San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-04-06
A LEGAL OPINION.
On the Rights of the City to Collect
an Occupation Tax.

On the Rights of the City to Collect
an Occupation Tax.
To the Daily Light
The repeated arrests of Lawyer Nc
| MINI, may have a deep significance.
He has often been arrested for non
payment of the city occupation tax,
and in this instance has been COM
| PEELED to give bond twice; once Satur-
! day when he appeared before Record
| er Lewis to show cause why he should
| not be taxed and on Monday when he
sued out his writ of habeas corpus
before Judge Camp. 1t was rumored
that the administration was determin-
ed TO arrest him every day till he
promised to be good, and paid all tax
assessments for the tax in question.
Some curious facts attach to all this
business. 1t is a provided in sections
~, 80, 10 and 175 that certain occu-
pations may be taxed and among them
is enumerated insurance men-these
ii is said, however, pay no city tax
at all.
Among the numerous trades and
professions set out, the lawyer is not
named, but most of them are raided
annually and a large proportion of
them pay; some escape and one is in
variably arrested and fined. His re-
peated arrests, day after day, this year
have lead to considerable speculation.
There is no known cause for the
singing out out of two hundred law
yers of Mr.. McMinn, for the marytyr-
dom and persecution unless it be his
position on the Mexican question. He
has not made himself a public nuis-
ance and his contention on the tax
matter has at least an appearance of
reason in it.
He contends that the charter does
not confer upon the city the right to
tax lawyers and that therefore the
ordinance fixing such a tax, is void.
Sec. - of the charter confers pow
err to regulate, ball alleys, disOrderly
houses. lotteries and the like.
Sec. 20 cOnfers power 10 license and
tax hackmen, draymen, pOrters, etc,
and to fix a penalty for any fraud
practiced by them-it will be observed
that the penalty attaches for fraud
and not for failure to pay the tax.
Sec. - provides for the taxing of
hawkers. peddlers, etc.
Sec. 76 provides for license to mer-
chants. restaurants, insurance agents
and all other trades, professions and
callings, the taxing of which is not
prohibited by the constitution.
Sec. 175 provides that the city shall
have power to levy such occupation
takes upon a great many specified
trades and callings, among which
however the lawyers profession is
not mentioned.
This clause is, however, found in
sec. 175, but this enumeration shall
not be construed to deprive the city
council of the right to levy and collect
other license taxes, from other per-
sons and firms under the general au-
thOrity herein granted.
Now do these provisions catch the
lawyer?
Before the recorder last Saturday,
McMinn cOntended that the general
words found in sections rs and 175
were controlled by the particular
words preceding, and that "all other
trades, callings and professions, the
taxing of which is not prohibited by
the constitution" meant and only can
mean the callings and professions Of
like character with those enumerated,
under a rule of construction familiar
to lawyers, know as "Ejusdem Gen
eris," and he read a decision to the
effect that an extension of the appli-
cation Of the language quoted from
section rs, would cover an absurd
number if construed literally. 1t
would tax every man from a sewer
digger to the president OF railroad
and this latter contingency would
never do, as a matter of course.
| LAWYER,