Territory v. Hamakua Mill Co.
Territory v. Hamakua Mill Co.
Opinion of the Court
OPINION OP THE COURT BY
(Quarles, J., dissenting.)
An information was filed against the defendant corporation charging that it “on the first day of June, A.D. 1915, and for a period of ten months prior thereto, did manufacture and prepare a certain food product, to-wit, sugar, in
The material facts, which are agreed upon, are as follows: That the defendant corporation is, and for many years has been, engaged in the growing of sugar cane and the manufacture and sale of raw sugar; that such sugar is not a compound, but .consists solely of sugar extracted from sugar cane and süch impurities as may still be therein by reason of its not having been refined; that such sugar is manufactured primarily for shipment and sale to refineries on the mainland of the United States; that of an annual output of from 7,000 to 10,000 tons of raw sugar from defendant’s mill all is exported except about 25 tons which are sold to local people; and that such raw sugar is a food product. The defendant admits that it has not obtained a license under Section 2032 of the Revised Laws, and denies that the raw sugar so as aforesaid manufactured by it is a food product within the meaning of the statute.
Section 2032 of the Revised Laws provides that “No person shall manufacture, compound or otherwise prepare any confections, cakes, bread stuffs or other food products intended for sale and for human consumption in any shop or premises without first obtaining from the treasurer of the county or city and county where such shop, building or other premises are located, a license.” Then follow provisions to the effect that no such license shall be granted except upon a certificate from the Board of Health that the premises are in a sanitary and fit condition for the manufacture, compounding or otherwise preparing such food products. Sections 2033 and 2034 prescribe the annual fee for the license and provide the penalty for the violation of the law. And section 2035 excludes from the operation of the statute the manufacture and sale of poi
The county attorney contends that raw sugar is included in the words “other food products” as used in the statute; and that the fact that poi and paiai are expressly excluded from the operation of the statute manifests an intent on the part of the legislature that nothing else should be excepted which falls within the language of the law. Counsel for the defendant contends that the rule' ejusdem generis applies and that, as raw sugar is not a food product of a kind like any of those expressly enumerated, it does not fall within the purview of the statute. The endeavor is, of course, to ascertain the legislative intent. The query naturally asserts itself, if the legislature intended to include all manufactured, compounded or prepared food products, why were confections, cakes and bread stuffs specially mentioned? The form of expression used in the statute is a tune honored one, and has given rise to the rule of construction invoked on behalf of the defendant. The rule of ejusdem generis as applied to statutes — •that where particular words of a statute are followed by general, the general words are restricted in meaning to objects of like kind with those specified — is founded in reason, and, though a mere rule of construction, is, where proper of application, a potent rule. In the case of United States v. Stever, 222 U. S. 167, 174, the supreme court said, “unless there is a clear manifestation to the contrary, general words, not specific or limited, should be construed as applicable to cases or matters of like kind with those described
We see no force in the contention that the provision of section 2035 that “Nothing in sections 2032-2034 shall be construed to include the manufacture and sale of poi or paiai,” points to an intention to include all other food products. “The exception of certain things does not always show that all others are included.” 2 Lewis’ Sutherland Stat. Con., Sec. 494. .This provision, strictly speaking, is neither a proviso nor an exception, but is a declaration of the legislative intent that poi shops were not to be considered as included though poi and paiai might be regarded by the courts (as they seem to have been by the legislature) as food products of a kind like “bread stuffs” and, therefore, within the operation of the act. We perceive no ground for holding that it was intended to enlarge the scope of section 2032.
We are of the opinion that the rule of ejusdem generis aids in ascertaining the intention of the legislature with respect to the statute in question, and that its application leads to the conclusion that the manufacture of raw sugar is not within its purview.
The question is answered in the negative.
Dissenting Opinion
DISSENTING OPINION OP
In my opinion the only question in this case is a correct interpretation or construction of section 2032, R.L., which is quoted at length in the majority opinion. In the original enactment of this statute, as well as in the revision (Sec. 2035, R.L.), there is an exception excluding from the operation of the act the manufacture and sale of poi or paiai. As all statutes must be construed for the purpose
On behalf of the defendant appellee certain authorities are relied upon, which, in my opinion, do not sustain its contention. For instance, in the case of Commonwealth v. Dejardin, 126 Mass. 46, the defendant was charged “with printing and publishing * * * pictures, figures and descriptions of naked girls.” The proof showed that he took photographs of two young girls stripped only to the waist. The court held that the proof did not establish the charge made in the indictment and that the maxim noscitur a sociis applied to that case. In other words, the court there held that a word is best understood by the meaning of associated words. In Joplin v. Leckie, 78 Mo. App. 8, the charter of the city authorized it to levy an occupation tax upon manufacturing corporations, and the court held that this did not authorize the levy of the tax upon private parties engaged in manufacturing. In Rohlf v. Kasemeier (Ia.), 23 L. R. A. N. S. 1284, the case is summed up in the syllabus as follows: “Personal services of a physician are not a commodity within the meaning of a statute relating to pools and trusts, and making guilty of a conspiracy persons who combine to regulate or fix the price of any article of merchandise or commodity or to fix or limit the amount or quantity of any article, commodity or merchandise to be manufactured, mined, produced or sold in the state.” The court simply held that professional services were not an article of merchandise or a commodity, —a very wise conclusion.
“An express exception, exemption or saving excludes others. Where a general rule has been established by statute with exceptions, the court will not curtail the former nor add to the latter by implication. Exceptions strengthen the force of a general law and enumeration weakens it as to things not expressed.” 2 Lewis’ Sutherland, Stat. Con.,
If the legislature understood that the manufacture and preparation of poi for sale was the manufacture and preparation of a food product, it is very clear that they also understood the manufacture of raw sugar to be the manufacture of a food product. Having expressly excepted poi from the. operation of the statute and remained silent as to the manufacture of sugar, we should not conclude that they intended to exclude sugar also. This would be interpolating into the statute an exception not provided for by the legislature itself, and, to my mind, contrary to the manifest intent of the legislature.
The rule of intrinsic aids to statutory construction, invoked in this case, ejusdem generis, and the exclusion of things not named, are mere aids to construction, and must be considered, in the light of rules of construction affecting them, as shown by the authorities cited herein, which, of course, are only a few bearing upon the principle involved, and which, in my opinion, establish that raw sugar is a food product within the meaning of the statute under consideration, and the manufacture of the same subject to a license fee of $10. In my opinion it is not proper to construe the statute by the extrinsic fact that the great bulk of the sugar manufactured is shipped out of the Territory, and that only a small per cent — 25 tons — is sold and consumed in the vicinity of the defendant’s sugar mill. When we come to think of it, 25 tons of sugar consumed in one
Reference
- Full Case Name
- TERRITORY v. HAMAKUA MILL COMPANY
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Statutes — Sec. 2032 R. L. 1915 — construction—ejusdem generis. The rule of ejusdem generis is applicable in the construction of Section 2032, R. L. 1915, and held, that the words “other food products” are limited to food products of like kind with those expressly mentioned in the statute, and do not include manufactured raw sugar.