In re Snyder

68 L.R.A. 708, 79 P. 819, 10 Idaho 682, 1905 Ida. LEXIS 13
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 3, 1905
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 68 L.R.A. 708 (In re Snyder) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Snyder, 68 L.R.A. 708, 79 P. 819, 10 Idaho 682, 1905 Ida. LEXIS 13 (Idaho 1905).

Opinion

STOCKSLAGER, C. J. —

This is an original application for a writ of habeas corpus. The petitioner was arrested charged with the violation of section 454, Revised Ordinances of the City of Boise. On his trial he was convicted and thereafter fined in the sum of $15 and costs. The ordinance with which petitioner is charged with violating is as follows: “Peddlers shall be classified and rated as follows: When traveling with more than two animals, first class. When traveling with two .animals, second class. When traveling with one animal, third ■class. When traveling on foot, fourth class. Peddlers of the first class shall pay a license of twenty-five dollars ($25) per month; of the second class shall pay a monthly license of twenty [686]*686dollars ($20); of the third class shall pay a monthly license of fifteen dollars ($15); the peddlers of the fourth class shall pay a monthly license of ten dollars ($10); that there are excepted from the provisions of this section, persons peddling newspapers, religious tracts, and farmers or gardeners peddling milk, fish or game.”

The complaint charged petitioner with peddling his beef in the city of Boise without first procuring a license therefor under said ordinance. Petitioner refused to pay the fine and costs and was committed to the jail of Boise until the fine and costs were paid; that petitioner is still restrained of his liberty under said commitment by said court for refusing to pay said fine and costs. Petitioner first alleges that said ordinance is invalid and void for the reason that the said ordinance is in conflict with article 12, section 2, of the constitution of the state of Idaho.

2. That the said court had no jurisdiction upon which to sustain said proceedings and judgment, for that the said ordinance upon which said judgment and proceedings were based is illegal, unconstitutional and void.

3. That the said ordinance is in conflict with and repugnant to the constitution of the United States.

4. That the defendant is not a peddler or hawker, and that the said ordinance does not apply to the defendant and that the prosecution had under said ordinance is illegal and void and the court had no jurisdiction to assess a penalty thereunder against the defendant herein.

5. That the said ordinance is void, for the reason that it unjustly discriminates between the residents of the same locality and the same county, and.against different sections and classes of the same locality.

6. That the said ordinance is void, for that the said tax is not uniform as imposed upon the residents of Boise City and Ada county.

7. That the said ordinance is void, for the reason that the same was established and enacted in favor of a special class, to wit, the butchers of Boise City, Idaho, to drive out the products of the farmers of Ada county, Idaho.

[687]*6878. That the amount of the taz for a license as fixed under said ordinance is unreasonable, oppressive, prohibitive, partial and therefore void.

9. That the said ordinance is void, for that it is in restraint of trade and business; that the defendant herein is not a butcher by trade nor carrying on said business, and does not reside in the city of Boise, but is a farmer by. trade and occupation and resides near the town of Meridian, Ada county, Idaho, and that all the meat that he sold was of the product of his own farm; that he had no office either upon his farm or in Boise City, or at any place whatsoever wherein he conducts any business as a butcher, or as a hawker or as a peddler.

10. That the said ordinance is illegal and void, for the reason that the city council of Boise City, Idaho, had no power to enact the said ordinance in question; that they acted beyond their power in so enacting said ordinance.

11. That the said ordinance is void because it interferes with the business and property rights of persons and citizens of Ada county, in this locality, and is excessive and prohibitive in the license tax therein provided.

The facts upon which defendant was tried and convicted before the police magistrate are stipulated and are shown to be that defendant in that court, petitioner here, was charged with selling meat within the corporate limits of Boise City, contrary to the ordinance of said city and without first having procured a license as provided by section 454 of the Revised Ordinances of the city; was convicted and fined in the sum of ten dollars and was committed to the jail of said city until such fine and costs are paid. It is further stipulated that petitioner is not a resident of - Boise City, nor has he any business occupation therein as a butcher, nor does he conduct the butcher business in the city of Boise, nor upon his farm. That petitioner is a farmer by occupation, residing upon his farm near the town of Meridian; that all the beef sold by defendant was the product of his own farm in Ada county, Idaho; that he sold his beef by the quarter of a slaughtered animal which was slaughtered upon his farm in said county, and was the product of cattle raised upon his said farm. That petitioner did not purchase a license as provided by the ordinance of the city of Boise.

[688]*688Counsel for petitioner insists that the ordinance in question is void for the reason that it is in conflict with article 12, section 2 of our constitution, which provides that, “Any incorporated city or town may make and enforce, within its limits, all such local, police, sanitary, and other regulations as are not in conflict with its charter or with the general laws.”

It is also urged by counsel for petitioner that the legislature •of this state in 1901, enacted a law that is a bar to a prosecution of petitioner under the ordinances of the city for selling within the corporate limits of the city the products of his farm, for the reason that by section 8 of the act found on page 156 •of that session, he is exempt. Section 8 provides: “Applicable when. The provisions of this act shall not be construed to ap•ply to runners traveling for wholesale houses and taking orders from merchants only, nor to peddlers or hawkers in farm products.”

The act of which the above-quoted section is a part repeals section 1651, Eevised Statutes, which was as follows: “Every ■traveling merchant, hawker or peddler, who carries a pack .and vends goods, wares, or merchandise of any kind other than the manufactures or productions of this territory, must pay for a “license ten dollars per month; and every such traveling mer•chant, hawker or peddler, who uses a wagon, boat or other water •craft, or one or more animals, for the purpose of vending such goods, wares, or merchandise of any kind, must pay for a license twenty dollars per month.”

Subdivision 48 of the amended charter of Boise City provides: '“The power and authority given to the council by subdivision 37 •of this section can only be enforced or exercised by ordinance, unless otherwise expressly provided, and a majority of the coun•cil may pass any ordinance or resolution not repugnant to the (constitution and laws of the United States or of the state of Idaho, necessary or convenient for carrying into effect any •power or authority granted hy this act.”

As we view it the important questions to determine are: 1. Is the ordinance complained of in violation of the constitution and laws of- the state ? 2. Has the city under its charter power :to enact an ordinance prohibiting a farmer from selling meat [689]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
68 L.R.A. 708, 79 P. 819, 10 Idaho 682, 1905 Ida. LEXIS 13, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-snyder-idaho-1905.