CHAPTER 24.
AN ACT Taxing Manufacturers and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met,
SECTION 1. That every individual, association of persons, firm or corporation engaged as owner or owners in the production or manufacture, by hand or machinery, of goods, wares or merchandise, or of any article or material, or any combination or lug to con- r composition of any articles or materials of every nature and substance whatsoever, except the usual farm products for home consumption or market purposes, and desiring to continue in said production or manufacture, shall annually hereafter, on or before the first day of June, take out a license to engage in said production or manufacture, for which such individual, association of persons, firm or corporation shall pay, for the use of the State, the sum of five dollars to the Clerk of the Peace of the county in which such individual, association of persons, firm or corporation is engaged and desires to continue engaged in such production or manufacture ; and every such individual, association of persons, firm or corporation shall, on or before the said first day , of June annually hereafter, before taking out said license, file with the said Clerk of the Peace a true statement of the aggregate cost value of all the goods, wares and merchandise, and of all articles and materials, of every nature and substance whatsoever, which such individual, association of persons, firm or corporation shall have produced or manufactured as aforesaid during the year immediately preceding the date aforesaid. The said statement shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of such individual, of one member of such firm or association of persons, or of the president or other presiding officer of such corporation, that such aggregate cost value does not exceed the sum named, and the said oath or affirmation may be taken before any person who, by the laws of this State, is duly authorized to administer the same. In the said statement the said aggregate cost value shall consist of the original cost value of the raw material before it is manufactured, together with all the costs incurred and money of expended in producing and manufacturing the same. Every such individual, association of persons, firm or corporation, so as aforesaid engaged and desiring to continue engaged in said production or manufacture, shall, on or before the said first day of June annually, before taking out the said license, pay to the said Clerk of the Peace, for the use of the State, in addition to the above named sum of five dollars, the further sum of one dollar on the amount of said aggregate cost value, if the amount of the same does not exceed one thousand dollars, or if it does exceed that amount, then the sum of ten cents for each one hundred dollars of such cost value of such production or manufactures. The license shall authorize the production or manufactures of goods, wares, merchandise, or of any article or material or any combination of any article or material, only at one place for only one and for only one year from the first of June. In case any individual, association of persons, firm or corporation desires to be engaged as owner or owners in such production or manufacture, he, she or they not having been engaged in said production or manufacture during the year immediately next preceding, shall, before commencing such production or manufacture, take out a license for the six months thence next ensuing, first paying to the said Clerk of the Peace the sum of five dollars, and at the expiration of the said six months he, she or they shall obtain another license which shall be valid until the first day of June following, upon his, her or their filing with the said Clerk of the Peace a true statement verified by oath or affirmation as aforesaid of such individual, or one member of such association or firm, or of the president or other presiding officer of such corporation, of the aggregate cost value of all the productions or manufactures so as aforesaid produced, made and manufactured by such individual, association of persons, firm or corporation the next preceding six months ; such individual, association of persons, firm or corporation paying to the said Clerk of the Peace, for the use of the State, the same taxes as aforesaid rated in proportion to the time during which said last mentioned license shall be valid : Provided, That property so made or manufactured as aforesaid, not exceeding in each year the value of five thousand dollars, shall be exempted from the payment of said tax and license: And provided further, That no individual, association of persons, firm or corporation, having paid the said tax imposed upon them under this act shall be liable to the payment of the tax or taxes imposed this upon individuals, associations of persons, firms or corporations for selling goods engaged in or desiring to engage in the business and occupation of purchasing and selling goods, wares, merchandise, produce and property. That this section shall be held to include persons, and associations of persons, firms or corporations engaged as owners or principals in the following occupations and kinds of business:
Makers of agricultural implements.
Manufacturers of phosphates and other fertilizers, and of lime.
Manufacturers of cigars, tobacco and sniff.
Makers or builders of railroad ears.
Manufacturers or builders or makers of carriages, velocipedes and sleighs.
Wheelwrights.
Ship carpenters or builders or repairers of sailing or steam vessels or boats of every description.
Sail, tent, awning or tag makers.
Coopers.
Turners of wood, iron, brass, or other materials.
Millers, including flour, bark, grist and saw-mills, except mills doing custom work exclusively, the toll of which do not exceed five hundred dollars a year.
Box makers.
Undertakers, cabinet-makers, upholsterers.
Manufacturers of molding, window-sash, doors, shutters, blinds, and makers of picture-frames. Machinists, boiler-makers and car-wheel manufacturers.
Founders of brass, iron, steel and other metals.
Manufacturers of iron, and articles made of iron, brass, steel, copper, tin and other metals.
Contractors for building houses, bridges, railroads, &c.
Manufacturers of steam engines, locomotives and repairer, of machinery, mechanical implements and machinists' tools.
Manufacturers of gunpowder.
Manufacturers of cotton, wool and linen, and other textile or felted fabrics and hoop skirts. Manufacturers of matches.
Manufacturers of hardware and cutlery.
Manufacturers of boots and shoes, hoes, belting or other articles composed wholly or in part of leather, gum or gutta percha.
Manufacturers of jewelry, watches and clocks.
