The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-03-16
LIGHT ON HIGH LICENSE
INTERESTING CASE IS BEFORE
THE SUPREME COURT.
Dealer Paid $4,000 Year License and
Made a Good Living-The Case
Came Up From DeSoto.

| The 1lmeS-Democrat, March IL, say:
J A case that throws flood of light upo
the high license question was argue
Monday before the Supreme Court {
| Louisiana.
| 1t is the case of D. F. Evans ct a
VS.. Police Jury of DeSoto Parish.
J. H. Sutherlin of Mansfield argue
the case for the plaintiffs, and Judg
Pugh of Shreveport for the defendant
The record is very full and tells
story that will be of interest to all VIII
are concerned in the regulation of tn
liquor traffic.
1t appears that the police jury of De
Soto parish, at its regular meeting ii
November, 1904, levied a tax for tn
sale of Intoxicating liquors in the tow
of Mansfield at $1,000 year. The recor'
shows that the parish of DeSoto is
prohibition parish by virtue of an elec
ton held under the local option laws i,
the year 1895, and that a year later th'
town of Mansfield emancipated itsel
from the parish prohibition by voting il
favor of granting licenses for the sal,
of liquor. 1t is also shown that unde1
the operation of Act 1856 of 1902, when
ever a town levies a license tax equa
to Or greater than the sum levied by the
police jury, the parish can not collect q
license, and that the license collected
inures solely to the bentfit of the town
The town of Mansfed levied license
tax December 16, 1904, for the year
1905, on the sale of Intoxicating liquors
at the sum of $500, which was not con-
sidered prohibitory, but was deemed the
largest tax that could possibly be paid
The action of the police jury in levying
a $1,000 tax, it was claimed, was pro-
hibitory and deprived the town of a
revenue The case was
carried to the district court under a
nlandanlus requiring the police jury to
show cause why its action should not
be considered illegal, null and void, and
its levy prol1ibitory. T. -. 9
The case was tried December 28, 1904,
and resulted in Judgment setting aside
The levy OF the police jury, and declar--
ing it prohibitory, null and void, and
ordering the police jury at its meeting
in January, 1905, to levy such a license
tax, APPLICABLE to the town of Mansfield,
at stm reasonable and not prohibitory,
and in the same judgment the court
found that $500 is the largest license
that could be levied without being pro-
hibitory. From this judgment the po-
lice jury appealed.
Among the testimony is that Of IL
quor dealer who paid $500 license in
1903 and made a living, and paid $4,000
in 1904 and lost money because the low
price of cotton restricted sales. The
figures he submitted are interesting. In
1904 his sales amounted to between
$4,000 and $4,000. He paid out for
liquor $o653, for beer $1,000; total
$Io,7Ie Balance of stock on hand al
the end of year was about $1,000. His
expenses, exclusive of license, he fig
ured at $4oa828 license, including
stock and revenue $4I53; The expenses
he stated, did not include his own serv-
ices.
Il is proper to state that this witness
kept the only saloon in the town or par
ish, but testified that he was harassed by
fierce competition from Shreveport, ir
the jug and bottle trade.
Tie profits on whisky by the bottle
was estimated by this witness at rs pei
cent. No figures were elected as to the
profits by the drink, nor as to the pro-
FITS on beer, but it is significant that a
man whose total sales amounted to only
$4,000 year, mostly by the bottle,
could pay $500 license and admit that
he did not lose money.
Mr.. Sutherlin laid great stress upon
the fact that while a 5000 license for
Mansfield was prohibitory, a $1,000 one
would be considered as non-prohibitive,
and that the town needed the money
thus derived. His contention is that a
5000 tax having been proved to be pro-
is practically class legislation,
the police jury having no power to
throttle traffic authorized BY law
The imposition of prohibitory
license, he contended, amounted prac-
tically to prohibiting the traffic. and that
the police jury had no authority to DO.
HERE LIES A CHJIMp