State v. . YearbyState v. . Yearby
- Reporters:
- Before:
- Smith
Thе defendant is charged with a violation! of sections 12 аnd 32, schedule B, of the act of March 14th,. 1879, entitled “ an aсt to raise revenue,” in failing to take out license tо practice the profession of a butcher, and the jury render a special verdict,‘the material fаcts of which, are found as-follows :
The defendant betwеen the first days of January and July of the year 1879 in the city of Raleigh carried on. the business of a butcher, and was engаged in buying oxen,, steers, cows; hogs and sheep, which he slaughtered, cut up- and sold in pieces to various purсhasers at his stall, without-having any license or paying any tax therefor. Upon this finding the court adjudged the defendant not guilty and the-solicitor appealed.
In the recent case of State v. Chadbourn, 80 N. C., 479, we had oсcasion to examine and construe a similar provision, in the revenue act of March 10th, 1877. The defendants in *562 thаt case were proprietors of a steam sаw and planing mill, and their business was to buy timber, and by sawing and planing, convert it into lumber and boards which they sold in the market. It was hеld that their calling was not within the purview of the act and they were not liable to the tax. The occupation of ,a butcher who purchases live animals suitable for food, and, after slaughtering and cutting them, •sells in piecеs at his stall, is not dissimilar. He does not buy and sell the same article and in the same condition as a mere trader. He buys a cow, a hog, or a sheep; he sells beef, pork or mutton. His labor and skill have been employed in making the change,-and enhance the price. The reasons •assignеd for the exemption of the manufacturer of boards apply with equal force to the butcher. There is however .■some difference in the words used in the corrеsponding sections of ithe revenue laws. In plaee of the expression, “and •every other -trader who, as prinсipal or agent, carries on the ‘business of buying or selling goоds, wares or merchandise,” ■used in the former act, the lаtter substitutes “ and every ■other dealer who shall buy and sell goods, wares or merchandise,’’and while, in the interpretation of the sectiоn, the ■opinion lays-stress upon the word trader, that substituted in ■its place, and of the same import, as defined by Worcester, and with the like associations, must be allowed thе same force and effect. If the general assembly had intended to make the section more comprehensive, language more direct .and clear would have been employed to convey their meaning. On the contrary by coupling the two acts of buying ■and selling, as desсriptive of the dealer to be taxed, instead of disjoining them, as before when applied to the trader in the aсt of 1877, it must be inferred that the purpose was to render the law more explicit, and in conformity with the construction put upon it. We must therefore adhere to our former decision and declare the butcher also exempt from 4hefax imposed in section 12 of schedule B.
No error. Affirmed.