Henry Billings Brown

“ The North Carolina inheritance act imposed a tax upon 'all personal property or goods bequeathed to strangers or collateral kindred, or which shall be distributed to or amongst the next of kin, of any intestate, when such next of kin are collateral relations of such intestate.' The act was held to apply to property in North Carolina descending to a brother from an intestate domiciled in Canada. ”

“ There are a number of other cases in the state courts, but they either involve questions of taxation under general laws imposing taxed upon real and personal property, not being special inheritance taxes, or the language of the particular statute is such as to create little doubt as to the intention of the legislature to tax or not to tax the particular inheritance in question. ”

“ The ancient maxim of the law, Mobilia sequuntur personam, was the outgrowth of conditions which have largely ceased to exist, and of an age when personal property consisted principally of articles appertaining, as the name indicates, to the person of the owner, such as gold and silver, jewels, apparel, and less immediately to horses, cattle, and other animals, and to the products of the farm and the shop. ”

“ By the English tax legacy act of 1796 a tax was imposed on every legacy 'given by any will or testamentary instrument to any person who shall die after the passing of this act.' In Atty. Gen. v. Cockerell (1814) 1 Price, 165, this was held by the court of exchequer to apply to a legacy bequeathed by a British subject residing in the East Indies to persons living in England, if the executor proved the will in England, and paid the legacy there, though the testator held his property in India, and resided and made his will and died there. ”

“ We have ourselves had repeated occasion to hold that the customs revenue laws should be liberally interpreted in favor of the importer, and that the intent of Congress to impose or increase a tax upon imports should be expressed in clear and unambiguous language. ”

“ The will was executed in conformity with the French law and was duly proved there, though a local executor was appointed by the probate court in Boston to transfer to the legatee the securities in question. ”

“ Gen. v. Beatson (1819) 7 Price, 560, differs from the last one only in the fact that the property bequeathed was in India, and was remitted to England and paid to legatees residing in Scotland. But it was held in Re Ewin (1830) 1 Comp. & J. 151, that foreign stocks, the property of a testator domiciled in England, were liable to the legacy duty, although the stocks were transferable and the dividends were payable in the foreign countries. In this case the law of the domicil was held to be controlling and the domicil to be the situs of the personal property. ”