of means to such narrow limits as not to leave it in the power of Congress to adopt any which might be appropriate and which were conducive to the end. This provision is made in a Constitution intended to endure for ages to come, and consequently to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs. To have prescribed the means by which government should in all future time execute its powers would have been to change entirely the character of the instrument, and give it the properties of a legal code. It would have been an unwise attempt to provide, by immutable rules, for exigencies which, if foreseen at all, must have been seen dimly, and which can be best provided for as they occur. To have declared that the best means shall not be used, but those alone without which the power given would be nugatory, would have been to deprive the legislature of the capacity to avail itself of experience, to exercise its reason, and to accommodate its legislation to circumstances."
McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 17 U. S. 415.
"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."
It is true that in that and other kindred cases, the question was as to the scope and extent of the powers granted, and the language quoted must be taken as appropriate to that question and as stating the rule by which the grants of the Constitution should be construed.
the Constitution on its action, and it seems to us clear that the same rule and spirit of construction must also be recognized. If powers granted are to be taken as broadly granted, and as carrying with them authority to pass those acts which may be reasonably necessary to carry them into full execution -- in other words, if the Constitution in its grant of powers is to be so construed that Congress shall be able to carry into full effect the powers granted, it is equally imperative that where prohibition or limitation is placed upon the power of Congress, that prohibition or limitation should be enforced in its spirit and to its entirety. It would be a strange rule of construction that language granting powers is to be liberally construed and that language of restriction is to be narrowly and technically construed. Especially is this true when, in respect to grants of powers, there is, as heretofore noticed, the help found in the last clause of the eighth section, and no such helping clause in respect to prohibitions and limitations. The true spirit of constitutional interpretation in both directions is to give full, liberal construction to the language, aiming ever to show fidelity to the spirit and purpose.
"bills of lading . . . for any goods, merchandise, or effects, to be exported from any port or place in the United States to any foreign port or place, ten cents."
virtue of its general taxing power, may impose stamp duties on the great bulk of instruments used in commerce, yet it cannot, in the exercise of such power, interfere with that freedom from governmental burden in the matter of exports which it was the intention of the Constitution to protect and preserve. It must be noticed that, by this act of 1898, while a variety of stamp taxes are imposed, a discrimination is made between the tax imposed upon an ordinary internal bill of lading and that upon one having respect solely to matters of export. An ordinary bill of lading is charged one cent; an export bill of lading ten cents. So it is insisted that there was not simply an effort to place a stamp duty on all documents of a similar nature, but, by virtue of the difference, an attempt to burden exports with a discriminating and excessive tax.
articles, and it can just as fully restrict the free exportation which was one of the purposes of the Constitution.
applicable maxim is "obsta principiis," not, "de minimis non curat lex."
"To give Congress the power to lay a tax or duty 'on articles exported from any state' meant to authorize inequality as among the states in the matter of taxation. If the north happened in control in Congress, it might tax the staples of the south; if the south were in power, it might place a duty on the exports of the north. As a part, therefore, of the great compromise between the north and the south, this clause was inserted in the Constitution. The prohibition was applied not to the taxing of the act of exportation or the document evidencing the receipt of goods for export, for these exist with substantial uniformity throughout the country, but to the laying of a tax or duty on the articles exported, for these could not be taxed without discriminating against some states and in favor of other."
national government should put nothing in the way of burden upon such exports. If all exports must be free from national tax or duty, such freedom requires not simply an omission of a tax upon the articles exported, but also a freedom from any tax which directly burdens the exportation, and, as we have shown, a stamp tax on a bill of lading, which evidences the export, is just as clearly a burden on the exportation as a direct tax on the article mentioned in the bill of lading as the subject of the export.
"Upon each sale, agreement of sale, or agreement to sell any products or merchandise at any exchange, or board of trade, or other similar place, either for present or future delivery, for each one hundred dollars in value of said sale or agreement of sale or agreement to sell, one cent, and for each additional one hundred dollars, or fractional part thereof in excess of one hundred dollars, one cent."
"A tax upon the privilege of selling property at the exchange, and of thus using the facilities there offered in accomplishing the sale, differs radically from a tax upon every sale made in any place. The latter tax is really and practically upon property."
If it be true that a stamp tax required upon every instrument evidencing a sale is really and practically a tax upon the property sold, it is equally clear that a stamp duty upon foreign bills of lading is a tax upon the articles exported.
form from a duty on the article shipped, is in substance the same thing, for a bill of lading, or some written instrument of the same import, is necessarily always associated with every shipment of articles of commerce from the ports of one country to those of another. The necessities of commerce require it. And it is hardly less necessary to the existence of such commerce than casks to cover tobacco, or bagging to cover cotton, when such articles are exported to a foreign country, for no one would put his property in the hands of a ship master without taking written evidence of its receipt on board the vessel, and the purposes for which it was placed in his hands. The merchant could not send an agent with every vessel to inform the consignee of the cargo what articles he had shipped, and prove the contract of the master if he failed to deliver them in safety. A bill of lading, therefore, or some equivalent instrument of writing, is invariably associated with every cargo of merchandise exported to a foreign country, and consequently a duty upon that is, in substance and effect, a duty on the article exported."
