Delaware General Assembly

CHAPTER 76.

AN ACT to amend Chapter 13S of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware, concerning Retailers of Goods and of Peddlers.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met, That Section I of Section 1 Chapter 68 of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware be and the same is hereby amended by striking out all of said section after the words "Section 1," and inserting in lieu thereof the following, viz : "From and after the passage of this act every individual, association of persons, firm or corporation engaged in and desiring to continue engaged in the business of purchasing and selling produce, goods, wares and merchandise, or any property of whatever description, either by the wholesale or retail, shall, annually, on or before the first of June, take out a license to engage in, prosecute, follow and carry on the said business and occupation, for which be, she or they 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 said business or occupation, and any such individual, association of persons, firm or corporation shall, on or before the said first of June, annually, 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, merchandise, produce or other property which such individual, association of persons, firm or corporation shall have purchased for sale in said business and occupation during the year immediately preceding the date of taking out said license. The said statement shall be verified by oath or affirmation of such individual, one member of such firm or association of persons, or the president or other presiding officer of such corporation, the said oath or affirmation to be taken before any person who, by the laws of this State, is duly authorized to administer the same, that such aggregate cost value does not exceed the sum named; and such individual, association of persons, firm or corporation shall 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 sum of one dollar, on the amount of such aggregate cost value, if the amount of such of purchases does not exceed one thousand dollars, or if it does value of exceed that amount, then the sum of ten cents for each one hundred dollars of the value of such purchases. The license shall authorize the purchasing and selling of produce, goods, wares, merchandise and property only at one place and only for one year from the first of June. In case any individual, association of persons, firm or corporation desires to engage in, follow and carry on the said business and occupation, he, she or they not having been engaged in said business and occupation during the year immediately preceding, shall, before commencing said business and occupation, take out a license for the six months thence next ensuing, first paying to the said Clerk of the Peace, for the use of the State, 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, of one member of such association of persons or firm, or of the president or other presiding officer of such corporation, of the cost value of all the produce, merchandise, goods, wares and property which he, she or they shall have purchased for sale in said business and occupation the preceding six months; and such individual, association of persons, firm or corporation shall pay an equivalent tax as aforesaid, rated in proportion to the time during which said last mentioned license shall be valid. If any individual, association of persons, firm or corporation shall be engaged in, prosecute, follow or carry on, within the limits of this State, the said business of buying and selling produce, merchandise, goods, wares and property without obtaining at the 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 offense shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, by indictment, besides being liable to the payment of the tax, a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

SECTION 2. And be it enacted, That Section 2, Chapter 68, of Section 9 of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware be and the same is hereby amended, by striking out all of the said section after the words "Section 2 ' and inserting in lieu thereof the following viz.: "The provisions of this act shall be held to extend to and include all individuals, associations of persons, firms or corporations engaged in, or desiring to be engaged in; the business, and occupation of buying and selling, produce, goods, wares and merchandise, foreign and domestic, grain, lime, wood, bark, or other products of the land, or any property of whatsoever description, either by wholesale or retail: Provided that this act shall not be held to lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, and that feme sole and feme covert traders, trading in their own name, in such goods, wares, merchandise, produce and property, whose purchases are under one thousand dollars per annum, shall be exempt from its provisions.

Passed at Dover, March 28, 1871.