Erskine v. United States

I dissent. This is a suit at law against W. W. Erskine for duties upon certain calculating machines which were imported from Bremen. They were consigned to Lunham & Moore, importation brokers, who were, for the purposes of the Tariff Act, deemed to be the owners thereof. 19 U.S.C.A. § 344. This provision of the law, making the consignee the owner for the purposes of the Tariff Act, has been in effect since 1799. Lafontan v. Elting, Collector (D.C.) 54 F.(2d) 664; see, also, Meredith v. United States, 13 Pet. 486, 493, 10 L.Ed. 258. Tariff duties constitute a lien upon the imported goods, and…