Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1890-08-21
Attorney General Goodwin Says
What is Law and What is
Not Law.
The Elevator Tax Law Declared
to be Valid and the License
Reasonable.
The Usual Weekly Items OF In
tercst From County Cor
respondents.
Elevator Laws Elucidated.

Attorney General Goodwin has investi-
gated the muddle of the elevator laws,
and gives his conclusions in a lengthy
and exhaustive opinion.
When the legislative assembly con-
vened there was in force chapter l30 of
the general laws of 1887, the same being
a general law fully covering the subject
OF the control of the elevators and ware
houses and the buying, selling and stor-
ing of grain in the state of North Dako-
ia. The legislature passed four laws on
the subject, and from the conflicting and
multlfold provisions Of these the uncer-
tainty as to what the law really is has
arisen. The attorney general in pre-
limlnary statement of the condition of
| these laws, holds that chapter 1S7 of the
laws of 1890, being a complete revision
of the whole subject of buying, sell
ing and handling of grain of all kinds in
the state of North Dakota, thereby re-
pealed chapter l3e of the general laws of
1887; chapter 100 Of the laws of 1890. be-
ing an amendment OF section of said
chapter 13O of the laws Of 1887, and hay
ing been passed and approved a long
time prior to chapter 1S7 of the laws of
$780, was also repealed thereby. He
holds that the provisions OF chapter 1873
OF the laws of 1890. being an acv % regu-
late warehouses. inspection of grain, ETC.,
applies only to the public elevators de-
fined in thai act, and located at Grand
Forks, Fargo, Wahpeton and Fairmount,
and should not be considered in deter
mining regulations for the buying, sell
ing and handling Of grain This leaves
chapter 1S7 and chapter l3S Of the laws
OF 1890 still in force, except SO far as
chapter 1S7 is modified by the provisions
of chapter l3S; section IA of chapter 1877
requires every public warehouseman to
procure license from the county audi
tor of the respective counties at fee of
5l.0O for 1000 bushels of elevator capac-
lty, and chapter l3S requires such pub
lie warehouseman to procure a state
license from the commissioners of rail
roads and the fee is fixed at $3.50 per
1000 bushels of elevator capacity or ma
jor fraction thereof. and that no license
shall be issued for less than S25 He is of
the opinion that chapter 1873, being the
later expression Of the legislative intent,
necessarily repeals the provision of sec
tion IA of chapter lS7 and that the IL
cense fee now required is at the rate of
$3.50 per 1000 bushels of elevator ca
pacity as provided in chapter 13S.
Mr.. Goodwin says II am of the opin-
| inv, hof tho prnvicinnc Of al, oyto CS
quiring public warehousemen to pay
reasonable license fee in addition to their
regularly assessed taxes is a valid exer.
else of the legislative power and that the
fee fixed therein is not so high as to
make the same unreasonable
He 1ntimates that the provisions of
section 10 of chapter 1S7, which requires
a receipt issued for any kind of grain,
the quality Of which falls below the high
est standard, not only to express and de-
termine the grade, but to likewise ex-
pressly state how many cents per busheI
| below the price for the highest grade
such grain shall be bought at when sold.
are unconstitutional, and also that Sec
ton % Of the same law is unconsti-
| tutional, for the reason that the rates
fixed for receiving, elevating, insurlng
and storing and delivering grain are nn-
reasonable and less than the actual cos.
thereof to the elevators. He does not
think that the provisions of section 10
and % are so intimately connected and
related to the rest of the act that their
being held void would destroy the valid
ity of the act, and is therefore of the
opinion that the balance of SAID act is
valid and may be enforced.
II is also held that the provision
providing for a county license
having been repealed. the provision re-
curing elevators to give bond is also
repealed.