Perry v. Washburn

Citations

• 20 Cal. 318
• 1862 Cal. LEXIS 54

Syllabus

<p>Under the Bevenue Act of 1861, it is the duty of the Tax Collector to execute and deliver to a person, paying his taxes in the coin therein designated, a receipt for the same, and the performance of this duty may be enforced by mandamus.</p> <p>“United States notes/’ issued under the Act of Congress of February 25th, 1862, are not receivable for State and County taxes.</p> <p>Taxes are not debts, within the meaning of that clause of the act which provides that the notes shall be “a legal tender in payment of all debts, public and private.” Congress, by these terms, only intended such obligations for the payment of money as are founded upon contract.</p> <p>A tax is a charge upon persons or property to raise money for public purposes. It is not founded upon contract, and does not establish the relation of debtor and creditor between the tax-payer and State.</p> <p>The cases of Moore v. Patch, (12 Cal. 270) and People v. Seymour, (16 Id. 340) commented upon and explained.</p>