Delaware General Assembly

CHAPTER 117.

An Act to raise Revenue and provide for the Current Expenses of the State Government.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met, That no person or persons, firm, company or corporation, without having first obtained a proper license therefor, as hereinafter provided, shall, within the limits of this State, be engaged in, prosecute, follow, or carry on any trade, business, pursuit, or occupation in this section hereinafter next mentioned, that is to say : auctioneering; foreign life insurance agency ; foreign fire insurance agency; vending of goods, wares and merchandise by licensed. samples; keeping or traveling stallions or jacks for the use of mares; keeping eating-houses; taking photographs ; acting as brokers; real estate agency ; exhibiting circuses ; practicing jugglery ; selling vinous, spiritous, or malt liquors, practicing the professions of law, practicing the profession of medicine, practicing the profession of dentistry, conveyance, acting as private banker .

SECTION 2. And be it further enacted, That any person or persons, firm, company, or corporation desiring to be engaged in, prosecute, follow, or carry on any trade, business, pursuit, or occupation named in the foregoing section of this act, may apply to the Clerk of the Peace of any county in this State for a proper license authorizing or empowering him, her, or them to engage in, prosecute, follow, or carry on such trade, business, pursuit, or occupation which he, she or they may desire to engage in, prosecute, follow, or carry on, and upon his, her, or their paying, for the use of the State, to the said Clerk of the Peace, the fee hereinafter mentioned for such license, and also the fee to the Clerk of the Peace for issuing the same, it shall be the duty of such Clerk of the Peace to issue to him, her, or them a proper license therefor.

SECTION 3. And be it, further enacted, That the following fee shall be paid to the Clerk of the Peace, for the use of the State, for any license to be issued by him under the provisions of this Fees for act, that is to say : for each license as an auctioneer, the sum of licenses ten dollars; for each license as a foreign life insurance agent, the sum of twenty-five dollars ; for each license as a foreign fire insurance agent, the sum of fifty dollars as follows for each license as a vendor of goods, wares and merchandise by samples, the sum of fifty dollars, unless such goods are manufactured in this State ; for each license to a citizen of this State to keep or travel stallions or jacks for the use of mares, the sum of ten dollars, to a non-resident of this State, twenty dollars ; for each license to keep an eating-house, the sum of twenty-five dollars ; for each license to take photographs, the sum of twenty dollars; for each license to act as broker, the sum of one hundred dollars ; for each license as real estate agent, the sum of fifty dollars ; for each license to exhibit a circus, the sum of one hundred dollars; for every license provided for by the act passed at Dover, March 3, 1857, "regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors," each applicant therefor shall pay one hundred per cent. additional for each and every said license required in said act, and any keeper of an eating-house may take out a license authorizing him to sell vinous, spiritous, or malt liquors upon his paying to the Clerk of the Peace of his county, for the use of the State, the sum of fifty dollars. And such agent shall also pay to the Clerk of the Peace, for the use of the State at the time of obtaining such license in each year, ten and one half per centum on the gross amount of premiums received and assessments collected by such agent during the year immediately next preceding the date of obtaining such license in each years; and every such agent shall at the same time furnish to the Clerk of the Peace a statement showing the gross and of premiums received and assessments collected and shall certify such statement by his oath or affirmation, taken before some person who, by the laws of this state is duly authorized to administer the same.

SECTION 4. And be it farther enacted, That if any person or persons, firm, company, or corporation shall be engaged in, prosecute, follow, or carry on, within the limits of this State, any trade, business, pursuit, or occupation named in the first section of this act, without having first obtained a proper license therefor, he, she, or they, and the individuals composing such firm or company, 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 for by indictment, besides being liable to the payment of the tax, be subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or a line not exceeding five hundred dollars, or both, at the discretion of the court ; one moiety of such fine for the use of the State, the other moiety to the use of the person who shall first give in- formation of the fact whereby said forfeiture was incurred.