"All must perceive that a tax on the sale of an article imported only for sale is a tax on the article itself. It is true the state may tax occupations generally, but this tax must be paid by those who employ the individual, or is a tax on his business. The lawyer, the physician, or the mechanic must either charge more on the article in which he deals or the thing itself is taxed through his person. This the state has a right to do, because no constitutional prohibition extends to it. So a tax on the occupation of an importer is, in like manner, a tax on importation. It must add to the price of the article, and be paid by the consumer or by the importer himself, in like manner as a direct duty on the article itself would be made. This the state has not the right to do, because it is prohibited by the Constitution."
P. 25 U. S. 444.
power. It is given in the Constitution with only one exception and only two qualifications. Congress cannot tax exports, and it must impose direct taxes by the rule of apportionment, and indirect taxes by the rule of uniformity. Thus limited, and thus only, it reaches every subject, and may be exercised at discretion."
"If it be true that, by varying the form, the substance may be changed, it is not easy to see that anything would remain of the limitations of the Constitution, or of the rule of taxation and representation, so carefully recognized and guarded in favor of the citizens of each state. But constitutional provisions cannot be thus evaded. It is the substance, and not the form, which controls, as has indeed been established by repeated decisions of this Court. Thus, in Brown v. Maryland, 12 Wheat. 419, 25 U. S. 444, it was held that the tax on the occupation of an importer was the same as a tax on imports, and therefore void. And Chief Justice Marshall said:"
"It is impossible to conceal from ourselves that this is varying the form without varying the substance. It is treating a prohibition which is general as if it were confined to a particular mode of doing the forbidden thing. All must perceive that a tax on the sale of an article imported only for sale is a tax on the article itself."
securities themselves, and equally inadmissible. The ordinance of the City of Charleston involved in that case was exceedingly obscure, but the opinions of Mr. Justice Thompson and Mr. Justice Johnson, who dissented, make it clear that the levy was upon the interest of the bonds, and not upon the bonds, and they held that it was an income tax, and as such sustainable; but the majority of the Court, Chief Justice Marshall delivering the opinion, overruled that contention."
"So in Dobbins v. Erie County Commissioners, 16 Pet. 435, it was decided that the income from an official position could not be taxed if the office itself was exempt."
"In Almy v. California, 24 How. 169, it was held that a duty on a bill of lading was the same thing as a duty on the article which it represented; in Railroad Co. v. Jackson, 7 Wall. 262, that a tax upon the interest payable on bonds was a tax, not upon the debtor, but upon the security, and in Cook v. Pennsylvania, 97 U. S. 566, that a tax upon the amount of sales of goods made by an auctioneer was a tax upon the goods sold."
"In Philadelphia Steamship Co. v. Pennsylvania, 122 U. S. 326, and Leloup v. Mobile, 127 U. S. 640, it was held that a tax on income received from interstate commerce was a tax upon the interstate commerce itself, and therefore unauthorized. And so, although it is thoroughly settled that where, by way of duties laid on the transportation of the subjects of interstate commerce and on the receipts derived therefrom, or on the occupation or business of carrying it on, a tax is levied by a state on interstate commerce, such taxation amounts to a regulation of such commerce, and cannot be sustained, yet the property in a state belonging to a corporation, whether foreign or domestic, engaged in foreign or domestic commerce may be taxed, and when the tax is substantially a mere tax on property, and not one imposed on the privilege of doing interstate commerce, the exaction may be sustained. 'The substance, and not the shadow, determines the validity of the exercise of the power.' Postal Telegraph Co. v. Adams, 155 U. S. 688, 155 U. S. 698."
June 13, 1898. 30 Stat. 448. After showing that the tax was not a direct tax within the constitutional meaning of the term, we examined the objection that it was not uniform throughout the United States, and, after full consideration, held that the uniformity required was a geographical, and not an intrinsic, uniformity, and was synonymous with the expression "to operate generally throughout the United States." While upon some of the questions in that case there was a difference of opinion, yet concerning the construction of the uniformity clause, the Justices who took part in the decision were agreed. After discussing the construction of the uniformity clause, MR. JUSTICE WHITE, speaking for the Court, proceeded to show that the tax in question did not violate such uniformity. There was no suggestion that the qualification could be disregarded or limited in any legislation; the opinion proceeded upon the assumption that the uniformity provision was an absolute restriction on the power of Congress, and the argument was to demonstrate that the tax in question in no manner conflicted with either the letter or spirit of such restriction. If it had been in the mind of the Court that such restriction as to uniformity could be evaded by a mere change in the form of legislation, the opinion could have been less elaborate and the difficulties of the case largely avoided.