Merchant tailors and manufacturers of ready-made clothing, not including clothes made of material furnished by customers.
Tanners and manufacturers of morocco and other leather
Distillers, brewers and vinegar manufacturers
Gas manufacturers
Manufacturers of steam and gas fixtures
Plumbers, soap and candle makers.
Bakers, candy and confectionery makers.
Paper makers, blank book manufacturers, book binders and printers.
Hatters and furriers
Manufacturers of spice and chocolate.
Rope, cordage and block and tackle, spar and pump makers.
Potters and persons engaged in the manufacture or making of brick and tile.
Manufacturers and refiners of coal oil or petroleum, and oils of every other description.
Manufacturers of articles made of stone or marble.
Canners of fruit, vegetables, meats, fish and oysters.
Manufacturers of quercitron bark, corn husks and sorghum.
Manufacturers of baskets and peach and berry crates, kindling wood.
Manufacturers of barrel staves and headings.
Manufacturers of drugs and chemicals.
[Manufacturers of] surgical apparatus, including trusses, supporters, false limbs and bandages.
Glass manufacturers and cutters.
Manufacturers of teeth.
Carvers, engravers, sculptors, painters, toy makers.
Manufacturers of blacking and writing fluids.
SECTION 2. That if any individual, association of persons, firm or corporation shall engage, as owner or owners, in the producing or manufacture, by hand or machinery, of said goods, wares and merchandise, articles or materials, within the limits of this State, without obtaining, at the time or times above mentioned, a proper license therefor, and without paying the tax aforesaid, he, she or they, and the individuals composing such firm or association of persons, and each of them, and the president and directors, and each of them, of such corporation, for every such offence shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by indictment, besides being liable to the payment of said taxes,*a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.
SECTION 3. The officers hereinafter mentioned are hereby authorized and required to demand and receive, in addition to the fees heretofore required by law, the following sums for and on account of the State, which shall be pre-paid by the parties applying for the process or service mentioned, and which sum shall be taxed in the bill of costs, to abide the event of the suit, and be paid by the losing party. The Clerk of the Court of Errors and Appeals shall demand and receive for every writ of and error issued out of said court, and for every appeal entered in Recorder or said court, the sum of five dollars. The Recorder of Deeds shall demand and receive for every deed recorded, fifty cents, and for every mortgage fifty cents for every five hundred dollars or fractional part of five hundred dollars secured thereby, and on every other instrument of writing recorded, except marriage returns, fifty cents. The several Registers of shall demand and receive for the probate of a will and letters testamentary thereon, the sum of fifty cents, and for granting letters of administration the sum of fifty cents. Every Register in Chancery shall demand and receive for every subpoena issued upon the filling of any bill of complaint or petition, and on every summons issued l in partition, the sum of one dollar.
SECTION 4. The Clerk of the Court of Errors and Appeals, the Recorders of Deeds, the Registers of Wills and Registers in Chancery shall, on the first day of July next after the passage Of this this act, and at the expiration of every three months there- after, make returns to the State Treasurer of all sums in their hands, received under the provision or this act, belonging to the State, with a full statement, in writing, setting forth the sources from which such amounts have been received, and shall verify such statement by oath or affirmation, made before some person authorized by the laws of this State to administer the same, and shall pay over to the State Treasurer. at the time of making such return, all such sums as shall respectively be due from them to the State, less one per centum on such amounts, which they are hereby authorized to retain as compensation for the services rendered under this act.
SECTION 5. That all of Chapter 390 of Volume 13 or the Laws of Delaware, entitled "An act providing revenue for this State passed at Dover, April 8th, 1869, after the enacting clause said chapter, except Sections 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 of said 390, in relation to collateral inheritances, distributive shares and legacies, be and the same is hereby repealed, made null and void: Provided the said Chapter 390 aforesaid shall remain in full force and virtue as against the collectors named in said act, until the said collectors shall pay over to the State Treasurer all sums in their hands which they may have collected under the provisions of said act, or until they shall collect and pay over to said State Treasurer all sums, or taxes, upon the duplicates now in their hands, and that the official bonds or said collectors shall remain in full force and virtue until the said sums or money or taxes are paid over to the said State Treasurer as aforesaid : And provided farther, That the additional bond of the said State Treasurer to the State, as is provided for in said Chapter 390, shall hereafter remain in full force and virtue as though said act had not been repealed, and that the said State Treasurer shall duly account, according to law, for all moneys and taxes paid over to him by the collectors aforesaid.
SECTION 6. If any Clerk of the Court of Errors and Appeals, Recorder, Register of Wills, or Register in Chancery shall neglect or refuse to make the returns required by this act, or shall neglect or refuse to pay over to the proper officers the amount in their hands respectively, belonging to the State, for a period of ten days after such payment should have been made, such officer so in default shall pay to the State double the amount so by him received, and the Attorney-General shall immediately Sue for the same, and such defaulting officer shall be guilty of a misdemeanor in office and upon conviction thereof shall be removed from office by the Governor upon the application in writing of the Attorney-General.
*so enrolled
Passed at Dover, March 30, 1871.