SECTION 5. And be it further enacted, That every person shall be deemed an auctioneer, within the meaning of this act, whose business is to offer property for sale to the highest or best bidder. No auctioneer shall be authorized, by virtue of his license as such auctioneer, to employ any other person to act as auctioneer in his behalf, except in his own store or warehouse, or in his presence. The provisions of this act shall not apply or extend to judicial or executive officers making auction sales in pursuance of any execution, judgment, or decree of any court, nor public sales made by executors and administrators. Every person, other than the clerk or assistant of any Life Insurance agent who shall have become qualified to conduct and carry on the business of life insurance agent- as provided for in Sec. 2 of said Chapter 117, at the one place designated in his license, who shall procure or solicit any citizen or resident of this State to take out a policy on his or her life, or life or lives of another or others, in any company or companies not incorporated by the laws of this State, shall be deemed a foreign life insurance agent within the meaning of this act. Every person other than the clerk or assistant of any fire insurance agent who shall have become qualified to conduct and carry on the business of fire insurance agents as provided for in section 2 of said chapter 117, at the one place designated in his license, who shall procure or solicit any citizen or resident of this State to take out a policy of insurance in any fire insurance company or companies not incorporated by the laws of this State, shall be deemed a foreign fire insurance agent within the meaning of this act. Every person who shall travel from place to place within this State, procuring or soliciting orders of sale for goods, wares and merchandise, either by wholesale or retail, shall be deemed a vendor of goods, wares and merchandise by samples, unless the same be manufactured in this State within the meaning of this act. Every person who keeps, carries about, or causes to be carried about, a male horse or jack for the use of mares belonging to any citizen or resident of this State, shall be deemed a keeper of a stallion or jack for the use of mares within the meaning of this act. Every person who shall keep a place where food or refreshments of any kind, not including vinous, spiritous, or malt liquors, for the accommodation of casual visitors, and sold for consumption therein, shall be deemed the keeper of an eating-house within the meaning of this act. Every person who makes for sale photographs, ambrotypes, daguerreotypes, or pictures by the action of light, shall be deemed a taker of photographs within the meaning of this act. Every person within this State whose business is to purchase or sell stocks, coined money, bank notes, or other securities, for them- selves and others, or who deal in exchanges relating to money, shall be deemed a broker within the meaning of this act. Every person whose business it is to sell or to offer for sale real estate for others, or to rent houses, stores, or other buildings, or real estate, or to collect rent for others, shall be deemed a real estate agent within the meaning of this act. Every building, tent, space, or area where feats of horsemanship, or acrobatic sports, or theatrical performances are exhibited, shall be deemed a circus within the meaning of this act. Every person who performs by sleight of hand any feat or-trick, and receives pay for the exhibition thereof, shall be deemed a juggler within the meaning of this act.

Here defines who comes under the provisions, for each license to practice jugglery the sum of seventy five dollars, for each license as a lawyer the sum of ten dollars, for each license as a physician the sum of ten dollars, for each license as a dentist the sum of ten dollars, for each license as a conveyancer the sum of ten dollars, for each license to act as a private banker the sum of one hundred dollars.

