March 16, 1959 

Hcnorable Qeo. 

Comptroller of 

Aus tin, Texaa 

Dear Sir: 

;;b% % ara oounts 

Opinion No. O-376 

Re$ What~ is the zWaning of the word 

?oheirgen as used in Artlole 

1047f. R.C.S.? 

Our attention is dlreated to Article 7047P (a), Revised civil 

Statutee, rhloh reads as fioIlora: 

.~ 

Qvery person, firm, or corporation oondtruting a 

theatre, place of amusement, or any.buainess enterprise 

in oonneotioin rith the operation of which a prize in 

the form of money or eomething of value la offered or 

given to one or more. patrons of such theatre, place of 

amusement, or ~buslnesS enterprise, and not given to all 

patrons~ thereof paying the same oharge ~for any aertati 

servioe, commodity, or entertainment, shall make a 

verified monthly report op the twenty-fifth day of eaoh 

month of the Comptroller of Public Aooounta of the State 

of Texas, ahonIng the’amount of maney 80 given in prizes, 

and the value of all rieea or awards no given in 

coMection with suoh t usin~ss during the next preceding 

month.” 

iirticle 7087f (b) then provides for a 20$ tax on hoh priaes. 

Since, under the express terms of Article 7047f, (a), no tax 

is due where the person reoeiving the priae ~has paid a oharge 

additional to that paid by other patrons, It beoomes necessary 

in every instanae to asoertaln whether auah adalt,ional acharge” 

ha8 been paid within the meaning of the statute. - .- 

In order to avoid the neoeaalty of requesting our opinion on 

each individual oaee as it arises; you request our oplnlon as 

to the meaning of the word “oharge” as ueed in the foregoing 

Article. 

The word under ooneideratlon haa many different meanings. 

There 5s the oharge of the oourt. There was Piokettre famoue 

oharge, and that of the Light Brigade. A man bequeaths a pieoe 
Hon. Gee. H. Sheppard, March 16, 1939, Page 2 , O-372 

of Iana to a daughter, but there is a charge against lt ln 

Savor of a son. & jailer has oharge of a group of oltlzens 

against each of whom is a serious charge brought by the 

grand jury. One man Is charged with the duty of administering 

to another a charge of eleotrloity that will eliminate the 

vlotlm as a oharge upon society. There follows a burial 

charge. 

.- 

We quote from Reese v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 6 L.R.A. 529 

Pa., 8s~ S allows : 

“‘Charget Is a word of very general and varied use. 

Vebster glves It thirteen different meanings, none OS 

which, however, expressee the exact aense in wblch it 

Is used ln this oharger. The great dictionary of the 

Phllologlcal Society, now ln course of publication, gives 

it twenty separate prLnolpal definitions, besides a 

nearly equal number of subordinate variations of meaning. 

OS these definitions one (10 b) la: ‘The price required 

or demanded for servloe rendered, or (less usually) for 

goods supplied,’ and this expresses accurately the 

sense of the word in the present case. The essenoe of the 

meaning 1s that It la something requlred, exacted or 

taken from the traveler as compensation for the service 

rendered, and, of oourse, something taken permanently, 

not taken temporarily and returned.” 

Slnoe the above opinion, Webster has expanded his vooabularly 

and his ‘Hew International gives the word twenty three 

dlSferent meanings, of whloh Rumber Twelve la about the 

same as the definition embodied ln the above ease. 

In general usage the word %hargen.has one meaning which Is 

about the same as soonsideratlono.(When such last mentioned 

word 1s used ln connection with oontraots). We think the 

word nconslderatlonn could have been uaed.ln the statute 

here,.lnvolved ‘without any ohange in meaning. 

The word as 80 used might include money, or any other artlole 

of value. It mlght include skilled or unskilled labor, a 

poem, essay~or motto. It oould be a painting or other piece 

of art. In short, anything of value wuld suffioe. On the 

other hand, the delivery of something of no value or the 

performanoe of merely a peri’unotory aot, such as signing a 

name to a register lnvol.vlng no obligation, would not be 

sufl?lclent. It must be a bona Side oonslderatlon passing 

the reoelver to the given of the prlae, a conslderatlon not 
c . 4 

! ) 

Hon. Gee. H. Sheppard, Msroh 16, 1939, Page 3, 0-3'19 

reoelved by the giver from other patbans of his business. 

Yours very ktwly 

I~~ORLWXGE?ERALOFTEXJIS 

a/ Glem R. kria 

BY Glenn R. Lewis 

&sslatant 

GIiL:W/cg 

hppR6vE, 

a/ Gerald C. Mann 

ATTORNEY GBTERAL OF TEXAS 

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