Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-09-09
JUDICIAL MATTERS.
Judge Laughlin Has Called a Special
Term of the District Court in santa
on Sept. 2l-COmmissiOns on
Dram shop Licenses.

Judge Laughlin returned from Silver
City at o'clock this morning and has
since issued the appended order for a
special term of the district court:
1t appearing to the undersigned, judge
of the district court of the 1st judicial
district, within and for the county of
Santa Fe, territory of New Mexico, in
the exercise of the discretionary power
reposed in him by law, that furtherance
of justice requires that special term of
said district court in and for said county
of Santa Fe should be held;
Now, therefore, it is hereby ordered
that special term of the district court
of said judicial district within and for
the county of Santa Fe, in said 1st judi
cial district, in the territory of New
Mexico, be and the same is hereby called,
to be begun and held at the court house
of said county, in the city of Santa Fe,
territory of New Mexico, at 10 O'Clock in
the forenoon, on Monday, the same be-
ing the 2lst day of September, A. D.
1896, for the term of two consecutive
weeks, and for such further time as in the
discretion of the Judge of said court may
be deemed proper and necessary, for the
purpose of hearing and determining all
causes that may be pending in said court,
both civil and criminal, and any business
pending in said court, or that may come
before it in the usual course of business
of said court, will be taken up aud acted
upon and disposed of in the same manner
as at a regular term of said court, and as
provided by law.
Tt is further ordered that the clerk of
said court post up an authenticated copy
of this order at the front door of the
court house of the said county of Santa
Fe at least ten days previous to the time
specified for holding said special term
herein called as aforesaid.
And it is 80 ordered.
N. B. LAUaHL1N,
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
of the Territory of New Mexico and
Judge of the 1st judicial District Court
thereof.
Santa Fe, N. NJ, September 8, 1896.
OF MOMENT TO COLLECTORS.
Heretofore the NEW MEXICAN has
merely reported that the territorial su-
preme court had affirmed the Judgment
of the district court in and for tho county
of Bernalillo in the case of Alexandra
Sandoval, plaintiff in error, vs.. R. B.
Meyers, treasurer, defendant in error.
The Importance of the case justifies
some more extended notice of its dispo-
sition. 1t was an action to recover from
the collector of Bernallllo county certain
moneys collected and retained by him
upon dram shop licenses. The collector
claimed that, under statute of 1895, he
had right to retain the moneys in dis
pute as his commission of per cent
The supreme court, in an opinion handed
down by Judge Bantz, holds that the act
of 1891 took the levy and collection OF
dram shop licenses entirely out of the
hands of the assessor and collector, and
provided the inexpensive method of d.
rect payment to the probate clerk if the
business was conducted outside of city
or town or to the city or town anthori-
ties if conducted in city or town. This
act also provided that no such license
could be granted and issued until paid in
full, and made it misdemeanor to sell
liquors without license. The contention
that the act of 1896 applies to dram shop
licenses as we'll as to other licenses is not
regarded as we'll founded for the reason
that this act distinctly refers to licenses
remaining unpaid" and "levied and as
sessed," which manifestly could not refer
to licenses required to be paid in ad-
vance without being ''levied and as
sessed." Hence it is held that the collec-
tor has no right to commission on such
collections.
The same question was submitted to
Solicitor-General Victory last May by
Collector Spiegelberg and the former Off
cial then prepared and published an ex-
haustive opinion taking almost the same
view of the subject that has since been
ably expressed by the supreme court.