38 F. 736 | N.D. Iowa | 1889
The indictment in this cause charged the defendant with a violation of section 3242 of the Revised Statutes, in that he was carrying on the business of a retail liquor dealer at Sioux City,' Iowa, without
In support of the motion for now trial it is urged that by the use of the words “ retail ” and “ wholesale ” in the statute it is made necessary that to violate the statute a person must sell the liquor in the sense that he himself must be the owner thereof, so that, when delivery is made, the title passes to the purchaser from the one actually delivering the property. ]>y this construction of the statute it would be limited in application to eases wherein the-party was engaged in selling liquor-of which he was the owner. The statute does not impose a tax upon sales made, but upon a business of a certain character. If one is a retail dealer in liquors, he is liable to the tax. It is the dealing in liquors that constitutes the taxable business, and certainly one who engages in the business of procuring from the manufacturers beer by the case, and disposing of it by the bottle, is dealing in liquors. It can make no difference in this regard if it were true that the customers left their orders for specific quantities, before