Utah Mfrs.' Assn. v. Stewart

23 P.2d 229, 82 Utah 198, 1933 Utah LEXIS 67
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedJune 22, 1933
DocketNo. 5228.
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 23 P.2d 229 (Utah Mfrs.' Assn. v. Stewart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Utah Mfrs.' Assn. v. Stewart, 23 P.2d 229, 82 Utah 198, 1933 Utah LEXIS 67 (Utah 1933).

Opinion

FOLLAND, Justice.

This is an original proceeding to obtain a writ of prohibition restraining and prohibiting the operation of the state alcohol warehouse by the warehouse manager, and the collection of fees and charges in connection therewith by the Attorney General. The case is presented on general demurrer to plaintiff’s petition. The petition alleges plaintiff is a corporation whose general purpose is to develop, preserve, and protect the manufacturing business in which its members are engaged, and to foster and develop the manufacturing industry within the state; that it and the members of the association are residents and taxpayers of the state, and beneficially interested in this proceeding; that they are and have been engaged in manufacturing various articles, such as cosmetics, flavoring extracts, drugs, mincemeat, and other food products, and have invested large sums of money and employ numerous workmen in such enterprises, and pay substantial sums of taxes to the state and its political subdivisions; that the defendant Frank P. Stewart is alcohol warehouse manager pursuant to the provisions of Comp. Laws Utah 1917, §§ 8346 and 3347, as amended by Laws of Utah 1929, c. 90, and operates and conducts a warehouse in which alcohol is received, stored, distributed, and sold, and that such warehouse is the only warehouse of its kind permitted to be operated in the state under the provisions of such sections of the statute; that defendant Stewart now has, and his predecessors in office have had, an absolute *201 monopoly on the official receiving, storing, distributing, and selling of alcohol; that, when a manufacturer purchases alcohol from the warehouse manager, he first obtains a permit from the Attorney General which is presented to the manager; that the price paid for such alcohol is fixed by the manager by adding to the cost of the alcohol the amount of his rent, telephone, stenographer, and clerical expense, and in addition thereto also adding the cost of the Attorney General’s permit fee and license fee and all other taxes and fees, and the adding of 10 per cent of such amount for his own compensation; that the manager receives no other salary or remuneration from the state, and that the state receives no revenues from the operation of the warehouse; that manufacturers of products requiring alcohol must purchase all alcohol used in manufacturing from the defendant Stewart, and cannot purchase such product from any other person or source whatever. It is alleged that such sections of the statute, under and by virtue of which the warehouse is conducted by the manager, are unconstitutional and void: (a) As creating a monopoly in favor of the manager in violation of article 1, § 23, and article 6, § 26, subsec. 16, of the Constitution of Utah; (b) as constituting a levy and collection of taxes not for a public purpose in violation of article 13, § 3 (see Laws 1921, p. 427) of the Utah Constitution, and the Fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States; (c) as being a special or private law in violation of article 6, § 26, subsec. 8, of the Utah Constitution; (d) as the taking of plaintiff’s property without due process of law in violation of the state and Federal Constitutions; and (e) as denying plaintiff the equal protection of the law in violation of the Fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

The petition further alleges that the collection of certain fees by the Attorney General, pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the Governor and the Attorney General, is without authority of law, denies plaintiff the equal protection of the law, and takes its property without *202 due process of law; that the provision in such statute authorizing the Governor to increase the percentage above cost of the alcohol which the manager may charge above the 10 per cent fixed by statute is without authority of law as the performance of a legislative function by the executive in violation of article 5 and article 13, § 3 (as amended [see Laws 1921, p. 427]), of the state Constitution, and of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution; that the collection of the fees and costs complained of by the manager and Attorney General have worked, and will continue to work, unless prohibited, irreparable injury on plaintiff and its members so that they are unable to compete with other manufacturers engaged in the same line of business in other states and will drive them out of business where alcohol is required in the process of manufacture.

Two general questions are presented by the pleadings: (1) The validity of sections 3346 and 3347, as amended, so far as they authorize the Governor of Utah to establish or designate a warehouse or warehouses and to appoint or designate a manager or managers thereof with exclusive authority, under regulation, to import, receive, sell, and distribute alcohol, rum, and brandy to permitted users; and (2) the validity of provisions in the rules and regulations of the Attorney General and Governor requiring payment of certain fees, and fixing the amount thereof, to be collected by the Attorney General in connection with the sale of alcohol, rum, and brandy.

In the year 1917 the state Legislature passed a comprehensive act prohibiting generally the manufacture, sale, and use of intoxicating liquors and regulating the manufacture, importation, and sale of alcohol for certain purposes. The act is now designated as Comp. Laws Utah 1917, title 54. The first section of title 54 is as follows:

Section 3341: “This entire title shall be deemed an exercise of the police powers of the state for the protection of the public health, peace, and morals, and all of its provisions shall be liberally construed for the attainment of that purpose."
*203 Section 3343 is as follows: “Except as hereinafter provided, the manufacture, sale, keeping, or storing for sale in this state, or offering or exposing for sale, or importing, carrying, transporting, advertising, distributing, giving away, exchanging, dispensing, or serving of liquors, are forever prohibited in this state. It shall be unlawful for any person within this state knowingly to have in his or its possession any intoxicating liquors, except as in this title provided.”

The pertinent portions of sections 3346 and 3347, as amended by Laws of Utah 1929, c. 90, are the following:

Section 3346: “The governor is hereby authorized and empowered to prescribe rules and regulations for the sale of alcohol for scientific and manufacturing purposes only, and for the sale to manufacturers of rum or brandy which he may determine is necessary as a preservative in manufacturing mincemeat, and for the sale of alcohol which shall have been denatured by some process approved by the United States commissioner of internal revenue.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Maguire
957 P.2d 598 (Utah Supreme Court, 1998)
Salt Lake Child & Family Therapy Clinic, Inc. v. Frederick
890 P.2d 1017 (Utah Supreme Court, 1995)
White v. Deseelhorst
879 P.2d 1371 (Utah Supreme Court, 1994)
State v. Lopez
831 P.2d 1040 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 1992)
State v. Figueroa-Solorio
830 P.2d 276 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 1992)
United States v. Felter
546 F. Supp. 1002 (D. Utah, 1982)
Cavaness v. Cox
598 P.2d 349 (Utah Supreme Court, 1979)
Greaves v. State
528 P.2d 805 (Utah Supreme Court, 1974)
Pride Club, Inc. v. State
481 P.2d 669 (Utah Supreme Court, 1971)
Salt Lake County v. Liquor Control Commission
357 P.2d 488 (Utah Supreme Court, 1960)
Kent Club v. Toronto
305 P.2d 870 (Utah Supreme Court, 1957)
Phi Kappa Iota Fraternity v. Salt Lake City
212 P.2d 177 (Utah Supreme Court, 1949)
Thomas v. Daughters of Utah Pioneers
197 P.2d 477 (Utah Supreme Court, 1948)
State v. Kallas
94 P.2d 414 (Utah Supreme Court, 1939)
Bird & Jex Co. v. Funk
85 P.2d 831 (Utah Supreme Court, 1939)
Smith v. Carbon County
81 P.2d 370 (Utah Supreme Court, 1938)
Twin Falls Canal Co. v. Huff
76 P.2d 923 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1938)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
23 P.2d 229, 82 Utah 198, 1933 Utah LEXIS 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/utah-mfrs-assn-v-stewart-utah-1933.