Dant & Russell, Inc. v. Board of Supervisors

— At various times during the years 1937 to 1940, inclusive, mahogany lumber was shipped from the Philippine Islands to Long Beach, California, where it was stored in piles in the yard of a warehouse. It was not packed in bundles but shipped in individual pieces. None of it was sold in this state, and no orders were received or solicited here for sales outside the state. Pieces were sold from time to time on orders received at petitioner’s office in Portland, Oregon, and were delivered by the warehousemen to carriers for shipment to their destination outside of California. The county of Los Angeles levied ad valorem property taxes on the lumber remaining in the yard at Long Beach on the first Monday in March, 1938, and on the first Monday in March, 1939. Petitioner appeals from a judgment entered upon an order sustaining without leave to amend respondents’ demurrer to the petition for a writ of mandate to compel cancellation' of the assessments.

Petitioner contends that the taxes are invalid on the ground that they were imposed on imports in violation of the provisions of article I, section 10, of the Constitution of the United States that “No state shall, without the Consent of…