SECTION 6. And be it further enacted, That in every license to. be taken out under or by authority of this act, shall be contained and set forth the trade, business, pursuit, or occupation for which such license is granted, the name and place of abode of' the per- son or persons taking out the same, and that the fee due the State therefor has been paid; and in the case of brokers, real estate agents taking of photographs, eating houses, selling vinous, spiritous, or malt liquors, a general description of the place at which the trade, business, pursuit, or occupation, for which, such license is milted, is intended to be carried on: Provided, That a Restriction l as to the license granted under this act to any broker, real estate agent, place of carrying on photographer, proprietor of an eating-house, or seller of vinous, certain spiritous or malt liquors, shall not authorize the person, or persons, firm, company, or corporation to be engaged in, prosecute, follow, or carry on any trade, business, pursuit, or occupation specified in such license in any other place than that described therein : And provided further, That if such a house or place be duly licensed and the tenant be changed during the year, it shall be lawful for the new tenant to keep such house or place under said license until the expiration of the year for which it was granted. Where one or more persons are associated together as a firm or co-partnership, and doing or carrying on any trade, business, pursuit, or occupation mentioned in the first section of this act at the same time and place, it shall not be necessary for each of the individuals composing such firm or co-partnership to take out a separate license therefor, but one license may he granted in the name of the firm or co-partnership. In every case where more than one of the trades, businesses, pursuits, or occupations mentioned in the first section of this act shall be pursued trade carried on by the same person, or persons, firm, company, or corporation at the same time, a license must be taken out for each according to the rates prescribed by the third section of this act. Every license issued in pursuance of the provisions of this, act shall bear date on the day on which it was issued, and shall continue in force one year from the date thereof and no longer. Such licenses shall be signed by the Governor of this State, and countersigned by the Secretary of State and sealed with the seal of his office. The death, resignation, or removal from office of the Governor or [of the] Secretary of State, shall not avoid or invalidate any license issued under the provisions of this act. Every person, or persons, firm, company, or corporation, who shall procure a license under this act as an auctioneer, foreign life insurance agent, foreign fire insurance agent, vendor of goods, wares and merchandise by samples, keeper or traveler of stallions or jacks for the use of mares, proprietors of circuses, performers of feats of jugglery, shall be authorized and empowered, during the year for which such license was granted, to exercise and carry on the trade, business, pursuit, or occupation for which the license was granted in any county of this State : Provided, That no such person, or persons, firm, company, or corporation shall be engaged in, prosecute, follow, or carry on such trade, business, pursuit, or occupation at more than one place at the same time: And provided further, That if any person or persons shall be duly licensed under this act as an auctioneer, foreign life insurance agent, foreign fire insurance agent, vendor of goods, wares and merchandise by samples, keeper or traveler of stallions or jacks for the use of mares, proprietors of circuses, or performer of feats of jugglery, and shall die before the expiration of the year for which such license was granted, it shall be lawful for his, her, or their executors or administrators to exercise and carry on the trade, business, pursuit, or occupation for which the license was granted until the expiration of the year for which it was granted. Every person applying to any Clerk of the Peace for a license under the provisions of this act shall, in addition to the fee for the use of the State mentioned in the third section of this act, pay to such Clerk of the Peace a fee of fifty cents for issuing the same.

SECTION 7. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, and he is hereby directed to prepare and deliver to each Clerk of the Peace blank licenses, signed by the Governor, countersigned by the Secretary of State and sealed with the seal of his office, for each trade, business, pursuit, or occupation mentioned and enumerated in the first section of this act, and he shall keep a correct account of the same against each of the said Clerks of the Peace, and shall send a duplicate of every such entry in such account, to the Auditor of Accounts. The Auditor of Accounts shall keep an account, in the books of his office, of all blank licenses supplied to the Clerks of the Peace, by the Secretary of State, in pursuance of the provisions of this act; and all the provisions of Chapter 30 of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware, relative to the duties and powers hereto of the Auditor of Accounts in settling the accounts of said Clerks of the Peace, and in enforcing such settlements, shall extend to and be applied to the licenses and fees to the State therefor which said Clerks of the Peace are by this act authorized and required to issue and collect.

SECTION 8. And be ii further enacted, That the Clerk of the Peace of each county in this State shall, semi-annually, on the first Tuesdays of April and October, or within three days after each of said days, plainly state, under his hand, a full and true account of all money by him received, or for which he is accountable for fees for the use of the State for all licenses issued by him under the provisions of this act, and shall deposit, to the credit of he shall deposit the State Treasurer, in the Farmers' Bank, at the county town of his county, the full amount due on such account, and send such account to him by mail, with a certificate of such deposit thereon endorsed. A failure to state such account and make such deposit, within the time prescribed, shall, besides making him liable for the money due the State, be a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by indictment he shall forfeit and pay a fine of not less than five hundred dollars, nor more than two thousand dollars, besides costs, and such conviction shall ipso facto work a forfeiture of his office. The condition of the official obligation of each Clerk of the Peace shall extend to the moneys collected under this act and to the duties herein required of him, and every failure to make such account, or deposit, as also a moneys collected under failure to put into the post office, within the time prescribed, such this account, with the certificate of deposit thereon endorsed, duly addressed to the State Treasurer, shall be a breach of the condition of such official obligation.

