Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-04-13
THE NEW LICENSE LAW.
solicitor General Fail Renders An
Opinion on This Act, AS to How 1t
Is to BE Construed by As
SCISSOR Hudson.

Hon !; r, Hudson, County Assessor, Santa
Fe, n. NJ
Santa Fe, N. NJ, April 6.-My Dear
Sir: | have your letter dated March 25
with reference to the proper construction
to be given to council bill No. 4S, "An
act fixing license tax for doing BUSH
ness in the territory of New Mexico" APP
proved March IS, 1897. You ask whether
you shall issue license to persons now
applying for the same under the old law
for the coming year, or only up to the
am of the opinion that you are author
lied to issue license under the old law
only for the length of time intervening to
the first day of July, when the new law
goes into effect. To hold otherwise
would be to allow parties, up to the Both
day of June, to take out license at the old
rate for full year, thus permitting them
under the color of the license thus issued
to evade for twelve months the penalty
of the law, which is placed upon parties
doing business without securing the IL
cense required by the new law. 1t is true
that the act in question does not for GER
tain purposes 60 into effect until July l.
This however, does not prevent the
proper officers from anticipating its CON-
ing into effect on that day and from pro-
viding by proper steps that it shall not
be nulified in advance by technical
evasion of its provisions.
MT nnsl Nu
license is in no sense a contract between
the territory and the licensee. 1t may
be revoked or its terms modified at the
will of the legislature. Being mere per
NIT, the licensee takes 1t subj ect to the vii
of the authority granting it. This being
the case, license now issued by the au
thorities would not, after July l, 1897, con
stitute defense to the penalties o.
the act in question, since that Law
specifically imposes penalty upon al
who engage in or carry on the avocationt
to which 1t applies after it goes into
effect, without having first complied will
it's requirements. The only exception tt
this sweeping provision is contained il
section II, where it is provided that par
ties who shall have paid the license tai
sage of the act, shall not be required tt
pay the new license tax until the expira
ton of the time for which they have al
ready paid such license. This savipt
clause was doubtless inserted in view o
a legislative recognition of the revocabl'
character of licenses and for the purpose
of protecting those who prior to Marcel
Is had purchased such licenses. No sucl
provision, however, is made by the legis
lature for those who between March Il
and July take out licenses and the onl.
inference to be drawn is that the legisla
ture did not intend that any such shoul
be protected against prosecution afte
July l by reason of any license taken on
under the old law, subsequent to Marcl
10. The expression of the one is the ex
clusion of the other.
You are accordingly advised that thu
old license law as contained in Compiled
Laws, section 1901 ct seq., is still in forc'
and will remain in force until July
/ 1897, but that you are not authorized IN
der its provisions when construed witt
the law just passed, to issue Licenses tt
parties applying for the same up to July
l, beyond July l. Upon that date al
licenses under the old law cease and be
come of no effect, save only those ISSUED
"before the passage of the blll' in ques
ton, i. 9. on March 10, 1897.
Respectfully yours, A. B. FALL,
Solicitor General of New Mexico
Tobacco, cigars, pipes and snuff boxe
at the Cash Store.