Louis Brandeis

“ Here the only claim made by the company is that the statute as applied lays an impost on imports. The county attorney denies that the fish taxed are imports, insists that even if they are imports, the tax is valid as a license fee exacted to defray the cost of inspection, and contends that the imposition is, in any event, valid, because the fish, before the tax is laid, become mingled with the common mass of property in the state and thus lose their character as imports and their exemptions from state taxation. We have no occasion to inquire whether the fish are imports. ”

“ None are placed in cold storage plants. All are shipped from the wharf as fast as they can be re-iced, washed, handled, and loaded as above stated. Nearly all are shipped on the day they are unloaded from the boats. Occasionally, some are held in the ice boxes on the wharf for more than 48 hours. All are sold to wholesale dealers in quantities of from 50 to 400 pounds. None are sold to retailers.
The tax is laid, not according to the weight of the fish when landed, but upon the fish sold. ”

“ None is in an original package, and little in its original form. This is obviously true of the 75 per cent. which is beheaded and gutted and of the 7 to 10 per cent. more which is gutted and gilled with the heads on. ”