SECTION 9. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty Justices of every Justice of the Peace, Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff, and Constable within their respective counties, whenever he shall have knowledge that any person, or persons, firm, or company, is or are engaged in, exercising, following, or carrying on any trade, business, pursuit, or occupation mentioned in the first Section of this act, without having first obtained a license therefor as provided by this act, to make complaint, or cause complaint to be made thereof before some Justice of the Peace of his county, who shall thereupon proceed according to the provisions of Chapter 97 of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware in relation to complaints made before him in other criminal cases, and all existing provisions of law relative to misdemeanors and offences shall extend and apply to offences created by this act, so far as the same are applicable and are not inconsistent herewith. Every person exercising or carrying on any trade, business, pursuit, or occupation named in the first section of this act shall, on demand of any Justice of the Peace, Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff, Constable, or citizen within this State, produce the license therefor, and unless he shall do so it shall be presumptive evidence that he has no license.

SECTION 10. And be it further enacted, That every Justice of neglect the Peace, Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff, and Constable who shall neglect or refuse to perform the duty required of him by the next foregoing section of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by indictment shall be fined at the discretion of the Court.

SECTION 11. And be it further enacted, That every person, or Tax on persons, association of individuals, or corporation who shall, within the limits of this State, be engaged in, pursue, or follow by fire. the business or occupation of insuring property against loss by fire shall, on the first Tuesday in the month of July next after the passage of this act, and on the same day annually and every year thereafter, while they shall continue in such business, pay to the State Treasurer, for the use of the State, a tax of one hundred dollars : Provided, That where two or more persons are associated together and carrying on the business or occupation of insuring property against loss by fire, it shall not be necessary for each or the persons composing such association to pay the said tax, but the payment thereof by such association collectively shall be sufficient.

SECTION 12. And be it further enacted, That any person or Penalty persons, or association of individuals, who shall be engaged in, pursue, or follow the business or occupation of insuring property pay said against loss by fire shall refuse, fail, or neglect to pay to the State Treasurer the tax imposed by the next foregoing section of this act, within five days after the same shall become clue and payable, such person or persons, or the individuals composing any such association so refusing, failing, or neglecting, besides being liable to pay the tax imposed by the next foregoing section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by indictment shall forfeit and pay a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars, besides costs. And if any corporation liable to the tax imposed by the next foregoing section of this act shall refuse, fail, or neglect, for the space of five days after the same shall be due and payable, to pay to the State Treasurer the tax imposed by the next foregoing section of this act, such refusal, failure, or neglect shall work a revocation of the charter of such corporation so refusing, failing, or neglecting, and the president and directors of such corporation so refusing, failing, or neglecting as aforesaid, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by indictment shall forfeit and pay a fine of not less than five hundred dollars, nor more than two thousand dollars, besides costs, and the individual property of such president and directors shall also be liable for the payment of the tax imposed by the next foregoing section of this act. And further in case of any person, or persons, company, or association of individuals as aforesaid, so refusing, failing, or neglecting to pay the tax for which he, she, or they are liable under the next foregoing section of this act, within the time appointed for the payment thereof, it shall be unlawful for him, her, or them thereafter to be engaged in, pursue, follow, or carry on the business or occupation Of insuring property against loss by fire within this State, and if he, she, or they shall thereafter presume to engage in, pursue, follow, or carry on said business or occupation of insuring property against loss by fire within this State, he, she, or they shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by indictment shall forfeit and pay a fine of not less than five hundred dollars, nor more than two thousand dollars, besides costs.

SECTION 13. And be it further enacted, That the Court of Chancery shall have jurisdiction and power, and upon the application of the State Treasurer, on behalf of the State, it shall be the duty of the Chancellor to restrain, by injunction process, any breach Pay and of the next foregoing section of this act attempted to be committed by any person, or persons, company, or association of individuals by engaging in, pursuing, [or] carrying on the business or occupation of insuring property against loss by fire after a refusal, failure, or neglect to make payment to the State Treasurer of the tax imposed by section eleven of this act, within the time limited for the payment thereof. And further, in case of any refusal, failure, or neglect, by any corporation liable to the payment of the tax imposed by section eleven of this act to make the payment to the State Treasurer of the tax imposed by said section eleven, within the time appointed for the payment thereof, the State Treasurer shall report the fact immediately to the General Assembly, if in session, or at their next meeting, either regular or adjourned, and also to the Attorney General whose duty it shall be to proceed without delay against the said corporation, in the proper tribunal, to carry the aforesaid revocation into effect.

