2780. EXCISE, Defined.—
Impost is a
duty paid on an imported article, in the moment
of its importation, and of course it is
collected in the seaports only. Excise is a
duty on an article, whether imported or raised
at home, and paid in the hands of the consumer
or retailer. * * * These are the
true definitions of these words as used in
England, and in the greater part of the United
States. But in Massachusetts, they have
perverted the word excise to mean a tax on
all liquors, whether paid in the moment of
importation or at a later moment, and on
nothing else. So that on reading the debates
of the Massachusetts convention, you must
give this last meaning to the word excise.—
To J. Sarsfield. Washington ed. iii, 17.
(P.
1798)
