The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-05-11

pbhed without hsying first obtained q
EsensA n keep ssctfee-housef
The scefse issued by the city TO the
defendans ms beah placed in evidence
and from 1t sppears he was licensed
foskeep aJe kee1 Disc, on Market street,
Nc. isl, N this City, until the first Mon
day in May, 1877" NJ
By reference to the 33d section, We,
shall see that all licenses for cofee-houses
shalt erp,re and be of no further erect
on the iirst Monday in May next sue
ceeding the date thereof
By reference 10 the form of the license,
it wilt be observed that the date OF the
expiration of the license is left blank.
The simple question into which these
considerations resolve themselves is
when do licenses explre2 THIS is to be
determined by the construction to be
placed on the word "until," rs used IN
the license, and the words "shsll expire
and be Of no further effect in the S3d
section, and they must be so construed
as to stand together, for statutes and or
dinances must be so construed, whenever
it can be done without violence to the
sense or the intention, as to make them
consistent in their meaning.
Ii Licenses expire and are of no fur
thar effect on the first Monday in May
next succeeding the date thereof" then
BY no fair mode of reasoning can these
words be construed so as " read or TO
mean that licenses shall expire and be OF
no further effect before the first Monday
in May next succeeding the date thereof,
which would be the inevitable conclusion
if hey were not construed so as to ~
eIude the FIRST Monday in May.
Or, in other words, they coul1 not ex'
pire and be o. no further effect on the
first Monday in May If they expired and
were of no further effect on the day pre-
cedlng the first Monday of May, which
II it hsG not have been the intention 70
include the first Monday in May would
have been so expressed by Council.
If licenses were in force on the hrs,
day of May, as they necessarily must
have been TO have expired on that day
then they were 10 force until twelve
o'clock midnight of that day, because the
law recognizes no fraction OF day II
its computation OF time.
By reference to the annual ordinance
passed by the City Council in the veal
1876, and under which the tax for the
license held by this defen dan was assessed
we can come to no other conclusion, thar
that it was their intention to usctude the
first Monday in May, according to our
construction.
The ordinance is entitled "An ordi
nance assessing tax on licenses to Keep
ers OF erdlnarles and coffee houses within
the City OF Wheeling, for the year com
mencing on the first Monday in May
A. d., 1876, and ending on the first Mon
dag IN May 1871" The first section Il
rs follows: "Be it ordained by the Coun
ell of the City of Wheeling, that there
shall be levied, collected and paid tor thu
use OF the City of Wheeling, tax or
licenses, hereinafter mentioned, for The
year commencing on the first Monday II
May, 1876, and ending on the frSt Mon
day in May, 1877, as follows, &c.
But II any doubt remained upon our
mind rs to the correct construction OF
these words it would be resolved by the
l2tn section of chapter Ii of the Code o
West Virginia, wherein it is enacted as
follows:
"l2. Tie time within achich an act IS Il
be Qonc ShaU be computed b. ercLuding liz
frSt dqy md 6cLudtMg tie tast."
From what has been said 10 reference
TO the construction which, in our opinion,
should be placed on the terms, "shall ex-
plre and be of no further effect O0 the
first Monday in May next succeeding
the date thereof" We need not dwell
at any length to show that n similar COLI
structlon should be placed on the use oil
words until the first Monday in May
rs IN our view they iRctuae the first Mon
day in May, which is borne out by the
| case cited by the counsel for the defen-
dant US found in the 5th voiumn OF the
Law Reports of the Court of Exche9uer
IN the case OF Isaccs, and another v. The
ROYAL Insurance Company, wherein the
partie, insured their stock from the AL
day of August, 1867, until the 18th day
| Of February, 1868. On this last named
date the plaintiffs store was consumed
by fire. The plaintiff applied to deten-
dant Tor payment OF the value OF The
properly, Out defendants declined to pay
The question TOR the court WAS whether
the policy was subsistlng and in ioree on
the l4th day OF February, 1868. the date
of tho tire. And the court decided that
the policy covered the whole OF the l4th
Of February, and said: "The general
rule of computation now established
applies to it, according TO which, where
time is to be C unte1, either from an &C,
done, or day certaln, the Initial day is
excluded from and the last day included
in the computation.
| Hence we conclude that under the
rule Tor the legal computation OF time
and the permit of the city rs evidenced
upon the face of the license showing tina,
grant to the defendant did not expire
until the first Monday IN May, there has
been no violation of the second section Of
the ordinance herein before referred, rs on
the 7th day of May, 1877, he WAS duly
licensed To sell drinks III his house IN sac
city. Therefore judgment is given fol
| he defendant.