United States v. Houghton
United States v. Houghton
Opinion of the Court
A large number of indictments has been found against apothecaries for selling and exposing for sale certain articles mentioned in Schedule C of the act of 30 June. 1864 (13 Stat. 301); and the questions presented by the demurrer in this case arise in all the cases, and have been ably and thoroughly argued. Some of the points can only be understood by a constant reference to the very language of the several statutes, which must necessarily be a little tedious. Section 165 of the act of 1804 imposed a penalty of $10 since raised to $50, on any one who should make, prepare and sell, or remove for consumption and sale, any of the things on which a stamp duty was imposed by Schedule O, without affixing thereto a stamp denoting the duty. Section 167 imposed a penalty of $100 on every manufacturer of the same articles who should sell, send out or deliver any such article before the duty thereon should have been fully paid by affixing the proper stamp, or who should hide, etc., a.ny such article to evade the duty chargeable thereon. Section 169 was, that any person who should offer for sale any of these articles should be deemed the manufacturer, and (be.l subject to all the duties, liabilities, and penalties imposed by law in regard to the sale of domestic articles without the use of the proper stamps denoting the duty. The act of March 3, 1865 (13 Stat. 482), adds “expose for sale,” to “sell” in section 167. The statute of 13 July, 1866 (14 Stat. 144), re-enacts sections 165 and 169 with some amendments, and says nothing'about section 167. This indictment is founded on sections 169 and 167 taken together. The first point taken is that section 167 is repealed by implication by the re-enactment of section 165, so far as selling is concerned; because this section imposes a penalty of only $50 on a manufacturer who sells without affixing the stamp, and section 167 of the act of 1864 imposes $100 for substantially the same offence. I have exercised my ingenuity in vain to discover any difference between the two sections as applied to sales by an actual manufacturer. It does seem to me that under them he is liable to a different punishment for the same of-fence. There are some offences in each section which are not in the otner, but the maker of any of these articles who sells it without affixing the stamp is to pay $50 by the one section and $100 by the other. How it is possible to say, with the district attorney, that one is a non-feasance and the other a mal-feasance. I cannot see, because the supposed acts are precisely similar, and the same evidence would prove either offence. These difficulties are equally found in the act of 1864, where both sections were enacted together, and even as far back as sections 107 and 109 of the act of July 1, 1862 (12 Stat. 478, 479). 1 at first thought that they might be reconciled by construing the words in section Í67 “to evade the duty,” etc., as qualifying the whole section, which would make, or might make, the very difference between a careless omission and a wilful default; but lam satisfied that those words do not apply to the first clause. The section is. that any person who shall sell, etc., before the duty shall have been fully paid, or who shall hide, etc., the article to evade the duty, shall be liable, etc. The argument of the attorney here is very forcible, that the latter acts are equivocal, and need to be characterized by an intent, while the former are in themselves a breach of the law. Besides, the context refers these words more fairly to the last clause or member of the sentence. It reads, who shall sell, etc., before the duty is paid, —or who shall hide, etc., to evade the duty, and not who shall do two kinds of acts with intent to evade duties. The duties are actually evaded in the one class of cases; and in the other certain acts otherwise proper are qualified by an illegal intent. It seems to me, therefore, that sections 165 and 167 are to some extent inconsistent, and it may be that one or the other is repealed or is invalid. so far as the. inconsistency exists; but there is none such in the case of persons not actual manufacturers, because section 165
Though this is hardly a criminal offence, It has been decided in the circuit court, with my concurrence, that an indictment will lie. U. S. v. Abbot [Case No. 14,416]. As the counts which charge sales are within the statute, and all good, the demurrer must be overruled. Order accordingly.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES v. HOUGHTON
- Status
- Published