United States v. Roliger

27 F. Cas. 893, 28 Int. Rev. Rec. 314, 1882 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 232

• Court: District Court, S.D. Illinois
• Decided: February 22, 1882
• Status: Published

Opinion

TH h; COURT

(TREAT, District Judge)

instructed the jury that under the facts, as stated, each member of the association was liable for carrying on business as retail liquor dealer without paying the special tax, and the fact that the business was being carried on without any attempt to make a profit out of it made no difference, as the law requires those who sell or offer for sale malt or spirituous liquors, shall pay the special tax, without reference to whether the selling or offering for sale is done for the sake of profit or not; and the fact that none but members of the association were allowed to partake of the liquor made no. difference. The association was a partnership, in which all the members seem to have been equal partners, and liquors, when purchased in bulk, belonged to the partnership; but when the individual partner went to the clerk of the concern, and obtained from him a drink of the partnership liquor, and paid the clerk for that drink at the price fixed, that was a purchase of so much liquor from the partnership, and it was a sale of so much liquor by the partnership to this individual partner, and for so carrying on business the partnership should have paid a special tax as retail liquor dealers, and having failed and refused to do so, each member of the partnership became liable to the crimina! provision of the law.