We have referred to these cases for the purpose of showing that the rule of construction of grants of powers has been also applied when the question was as to restrictions and limitations. Other cases may also well be referred to in this connection.
"all drummers and all persons not having a regular licensed house of business in the taxing district of Shelby County offering for sale or selling goods, wares, or merchandise therein by sample,"
"In view of these fundamental principles which are to govern our decision, we may approach the question submitted to us in the present case, and inquire whether it is competent for a state to levy a tax or impose any other restriction upon the citizens or inhabitants of other states for selling or seeking to sell their goods in such state before they are introduced therein. Do not such restrictions affect the very foundation of interstate trade? How is a manufacturer or a merchant of one state to sell his goods in another state without in some way obtaining orders therefor? Must he be compelled to send them at a venture, without knowing whether there is any demand for them? This may undoubtedly be safely done with regard to some products for which there is always a market and a demand, or where the course of trade has established a general and unlimited demand. A raiser of farm produce in New Jersey or Connecticut or a manufacturer of leather or woodenware, may perhaps safely take his goods to the City of New York and be sure of finding a stable and reliable market for them. But there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of articles which no person would think of exporting to another state without first procuring an order for them. It is true, a merchant or manufacturer in one state may erect or hire a warehouse or store in another state, in which to place his goods, and await the chances of being able to sell them. But this would require a warehouse or store in every state with which he might desire to trade. Surely he cannot be compelled to take this inconvenient and expensive course. In certain branches of business, it may be adopted with advantage. Many manufacturers do open houses or places of business in other states than those in which they reside, and send their goods there to be kept on sale. But this is a matter of convenience, and not of compulsion, and would neither suit the convenience nor be within the ability of many others engaged in the same kind of business, and would be entirely unsuited to many branches of business. In these cases, then, what shall the merchant or manufacturer do who wishes to sell his goods in other states?
Must he sit still in his factory or warehouse and wait for the people of those states to come to him? This would be a silly and ruinous proceeding."
"The only other way, and the one perhaps which most extensively prevails, is to obtain orders from persons residing or doing business in those other states. But how is the merchant or manufacturer to secure such orders? If he may be taxed by such states for doing so, who shall limit the tax? It may amount to prohibition. To say that such a tax is not a burden upon interstate commerce is to speak at least unadvisedly and without due attention to the truth of things."
P. 120 U. S. 494.
The scope of this argument is that, inasmuch as interstate commerce can only be regulated by Congress, and is free from state interference, state legislation, although not directly prohibiting interstate commerce, if in substance and effect directly casting a burden thereon, cannot be sustained. Or, in other words, constitutional provisions, whether operating by way of grant or limitation, are to be enforced according to their letter and spirit, and cannot be evaded by any legislation which, though not in terms trespassing on the letter, yet in substance and effect destroy the grant or limitation.
necessary to take private property, then it must proceed subject to the limitations imposed by this Fifth Amendment, and can take only on payment of just compensation. The power to regulate commerce is not given in any broader terms than that to establish post offices and post roads, but if Congress wishes to take private property upon which to build a post office, it must either agree upon a price with the owner, or in condemnation pay just compensation therefor. And if that property be improved under authority of a charter granted by the state, with a franchise to take tolls for the use of the improvement, in order to determine the just compensation, such franchise must be taken into account. Because Congress has power to take the property, it does not follow that it may destroy the franchise without compensation. Whatever be the true value of that which it takes from the individual owner must be paid to him before it can be said that just compensation for the property has been made. And that which is true in respect to a condemnation of property for a post office is equally true when condemnation is sought for the purpose of improving a natural highway. Suppose, in the improvement of a navigable stream, it was deemed essential to construct a canal with locks, in order to pass around rapids or falls. Of the power of Congress to condemn whatever land may be necessary for such canal there can be no question, and of the equal necessity of paying full compensation for all private property taken there can be as little doubt. If a man's house must be taken, that must be paid for, and if the property is held and improved under a franchise from the state, with power to take tolls, that franchise must be paid for, because it is a substantial element in the value of the property taken. So, coming to the case before us, while the power of Congress to take this property is unquestionable, yet the power to take is subject to the constitutional limitation of just compensation."
P. 148 U. S. 336.
In short, the Court held in that case that Congress could not, by any declaration in its statute, avoid, qualify, or limit the special restriction placed upon its power, but that it must be enforced according to its letter and spirit and to the full extent.
"Though the proceeding in question is divested of many of the aggravating incidents of actual search and seizure, yet, as before said, it contains their substance and essence, and effects their substantial purpose. It may be that it is the obnoxious thing in its mildest and least repulsive form, but illegitimate and unconstitutional practices get their first footing in that way -- namely, by silent approaches and slight deviations from legal modes of procedure. This can only be obviated by adhering to the rule that constitutional provisions for the security of person and property should be liberally construed. A close and literal construction deprives them of half their efficacy, and leads to gradual depreciation of the right, as if it consisted more in sound than in substance. It is the duty of courts to be watchful for the constitutional rights of the citizen, and against any stealthy encroachments thereon. Their motto should be obsta principiis."
