Wolf v. Clark
Wolf v. Clark
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
The only question presented in this case is, whether a person, who is licensed under the second section of the act of the 6th of February 1830, entitled “ an act regulating tin and dock pedlers,” is prohibited by the second section of the act of the 2d of April in the same year, and passed at the same session of the legislature, entitled “an act for regulating hawkers and pedlers,” from travelling from place to place within the state, and as the agent of a citizen and manufacturer of tin ware, of this state, residing in the borough of Easton, in said state, and selling at public auction in places other than those for which licenses are specifically granted, the tin ware manufactured by his employer?
The second section of the act of the 2d of April 1830 declares, that “no person or persons, either with or without license, shall sell or expose to sale any foreign or domestic goods, wares or merchandize, as a hawker or pedler or travelling merchant, by public auction or outcry, in any part of this commonwealth, under the penalty of fifty dollars for each and every offence,” subject, however, to a proviso in the following words, “ that nothing contained in this act shall prohibit the citizens of this commonwealth, who may manufacture goods, wares or merchandize within this commonwealth, from vending or exposing the same to sale in the same manner as if said act had not been passed into a law.
It is contended on the part of the counsel for the plaintiff in error, who was the plaintiff below, that the terms “hawker or pedler or travelling merchant,” employed in this section, embrace “ tin and clock pedlers,” the exclusive objects of the act of the 6th of February 1830, as well as every other description of pedlers; and that all are alike prohibited from selling by public auction. I, however, am unable to think so. When the subject matter of this act of the 2d of April 1830 is examined and looked into, it will be found to relate to hawkers and pedlers and petty chapmen, as described in the acts of the 30th of March 1784, and of the 28th of March 1799, entitled “an act regulating of hawkers and pedlers,” and “a supplement to the same.” By these acts, no person shall be licensed as a hawker, pedler or petty chapman, unless he be a citizen of the United States, and shall be disabled through age, loss of limb or other bodily infirmity, from procuring a livelihood by labour; and shall have given bond with sufficient sureties to the commonwealth in the sum of 300 dollars, conditioned for his good behaviour during the continuance of his license. After which, the license is to be granted by the courts of quarter sessions, or two of the judges thereof, in vacation: for which 8 dollars must be paid by one who is to travel on foot; 16 dollars by one who means to use one horse and cart or wagon or other vehicle; and 25 dollars by him who intends to use
In the act of the 2d of April 1830, the term “travelling merchant” seems to be substituted for the term “petty chapman,” which is used in the acts of the 30th of March 1784, and of the 28th of March 1799, already noticed. These three acts are all in pari materia, and every succeeding act has a relation to all the preceding in terms. But the act of the 6th of February 1830 regulating tin and clock pedlers, although it may be considered a branch of the same subject, has no reference whatever in its terms to the acts of 1784 and Í799 on the subject of hawkers and pedlers ; and if tin and clock pedlers were to be held as embraced within the terms of “ hawkers, pedlers, travelling merchants or petty chapmen,” then the object of the legislature, as it appears to me, in passing the act of the 6th of February 1830, regulating tin and clock pedlers, would be defeated ; because every pedler would be at liberty to sell tin or japanned ware, or clocks, the same as if he had obtained a specific license therefor, notwithstanding he had only paid the sum of 8 dollars, or 25 dollars at the outside, for his license, instead of 30 dollars according to the requisition of the act of the 6th of February 1830, which, must be paid in every case to obtain a license for selling tin ware or clocks. It is clear, however, that the legislature intended to place tin and clock pedlers on a distinct and different footing from hawkers, pedlers, petty chapmen or travelling merchants; and that the latter are especially the objects of the provisions and regulations contained in the act of the 2d of April 1830 throughout. The first section of it, in connection with the acts of 1784 and 1799, to which it has express reference, and therefore may be taken as part of it, sets forth the qualifications and condition of such as shall be entitled to receive a license as a hawker, pedler or petty chapman, upon his complying
It has been objected, that if the defendant be not considered as coming within the prohibition of the second section of the act of the 2d of April 1830, still he ought to be confined and restricted in his sales by auction to tin ware of which he is the absolute owner; otherwise the spirit and meaning of the act of the 6th of February 1830 will be violated, and of consequence, the defendant not entitled to claim exemption by virtue of his license from the penalty imposed by the second section of the act of the 2d of April 1830. This objection, however, does not seem to be sustained by the terms of the act regulating the granting licenses to tin and clock pedlers. The first section which is applicable to this objection merely declares, that “ no person shall employ himself, or be concerned in the business or employment of hawking or peddling any kind of tin, japanned ware or clocks, from place to place without previously having obtained a license so to do,” without making any mention whatever of the right
An additional argument may be brought in to support the judgment of the court below, which is, that having shown, as I conceive, that before the passage of the act of the 2d of April 1830, a citizen of this state who was a manufacturer of tin ware, residing within it, and having tin ware manufactured by him within the state, to be disposed of, might, by means of a tin pedler duly licensed under the act of the 6th of February 1830, have had the same hawked and peddled, and sold by public auction in the state, it follows of course, by the very terms of the proviso to the second section of the same act, that he may still do so; for being a manufacturer and a citizen of the state, he is protected from the penalty, and is not to be prohibited from vending or exposing his tin ware to sale in the same manner as if said act had not been passed into a law. Facit per alium, fácil per se.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.