KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

459

EXCUSABLE

EXCISE

the -whole people of the state or those residing within certain districts, municipalities, or sec tions. It is required to be imposed, so that, if levied for the public charges of government, it shall be shared according to the estate, real and personal, which each person may possess; or, if raised to defray the cost of some local im provement of a public nature, it shall be borne by those who will receive some special and peculiar benefit or advantage which an expendi ture of money for a public object may cause # to those on whom the tax is assessed. An excise, on the other hand, is of a different character. It is based on no rule of apportionment or equal ity whatever. It is a fixed, absolute, and di rect charge laid on merchandise, products, or commodities, without any regard to the amount of property belonging to those on whom it may fall, or to any supposed relation between money expended for a .public object and a special ben efit occasioned to those by whom the charge is to be paid. Oliver v. Washington Mills, 11 Allen (Mass.) 268. The term is also extended to the imposi tion of public charges, in the nature of taxes, upon other subjects than the manufacture and sale of commodities, such as licenses to pursue particular callings, the franchises of corporations and particularly the franchise of corporate existence, and the inheritance or succession of estates. Pollock v. Farmers' L. & T. Co., 158 U. S. 601, 15 Sup. Ct. 912, 39 L. Ed. 1108; Scholey v. Rew, 23 Wall. 346, 23 L. Ed. 99; Hancock v. Singer Mfg. Co., 62 N. J. Law, 289, 41 Atl. 846, 42 L. R. A. 852. In English law. The name given to the duties or taxes laid on certain articles pro duced and consumed at home, among which spirits have always been the most important; but, exclusive of these, the duties on the licenses of auctioneers, brewers, etc., and on the licenses te keep dogs, kill game, etc., are included in the excise duties. Wharton. — Excise law. A law imposing excise duties on specified commodities, and providing for the collection of revenue therefrom. In a more restricted and more popular sense, a law regu lating, restricting, or taxing the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors. EXCLUSA. In old English law. A sluice to carry off water; the payment to the lord for the benefit of such a sluice. Cowell. EXCLUSIVE. Shutting out; debarring from interference or participation; vested in one person alone. An exclusive right is one which only the grantee thereof can exercise, and from which all others are prohibited or shut out. A statute does not grant an "ex clusive" privilege or franchise, unless it shuts out or excludes others from enjoying a simi lar privilege or franchise. In re Union Fer ry Co., 98 N. T. 151. EXCOMMENCEMENT. Excommunica tion, (q. v.) Co. Litt. 134a. EXCOMMUNICATION. A sentence of censure pronounced by one of the spiritual courts for offenses falling under ecclesias tical cognizance. It is described in the books

I as twofold: '(1) The lesser excommunication, - which is an ecclesiastical censure, excluding t the party from the sacraments; <2) the great 1 er, which excludes him from the company of ', all Christians. Formerly, too, an excommu- ^ nicated man was under various civil disabil l Ities. He could not serve upon juries, or be a witness in any court; neither could he bring > an action to recover lands or money due to ' him. These penalties are abolished by St. 53 1 Geo. III. c. 127. 3 Steph. Comm. 721. r EXCOMMUNICATO CAPIENDO. In 7 ecclesiastical law. A writ issuing out of r chancery, founded on a bishop's certificate that the defendant had been excommunicated, } and requiring the sheriff to arrest and im prison him, returnable to the king's bench. 4 Bl. Comm. 415; Bac. Abr. "Excommuni cation," E. > » EXCOMMUNICATO DELIBERANDO. > A writ to the sheriff for delivery of an ex- ' communicated person out of prison, upon > certificate from the ordinary of his conform ity to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Fitzh. Nat Brev. 63. > , Excommunicato interdicitur omnii ao- , tus legitimus, ita quod agere non potest, neo aliquem eonvenire, licet ipse ab alii* possit conveniri. Co. Litt. 133. Every , legal act is forbidden an excommunicated person, so that he cannot act, nor sue any person, but he may be sued by others. 1 EXCOMMUNICATO RECAPIENDO. A writ commanding that persons excommu nicated, who for their obstinacy had been committed to prison, but were unlawfully set free before they had given caution to obey [ the authority of the church, should be sought after, retaken, and imprisoned again. Reg. Orig. 67. EXCULPATION, LETTERS OF. In Scotch law. A warrant granted at the suit of a prisoner for citing witnesses in his own defense. EXCUSABLE. Admitting of excuse or palliation. As used in the law, this word im plies that the act or omission spoken of is on its face unlawful, wrong, or liable to entail •loss or disadvantage on the person charge able, but that the circumstances attending it were such as to constitute a legal "excuse" for it, that is, a legal reason for withholding or foregoing the punishment, liability, or dis advantage which otherwise would follow. — Excusable assault. One committed by ac cident or misfortune in doing any lawful act by lawful means, with ordinary caution and without any unlawful intent. People v. O'Con nor, 82 App. Div. 55, 81 N. Y. Supp. 555.— Excusable homicide. See HOMICIDE.— Ex cusable neglect. In practice, and particular ly with reference to the setting aside of a judg ment taken against a party through his "excus able neglect," this means a failure to take the