P. 116 U. S. 635.
"All tobacco and snuff intended for export, before being removed from the manufactory, shall have affixed to each package an engraved stamp indicative of such intention, to be provided and furnished to the several collectors, as in the case of other stamps, and to be charged to them and accounted for in the same manner, and for the expense attending the providing and affixing such stamps, twenty-five cents for each package so stamped shall be paid to the collector on making the entry for such transportation."
were not observed. The proper fees accruing in the due administration of the laws and regulations necessary to be observed to protect the government from imposition and fraud likely to be committed under pretense of exportation are in no sense a duty on exportation. They are simply the compensation given for services properly rendered. The rule by which they are estimated may be an arbitrary one, but an arbitrary rule may be more convenient and less onerous than any other which can be adopted. The point to guard against is the imposition of a duty under the pretext of fixing a fee. In the case under consideration, having due regard to that latitude of discretion which the legislature is entitled to exercise in the selection of the means for attaining a constitutional object, we cannot say that the charge imposed is excessive, or that it amounts to an infringement of the constitutional provision referred to. We cannot say that it is a tax or duty instead of what it purports to be, a fee or charge for the employment of that instrumentality which the circumstances of the case render necessary for the protection of the government."
"One cause of difficulty in the case arises from the use of stamps as one of the means of segregating and identifying the property intended to be exported. It is the form in which many taxes and duties are imposed and liquidated, stamps being seldom used except for the purpose of levying a duty or tax. But we must regard things, rather than names. A stamp may be used, and, in the case before us we think it is used, for quite a different purpose from that of imposing a tax or duty; indeed, it is used for the very contrary purpose -- that of securing exemption from a tax or duty. The stamps required by recent laws to be affixed to all agreements, documents, and papers, and to different articles of manufacture, were really and in truth taxes and duties, or evidences of the payment of taxes and duties, and were intended as such. The stamp required to be placed on gold dust exported from California by a law of that state was clearly an export tax, as this Court decided in the case of Almy v. California, 24 How. 169. In all such cases, no one could entertain a reasonable doubt on the subject. "
Obviously, this opinion, taken as a whole, makes against, rather than in favor of, the contention of counsel for the government. Its argument is to the effect that the stamp required was in no proper sense a tax for revenue; that there was no burden of any kind on the export; that it was something to facilitate, rather than to hinder, exports; that it was only a means of identification and to enable parties to remove their tobacco from the manufactory to the warehouse, and that the sum demanded was simply a matter of compensation for services rendered. The statute itself declared that the twenty-five cents was to be paid "for the expense attending the providing and affixing" of the stamps. This clearly excludes the idea that any tax or duty was intended to be imposed, and the opinion notes the fact that the difficulty arises because ordinarily stamps are used for the purpose of duty or tax, says that we must always regard things, rather than names, and that this stamp was not used for the purpose of tax or duty, but only for identification and to prevent frauds on the government. If it had been supposed that a stamp tax could properly be charged, the line of argument would have been entirely different. In the case before us, the stamp is distinctly for the purpose of revenue, and not by way of compensation for services rendered, so that the question is whether revenue can be collected from exports by changing the form of the tax from a tax on the article exported to a tax on the bill of lading which evidences the export.
invalid, it of itself does not weaken the force of the reasoning or justify us in departing from its conclusions. But we may be permitted to suggest, without deciding, that there may be a valid difference as indicated by the decisions of this Court in respect to interstate commerce. It has been distinctly held that no state could, by a license or otherwise, impose a burden on the business of interstate commerce. Pickard v. Pullman Southern Car Co., 117 U. S. 34, and cases cited in the opinion. And yet that decision was followed by decisions that it might tax the vehicles and property employed in interstate commerce so long and so far as they were a part of the property of the state. Pullman's Palace Car Co. v. Pennsylvania, 141 U. S. 18, and cases cited in the opinion. This difference may have significance in respect to these other taxes. As heretofore said, we do not decide the question, but only make these suggestions to indicate that the matter has been considered.
"Any note or bill of lading, for any goods or merchandise to be exported, if from one district to another district of the United States, not being in the same state, ten cents; if to be exported to any foreign port or place, twenty-five cents,"
at a time when the founders of our government and framers of our Constitution were actively participating in public affairs, thus giving a practical construction to the Constitution which they had helped to establish. Even the then, members of the Congress who had not been delegates to the convention which framed the Constitution must have had a keen appreciation of the influences which had shaped the Constitution and the restrictions which it embodied, since all questions which related to the Constitution and its adoption must have been at that early date vividly impressed on their minds. It would under these conditions be indeed surprising if a tax should have been levied without question upon objects deemed to be beyond the grasp of Congress because exclusively within state authority. It is moreover worthy of remark that similar taxes have at other periods and for a considerable time been enforced, and although their constitutionality was assailed on other grounds held unsound by this Court, the question of the want of authority of Congress to levy a tax on inheritances and legacies was never urged against the acts in question."
