Incorporated Town of Wessington v. Matejka
Incorporated Town of Wessington v. Matejka
Opinion of the Court
In April, 1913, the electors of the town of Wessington voted in favor ,of the sale of intoxicating liquors. The board of trustees thereafter passed a resolution for a special
The defendant paid the annual license of $600 to the town and $400 to the county, and from July 1, 1913, to the beginning of this action, conducted his saloon on lot 12, block 2, the place named in his petition, on the west side of Wessington avenue.
About January 1, 1914, plaintiff 'began this action to enjoin the defendant from continuing business on the west side of the avenue. No. violation of any law or failure to comply with any ordinance of the city is charged. The sole ground of the action is that defendant has failed to provide and occupy a place of business on the east side of the avenue, as 'specified in the motion upon which the board granted the license. The action was tried on January 20, 1914. Facts above recited were stipulated. Judgment was entered for defendant, and this appeal was perfected.
Appellant’s assignments of error raise but a single question, viz.: Was defendant and respondent guilty of a nuisance in maintaining his saloon on the west side of Wessington .avenue after January 1, 1914?
Under subdivision 3, § 1546, Pol. Code 1903, as amended by chapter 178, Laws 1907, any place where liquors are unlawfully sold is deemed a public or common nuisance, and such sale may be enjoined at the suit of the municipality or municipal authorities. Town of Britton v. Guy, 17 S. D. 588, 97 N. W. 1045. It is not contended that the limitation contained in the motion or resolution under which the license was granted was authorized by any express statute or ordinance of the city. It is appellant’s contention
Section 1438, Political Code, provides:
“The board of trustees shall have full powers, namely: * * * 7. To' license, regulate or restrain auction establishments, traveling peddlers, public exhibitions, and the sale of intoxicating liquors within the corporation.”
Subsection 4:
“To declare what shall constitute a nuisance and -to- prevent, abate and remove the same, and take such other measures for the preservation of the public -health as they shall deem necessary.”
Subsection 18:
“To make and establish such by-laws, ordinances and regulations not repugnant to the laws of this state as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this article, and to repeal, alter or amend the same as they shall seem to the board of trustees of such .town to require; but every by-law, ordinance or regulation, unless in case of emergency, shall be published in the newspaper in such town if one be printed therein, or posted in five public places at least 10 days before the same shall take Sffect.”
Subsection 7, above quoted, was originally enacted long prior to the enactment of our present laws regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors, and was entirely in consonance with then existing laws, relating to the control and license of the sale of intoxicating liquors, but it is unnecessary, at this time, to determine whether this provision of the law has been repealed by existing laws on that 'subject. It is sufficient, for the purposes of this case, to observe that, if it be assumed that authority to license, regulate, or restrain the sale of intoxicating liquors within the corporation is conferred upon incorporated towns, yet under subsection 18, above quoted, such powers can 'be exercised only by' the enactment of such by-laws, ordinances, and regulations, not repugnant to the laws of this state, as may be necessary to carry into effect the power conferred. Powers thus conferred upon municipalities can only be exercised in such manner that they shall operate uniformly upon all persons, and cannot be exercised arbitrarily in favor of one citizen and against another equally entitled to the benefit to be derived from its exercise. It is not claimed, in this case, that any
The judgment and order of the trial court are affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- INCORPORATED TOWN OF WESSINGTON v. MATEJKA
- Status
- Published