SECTION 14. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the State to collect duty of the State Treasurer to enforce the payment of the tax imposed by section eleven of this act, and for this purpose all the provisions of Chapter twenty-nine of the Revised Code of this State, conferring powers and duties upon that officer and his collectors, in relation to the execution of the warrant issued to him by the Auditor of Accounts for the collection of the state tax, shall be vested in and may be exercised by him and them in the collection of the tax imposed by said section eleven of this act.

SECTION 15. And be it further enacted, That the Clerk of the Peace in each county in this State shall hereafter collect, for the use of the State, from each and every person applying to him for a marriage license, the fee of four dollars in lieu of two dollars heretofore charged for the same.

SECTION 16. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to collect, for the use of the State, in lieu of the fees now fixed by law for the same officers, the following fees, that is to say : from every person who shall hereafter be commissioned as Prothonotary, the sum of fifty dollars; from every person who shall hereafter be commissioned Recorder of Deeds, the sum of fifty dollars; from every person who shall hereafter be commissioned Register of Wills, the sum of fifty dollars from every person who shall hereafter be commissioned Clerk Of the Peace, the sum of fifty dollars; from every person who shall hereafter be commissioned Clerk of the Orphans' Court the sum of twenty-five dollars ; and from-every person who shall hereafter receive a commission as Sheriff; including the writs of assistance, the sum of fifty dollars.

SECTION 17. And be it further enacted, That all the fines and forfeitures which shall be imposed upon any person or persons who shall be convicted of any of the misdemeanors hereinbefore mentioned, and which fines and forfeitures are not hereinbefore to the state otherwise specially appropriated, go to and be for the use of the State.

SECTION 18. And be it farther enacted, That so much of the provisions of the act entitled, "An act regulating the sale of intoxicating liquor, passed March 3, 1857, and of the several repealed. amendments thereto, and so much of section eleven of Chapter 52 of the Revised Code of this State, and all other acts or parts of acts which are inconsistent with or supplied by this act be and the same are hereby repealed, made null and void.

SECTION 19. And be it further enacted, That every license to sell vinous, spiritous, or malt liquors under this act shall be granted by the Clerk of the Peace of the county where they Clerk of person desiring such license may reside, in the same manner as without other licenses provided for by this act are granted, and no recommendation of the Judges of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace and Jail Delivery, or of the Grand Jury, or of any other person or persons, shall be necessary for the granting of the license to the person applying therefor.

SECTION 20. And be it farther enacted, That one fourth of all the money arising under any of the provisions of this act shall be for the use of the School Fund, any of the provisions of any school fund of the sections of this act to the contrary notwithstanding.

SECTION 21. And be it further enacted, That all persons now Fractional doing business under licenses heretofore granted shall, upon the expiration of the period for which they were granted, be allowed to take out, if desired, fractional licenses up to the first of June next ensuing after this act shall take effect.

SECTION 22. And be it further enacted, That this act shall go when net into effect and operation on and after the first day of June next after the passage hereof.

SECTION 23. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of every express company doing or carrying on business in this State, to transport free of charge all books, papers and, public documents that may be sent to the Governor, Secretary of State to transport State, or Librarian, for the use of the State, or that be sent from this State for the use of any other State, or of the United States; and if any agent within this State of such express company shall presume to charge for the transportation of said books, papers and public documents, it shall not be lawful for him to collect the price of such transportation. And further, if any such Penalty in case said agent shall Insist upon such payment being made for such transportation; he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by indictment he shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, besides costs. In case any such express company shall refuse to transport free of charge such books, papers, or public documents, it shall be unlawful for such express company to follow or carry on their business within this State; and if, after the refusal of such express company, any agent or officer within this State shall continue in the employ of such express company, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof by indictment he shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars.

SECTION 24. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to cause this act to be published for the space of one month in two newspapers published in New Castle county, one newspaper published in Kent county, and in one newspaper published in Sussex county.

Passed at Dover, March 22, 1867.