"But one of the most satisfactory answers to the argument that the uniformity required by the Constitution is the same as the equal and uniform clause which has since been embodied in so many of the state constitutions, results from a review of the practice under the Constitution from the beginning. From the very first Congress down to the present date, in laying duties, imposts, and excises, the rule of inherent uniformity, or, in other words, intrinsically equal and uniform taxes, has been disregarded, and the principle of geographical uniformity consistently enforced."
in those cases will disclose that they may be grouped in three classes: first, those in which the court, after seeking to demonstrate the validity or the true construction of a statute, has added that, if there were doubt in reference thereto, the practical construction placed by Congress or the department charged with the execution of the statute was sufficient to remove the doubt; second, those in which the court has either stated or assumed that the question was doubtful, and has rested its determination upon the fact of a long continued construction by the officials charged with the execution of the statute; and, third, those in which the court, noticing the fact of a long continued construction, has distinctly affirmed that such construction cannot control when there is no doubt as to the true meaning of the statute.
believed, has arisen to which this principle applies more unequivocally than to that now under consideration."
"This concurrence of statesmen, of legislators, and of judges in the same construction of the Constitution may justly inspire some confidence in that construction."
"It is not unimportant to state that the construction which we have given to the terms of the act is that which is understood to have been practically acted upon by the government, as well as by individuals, ever since its enactment. Many estates, as well of deceased persons, as of persons insolvent who have made general assignments, have been settled upon the footing of its correctness. A practice so long and so general would, of itself, furnish strong grounds for a liberal construction, and could not now be disturbed without introducing a train of serious mischiefs. We think the practice was founded in the true exposition of the terms and intent of the act, but if it were susceptible of some doubt, so long an acquiescence in it would justify us in yielding to it as a safe and reasonable exposition."
"The construction placed upon the Constitution by the first act of 1790, and the act of 1802, by the men who were contemporary with its formation, many of whom were members of the convention which framed it, is of itself entitled to very great weight, and when it is remembered that the rights thus established have not been disputed during a period of nearly a century, it is almost conclusive."
"In all cases of ambiguity, the contemporaneous construction not only of the courts, but of the departments, and even of the officials whose duty it is to carry the law into effect is universally held to be controlling."
"The rule which gives determining weight to contemporaneous construction put upon a statute by those charged with its execution applies only in cases of ambiguity and doubt."
"Such being the case, it matters not what the practice of the departments may have been or how long continued, for it can only be resorted to in aid of interpretation, and 'it is not allowable to interpret what has no need of interpretation.' If there were ambiguity or doubt, then such a practice, begun so early and continued so long, would be in the highest degree persuasive, if not absolutely controlling in its effect. But with language clear and precise, and with its meaning evident, there is no room for construction, and consequently no need of anything to give it aid. The cases to this effect are numerous."
"If it were a question of doubt, the construction given to this clause prior to October, 1885, might be decisive; but, as it is clear to us that this construction was erroneous, we think it is not too late to overrule it. United States v. Graham, 110 U. S. 219; Swift Company v. United States, 105 U. S. 691. It is only in cases of doubt that the construction given to an act by the department charged with the duty of enforcing it becomes material."
"If the meaning of that act were doubtful, its practical construction by the Navy Department would be entitled to great weight. But as the meaning of the statute, as applied to these cases, appears to this Court to be perfectly clear, no practice inconsistent with that meaning can have any effect."
"The practical construction given to an act of Congress fairly susceptible of different constructions, by one of the executive departments of the government, is always entitled to the highest respect, and in doubtful cases should be followed by the courts, especially when important interests have grown up under the practice adopted. Bate Refrigerating Co. v. Sulzberger, 157 U. S. 1, 157 U. S. 34; United States v. Healey, 160 U. S. 136, 160 U. S. 141. But this Court has often said that it will not permit the practice of an executive department to defeat the obvious purpose of a statute."
From this resume of our decisions, it clearly appears that practical construction is relied upon only in cases of doubt. We have referred to it when the construction seemed to be demonstrable, but then only in response to doubts suggested by counsel. Where there was obviously a matter of doubt, we have yielded assent to the construction placed by those having actual charge of the execution of the statute, but where there was no doubt, we have steadfastly declined to recognize any force in practical construction. Thus, before any appeal can be made to practical construction, it must appear that the true meaning is doubtful.
that during the first period, exports were limited and the amount of the stamp duty was small, and that during the second period, we were passing through the stress of a great civil war, or endeavoring to carry its enormous debt, so that it is not strange that the legislative action in this respect passed unchallenged. Indeed, it is only of late years, when the burdens of taxation are increasing by reason of the great expenses of government, that the objects and modes of taxation have become a matter of special scrutiny. But the delay in presenting these questions is no excuse for not giving them full consideration and determining them in accordance with the true meaning of the Constitution.
