Henry Billings Brown

“ The word 'introduce' would strike me as entitled to an even broader meaning than the word 'import.' To introduce goods into the United States is to fetch them within the jurisdiction of the United States, or at least within some port of entry, and the requirement that they should be unladen or brought on shore is to import a feature which the ordinary use of language and the object of the act do not demand. ”

“ The truth seems to be that smuggling eo nomine was formerly, whatever it may be now, not a crime in England, but a large number of acts leading up to an unlawful unlading of goods were made criminal. Smuggling appears to have been rather a popular, than a legal, term; and the fact that it was usually accompanied by the landing of goods on shore may have led to the definition made use of by Bacon and Hawkins. Indeed, in all the old English statutes cited in the opinion of the court it is recognized that the ultimate object of all smugglers is to get their goods ashore without payment of duties. ”

“ In my view, the act of smuggling is complete when the goods are brought within the waters of a certain port, with intent to land them without payment of duties. Whether, if the duties be subsequently paid, such payment would be a condonation of the offense is a question upon which it is unnecessary to express an opinion. ”