Nobody wishes more warmly
for the success of your good exhortations on this subject, than he who
has the honor to be, with sentiments of great esteem and respect, Sir,
your most obedient, humble servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CXCV.--TO J. SARSFIELD, April 3, 1789
TO J. SARSFIELD.
Paris, April 3, 1789.
Sir,
I could not name to you the day of my departure from Paris, because I
do not know it. I have not yet received my _conge_, though I hope to
receive it soon, and to leave this some time in May, so that I may be
back before the winter.
Impost is a duty paid on any imported article, in the moment of its
importation, and of course, it is collected in the sea-ports only.
Excise is a duty on any article, whether imported or raised at home,
and paid in the hands of the consumer or retailer; consequently, it is
collected through the whole country. 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.
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