Without enlarging further on these matters, we are of opinion that a stamp tax on a foreign bill of lading is in substance and effect equivalent to a tax on the articles included in that bill of lading, and therefore a tax or duty on exports, and in conflict with the constitutional prohibition. The judgment of the district court will be reversed, and the case remanded, with instructions to grant a new trial.
* Stuart v. Laird, 1 Cranch 299; Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, 1 Wheat. 304, 14 U. S. 351; Cohen v. Virginia, 6 Wheat. 264, 19 U. S. 418; Edwards' Lessee v. Darby, 12 Wheat. 206, 25 U. S. 210; United States v. Bank of North Carolina, 6 Pet. 29, 31 U. S. 39; United States v. Macdaniel, 7 Pet. 1, 32 U. S. 15; Prigg v. Pennsylvania, 16 Pet. 539; Union Insurance Company v. Hoge, 21 How. 35, 62 U. S. 66; United States v. Alexander, 12 Wall. 177, 79 U. S. 181; Peabody v. Stark, 16 Wall. 240, 83 U. S. 243; Dollar Savings Bank v. United States, 19 Wall. 227, 86 U. S. 237; Smythe v. Fiske, 23 Wall. 374, 90 U. S. 382; United States v. Moore, 95 U. S. 760, 95 U. S. 763; Swift Company v. United States, 105 U. S. 691, 105 U. S. 695; Hahn v. United States, 107 U. S. 402, 107 U. S. 406; United States v. Graham, 110 U. S. 219, 110 U. S. 221; Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony, 111 U. S. 53, 111 U. S. 57; Brown v. United States, 113 U. S. 568, 113 U. S. 571; Cooper Manufacturing Company v. Ferguson, 113 U. S. 727, 113 U. S. 733; The Laura, 114 U. S. 411, 114 U. S. 416; United States v. Philbrick, 120 U. S. 52, 120 U. S. 59; United States v. Hill, 120 U. S. 169, 120 U. S. 182; United States v. Johnston, 124 U. S. 236, 124 U. S. 253; Robertson v. Downing, 127 U. S. 607, 127 U. S. 613; Merritt v. Cameron, 137 U. S. 542, 137 U. S. 552; Schell v. Fauche, 138 U. S. 562, 138 U. S. 570; United States v. Alabama R. Co., 142 U. S. 615, 142 U. S. 621; McPherson v. Blacker, 146 U. S. 1; United States v. Tanner, 147 U. S. 661, 147 U. S. 663; United States v. Union Pacific Ry. Co., 148 U. S. 562, 148 U. S. 572; United States v. Alger, 152 U. S. 384, 152 U. S. 397; Webster v. Luther, 163 U. S. 331, 163 U. S. 342; Wisconsin Central R. Co. v. United States, 164 U. S. 190, 164 U. S. 205; Hewitt v. Schultz, 180 U. S. 139, 180 U. S. 156.
"for and in respect of the vellum, parchment, or paper upon which . . . shall be written or printed by any person or persons or party who shall make, sign, or issue the same, or for whose use or benefit the same shall be made, signed, or issued, . . . bills of lading or receipt (other than charter party) for any goods, merchandise, or effects to be exported from a port or place in the United States to any foreign port or place. . . . Provided, That the stamp duties imposed by the foregoing schedule on manifests, bills of lading, and passage tickets shall not apply to steamboats or other vessels plying between ports of the United States and ports in British North America."
30 Stat. 448, 451, 458, 459, 462, §§ 6 and 24, schedule A.
It is contended that this stamp duty is forbidden by the clause of the Constitution declaring that "no tax or duty shall be laid on any articles exported from any state," Article I, Section 9, and that the stamp duty here in question was, within the meaning of that instrument, a tax or duty on the wheat received by the Northern Pacific Railway Company to be carried from Minnesota to Liverpool, and for which the company issued its bill of lading.
We are of opinion that this contention cannot be sustained without departing from a rule of constitutional construction by which this Court has been guided since the foundation of the government. Let us see to what extent Congress has exercised the power now held not to belong to it under the Constitution.
"levied, collected, and paid throughout the United States the several stamp duties following, to-wit: for every skin or piece of vellum, or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper upon which shall be written or printed any or either of the instruments or writings following, to-wit: . . . any note or bill of lading for any goods or merchandise . . . to be exported to any foreign port or place, twenty-five cents."
"That if any person or persons shall write or print, or cause to be written or printed, upon any unstamped vellum, parchment, or paper (with intent fraudulently to evade the duties imposed by this act), any of the matters and things for which the said vellum, parchment, or paper is hereby charged to pay any duty, or shall write or print, or cause to be written or printed, any matter or thing upon any vellum, parchment, or paper that shall be marked or stamped for any lower duty than the duty by this act payable, such person so offending shall for every such offense forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars."
1 Stat. 527, 528, c. 11, § 13.
By an Act approved December 15, 1797, c. 1, it was provided that the duties prescribed by the Act of July 6, 1797, should be levied, collected, and paid from and after June 30, 1798, and not before. 1 Stat. 536.
