Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-05-16
TO TAX |T|AERANTS
Decision Of State Tribunal De-
fines Powero Of Town Councils
THE LOWER COURT REVERSED
Supreme Court Holds That Even
Though Parties Are Located
In City They May Still Be
ltinerantS.

Des Moines.-The supreme court,
In decision just rendered, has de-
fined the term transient merchant"
10 that hereafter city and town ccun-
ellis can have no trouble in ascer-
tanning what merchants can be COM
PEELED to pay an itinerant merchants
license.
The case has an interesting fea-
kure in that while the court revers-
ed the judgment of the lower court.
the lower court judgment must stand,
10 far as the results of the trial are
concerned.
The case was that of the town OF
Scranton against Lewis Henson and
]. L. Black, accused of being timer
ant merchants and selling goods
without obtaining the license provid'
ed for by the town council.
They were convicted by the may
Or, but appealed to the district court
which acquitted them. The supreme
court reversed the district court az
10 it's propositions of law, but Is the
pffense was semi-criminal the results
of the acquital cannot be changed.
The court, defining an "itinerant
merchant" uses the following Ian
guage:
Three things must be considered.
First, the kind of business; second,
the place where 1t is conducted;
third, the duration or intended dura-
lion thereof. If the business was or
was intended to be intermittent in
character and not permanent, then
The seller is an itinerant vender and
not a permanent tradesman. And 1t
makes no difference that he has his
residence in the city or town where
be offers the goods for sale"
The ruling is important as 1t set
ties the question of whether man
living in city can buy stock OF
bankrupt or other kind of goods, open
store for sixty-day sale and Their
quit the business and yet escape the
license tax which many cities and
towns place on itinerant merchants
Auctioneers to Meet.
Auctioneers of Iowa will meet in
state convention in Des Moines on
Friday and Saturday, May 26 and q
The state has been divided into
districts and efforts have ben made
to notify every crier in the state OF
the coming meeting. A large con
vention is expected.
Bills for the benefit Of the profes
sion, to be introduced later in the
general assembly, will be drafted al
the meeting.
The officers are: President, c. E
Luther, Grand Junction; vice-presi
dent, T. A. Wildman, Perry; secre
tary, H. A. Dunlap, Iowa City; treas
urer, Sim T. Huber. Sioux City;
chaplain, Major Marshall, Mount Ayr
Program committee-P. N. Gibson,
West Liberty; Thomas Marshall
Iowa City; Fred Morrison, Lone
Tree, and H. A. Dunlap, Iowa City
Supreme Court Decisions.
J. X. Lawrence ct al, appellants
VS.. Page county supervisors; Page
district. Affirmed; opinion by Nc
Claim
]. Robert Waller ct al, VS.. Sadonil
Hosford ct al, appellants; Dubuque
district. Modified and affirmed; opin
ion by Ladd.
]. A. Smith, appellant, VS.. Packard
& Co., w. S. Packard and o. c
5teinhauser; Polk district. Revers
ed; opinion by Evans.
Dubuque & ioux City Railroad com
pany vs. J. w Mitchell, county treas
urer of Pottawattamie county, appel
liant; Pottawattamie district. Re
versed; opinion by Weaver.
tate VS.. Joseph Brandenberg, ap
pellant; Dubuque district. Reversed;
opinion by Deemer.