48 Ala. 291 | Ala. | 1872
The practice of taking an appeal from an order of non-suit • taken in consequence of rulings on the pleadings, has been recently condemned by this court as inadmissible under our statute. The decision on the demurrer can not be reviewed on appeal in this way. — Darden v. James, January term, 1872, and authorities there cited. There might have been a judgment final on the demurrer, if the plaintiff failed or refused to plead over, and from this judgment an appeal might have been taken to this court. The above decision necessitates the affirmance of the judgment in this case; and this opinion might end here, But the deep interest felt in the cause by the learned counsel for the appellant, and the apparent novelty of the question raised in the arguments, will serve as an excuse for a brief discussion of the whole case upon the merits.
No question is more thoroughly well settled, by a long series of decisions of this court, than that of the power of a town or city corporation in this State to license and regulate the sale of spirituous liquors within its corporate limits ; provided there is a sufficient legislative grant for this
The license, then, is a mere “ privilege,” and not a “ contract,” in the constitutional sense of this latter term. Nor can it be regarded as a “tax,” strictly speaking. This latter is a peremptory charge for the public use, which a party must pay whether he will or not, if he is able. A license is a matter of favor or election, which the party seeking to
Therefore, the judgment of the court below is affirmed.