The above Act of July 6, 1797, was amended in certain particulars by an Act approved March 19, 1798, c. 20, by which certain provisions were made for furnishing the vellum, parchment, or paper required by the former act to be stamped and marked. 1 Stat. 545.
"on every skin or piece of vellum or parchment or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be written or printed any or either of the instruments following, to-wit: . . . Any note or bill of lading, or writing or receipt in the nature thereof, for any goods or merchandise . . . to be exported to any foreign port or place."
Congress, still supposing that it was acting within the limits of its powers under the Constitution, again, by the Act of April 23, 1800, c. 31, amended and extended that of July 6, 1797. By the latter act, a general stamp office was established and provision was made, among other things, for the punishment, by fine and imprisonment, of those who, with the intent to defraud the United States of any of the duties laid by the original act of 1797, counterfeited or caused to be forged or counterfeited any vellum, parchment, or paper provided for by Congress under that act. 2 Stat. 40, 42. The Act of April 23, 1800, was amended by an Act passed March 3, 1801, c. 19, by which it was provided that deeds, instruments or writings issued without being stamped could be thereafter stamped and become valid and available as if they had been originally stamped as required by law. 2 Stat. 109.
By an Act approved April 6, 1802, c. 19, internal duties on "stamped vellum, parchment, and paper" were discontinued, for the reason, doubtless, that the further imposition of such duties was unnecessary. 2 Stat. 148.
As late as March 3, 1823, Congress passed a general statute in execution of the Act of April 23, 1800, establishing a general stamp office. 3 Stat. 779, c. 55.
"bill of lading or receipt (other than charter party) for any goods, merchandise, or effects to be exported from a port or place in the United States to any foreign port or place."
13 Stat. 223, 291, 292, 298, §§ 151, 170, schedule B. But by an Act approved June 6, 1872, c. 315, all the taxes imposed under and by virtue of schedule B of section 170 of the Act of June 30, 1864, and the several acts amendatory thereof, were abrogated from and after October 1, 1872, excepting only the tax of two cents on bank checks, drafts, or orders. 17 Stat. 230, 256.
"no state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws,"
"In the case now before the Court, the intention to tax the exports of gold and silver in the form of a tax on the bill of lading is too plain to be mistaken. The duty is imposed only upon bills of lading of gold and silver, and not upon articles of any other description. And we think it is impossible to assign a reason for imposing the duty upon the one and not upon the other unless it was intended to lay a tax on the gold and silver exported while all other articles were exempted from the charge. If it was intended merely as a stamp duty on a particular description of paper, the bill of lading of any other cargo is in the same form, and executed in the same manner and for the same purposes, as one for gold and silver, and, so far as the instrument of writing was concerned, there could hardly be a reason for taxing one and not the other. In the judgment of this Court, the state tax in question is a duty upon the export of gold and silver, and consequently repugnant to the clause in the Constitution hereinbefore referred to."
for the transportation or conveyance thereof, as in this section provided, having attached thereto or stamped thereon a stamp or stamps expressing in value the amount of such tax duty,"
etc. Stat. Cal. 1858, p. 305; Stat. Cal. 1857, p. 304.
The difference between the California statute and the act of Congress is manifest. By the former, the amount of the tax upon bills of lading depended upon the value of the gold or silver specified in them and exported, while the latter imposed a tax of only ten cents on the vellum, parchment, or paper upon which was written or printed a bill of lading for property to be exported, without regard to its quantity or value. If Congress had graduated the stamp duty according to the quantity or value of the articles exported, there might have been ground for holding that the purpose and the necessary result was to tax the property, and not the vellum, parchment, or paper on which the bill of lading was written or printed.
carrying out of the declared intent with regard to the tobacco so marked. The payment of twenty-five cents or of ten cents for the stamp used was no more a tax on the export than was the fee for clearing the vessel in which it was transported, or for making out and certifying the manifest of the cargo."
"It [the stamp] bore no proportion whatever to the quantity or value of the package on which it was affixed. These were unlimited, except by the discretion of the exporter or the convenience of handling. The large amount paid for such stamps by the plaintiff only shows that he was carrying on an immense business."
As in Pace v. Burgess, so in the present case, the stamp duty imposed was without any reference to the quantity or value of the property.
In our judgment, the small stamp duty imposed by the act of 1898 specifically upon the vellum, parchment, or paper upon which was written or printed a bill of lading for property, of whatever value, intended for export, cannot be regarded as a duty on the property itself.
of the articles exported, renders it certain that, when Congress imposed such duty specifically on the vellum, parchment, or paper upon which the bill of lading was written or printed, it meant what it so plainly said, and no ground exists to impute a purpose by indirection to tax the articles exported.
There is another view of this case which presents considerations of a serious character. In the opinion just rendered, it is conceded that a stamp tax on vellum, parchment, or paper on which is printed or written a bill of lading of goods to be shipped out of the United States could be sustained if regard be had to the practice of the government since its organization. But that practice, covering more than a century, must, it seems, go for naught.
