75 N.W. 403 (Wis. 1898), State v. Bayne

• Citation: 75 N.W. 403, 100 Wis. 35
• Opinion Judge: CASSODAY, C. J.
• Party Name: THE STATE v. BAYNE
• Attorney: The Attorney General, for the plaintiff. [No appearance for the defendant.]
• Judge Panel: JOHN B. CASSODAY, C. J. CHARLES V. BARDEEN, J., no opinion.
• Case Date: May 24, 1898
• Court: Supreme Court of Wisconsin

Page 403

75 N.W. 403 (Wis. 1898)

100 Wis. 35

THE STATE

v.

BAYNE

Supreme Court of Wisconsin

May 24, 1898

Argued: May 9, 1898

REPORTED from the circuit court for Marathon county: CHAS. V. BARDEEN, Circuit Judge.

Affirmed in part.

The Attorney General, for the plaintiff.

[No appearance for the defendant.]

JOHN B. CASSODAY, C. J. CHARLES V. BARDEEN, J., no opinion.

OPINION

[100 Wis. 36] CASSODAY, C. J.

It appears from the record that July 6, 1897, the town board of the town of Spencer granted to one Peter J. Backes a license, under the law, to vend and sell liquors in said town for one year, he paying therefor the amount of license money required and filing the requisite bond; that about the 1st of August of that year the defendant rented the saloon building of Backes, and applied to the town board to transfer to him the license so issued to Backes; that August 10, 1897, the town board, at a special meeting, voted to transfer the license of Backes to the defendant upon his filing a bond; that such bond was filed and approved, and thereupon the town clerk wrote across the back of the license issued to Backes a transfer of the same to the defendant; that no money was paid to the town by the defendant, nor was any license issued to him in fact; that the defendant thereupon opened his saloon, and carried on the business of selling liquor, claiming to act under the transfer to him of the Backes license.

The defendant was arrested upon a warrant issued by a justice of the peace, charging him with having, on September 14, 1897, sold, dealt, and trafficked in spirituous and malt liquors, without first having procured a license therefor according to law. A trial of the action was had according to law, and the defendant was found guilty, and fined, and thereafter took an appeal to the circuit court. The action [100 Wis. 37] was brought to trial in the circuit court at the November term thereof for 1897, upon such complaint, and the defendant was found guilty upon the undisputed facts stated. It was admitted on the trial that it was the custom of a great many towns in northern Wisconsin to permit the transfer of licenses issued for the sale of malt and intoxicating liquors in the manner this was transferred, and that the defendant in this action acted in good faith and not with intent to evade the requirements of the law.

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