"To this objection, which is of recent date, it is sufficient to observe that practice and acquiescence under it for a period of several years, commencing with the organization of the judicial system, affords an irresistible answer, and has indeed fixed the construction. It is a contemporary interpretation of the most forcible nature. This practical exposition is too strong and obstinate to be shaken or controlled. Of course, the question is at rest, and ought not now to be disturbed."
judgment, entitle the question to be considered at rest, unless, indeed, the interpretation of the Constitution is to be delivered over to interminable doubt throughout the whole progress of legislation and of national operations. Congress, the executive, and the judiciary have upon various occasions acted upon this as sound and reasonable doctrine,"
citing, among other cases, that of Stuart v. Laird, 1 Cranch 229.
"Touching the objection now raised as to the constitutionality of the legislation in question, it is sufficient to say, as was said in an early case, that the practice and acquiescence under it,"
"commencing with the organization of the judicial system, affords an irresistible answer, and has indeed fixed the construction. It is a contemporary interpretation of the most forcible nature. This practical exposition is too strong and obstinate to be shaken or controlled. Of course, the question is at rest, and ought not now to be disturbed."
"Stuart v. Laird, 1 Cranch 308. The same principle was announced in the recent case of Burrow Lithographic Co. v. Sarony, 111 U. S. 53, 111 U. S. 57, where a question arose as to the constitutionality of certain statutory provisions reproduced from some of the earliest statutes enacted by Congress. The Court said:"
"The construction placed upon the Constitution by the first act of 1790 and the act of 1802, by the men who were contemporary with its formation, many of whom were members of the convention which framed it, is of itself entitled to very great weight, and when it is remembered that the rights thus established have not been disputed during a period of nearly a century, it is [almost] conclusive."
This quotation in The Laura from the opinion in Sarony's case was defective in that it omitted, by mistake in printing, the word "almost" before "conclusive." But the error does not affect the substance of the decision rendered, as the Court, in the case of The Laura, approved and reaffirmed what was said in Stuart v. Laird.
"In all cases of ambiguity, the contemporaneous construction not only of the courts, but of the departments and even of the officials whose duty it is to carry the law into effect, is universally held to be controlling."
"The framers of the Constitution employed words in their natural sense, and where they are plain and clear, resort to collateral aids to interpretation is unnecessary and cannot be indulged in to narrow or enlarge the text; but where there is ambiguity or doubt, or where two views may well be entertained, contemporaneous and subsequent practical construction are entitled to the greatest weight. Certainly plaintiffs in error cannot reasonably assert that the clause of the Constitution under consideration so plainly sustains their position as to entitle them to object that contemporaneous history and practical construction are not to be allowed their legitimate force, and, conceding that their argument inspires a doubt sufficient to justify resort to the aids of interpretation thus afforded, we are of opinion that such doubt is thereby resolved against them, the contemporaneous practical exposition of the Constitution being too strong and obstinate to be shaken or controlled. Stuart v. Laird, 1 Cranch 299, 5 U. S. 309."
which ordained legacy taxes, was adopted at a time when the founders of our government and framers of our Constitution were actively participating in public affairs, thus giving a practical construction to the Constitution which they had helped to establish. Even the then. members of the Congress who had not been delegated to the convention which framed the Constitution must have had a keen appreciation of the influences which had shaped the Constitution and the restrictions which it embodied, since all questions which related to the Constitution and its adoption must have been at that early date vividly impressed upon their minds. It would, under these conditions, be indeed surprising if a tax should have been levied without question upon objects deemed to be beyond the grasp of Congress because exclusively within state authority."
case upon the ground alone of want of power in Congress to impose the stamp duty in question.
Without further discussion or citation of authorities, we submit that the denial, at this late day, of the power of Congress to impose what is strictly a stamp duty on the vellum, parchment, or paper upon which is written or printed a bill of lading for goods to be exported to a foreign port or place involves not only a departure from canons of constitutional construction by which it has been controlled for more than a century, but, in the words of Prigg v. Pennsylvania, delivers the interpretation of the Constitution "over to interminable doubt throughout the whole progress of legislation and of national operations." Practically no weight has been given in the opinion just filed to the fact that the power now denied to Congress has been exercised since the organization of the government without any suggestion or even intimation by a single jurist or statesman during all that period that the Constitution forbade its exercise. It is said that the question of power never was presented for judicial determination prior to the present case, and therefore this Court is at liberty to determine the matter as if now for the first time presented. But the answer to that suggestion is that, in view of the frequent legislation by Congress and its enforcement for nearly a century, the question must have arisen if it had been supposed by anyone that such legislation infringed the constitutional rights of the citizen. Within the rule announced in Stuart v. Laird, and in other cases, the questions should be considered at rest.
In view of the importance of the case, we have deemed it appropriate to state the reasons of our dissent from the opinion and judgment just rendered.

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