City of Bloomington v. Bourland

• Decision Date: 11 May 1891
• Citation: 27 N.E. 692,137 Ill. 534
• Parties: CITY OF BLOOMINGTON v. BOURLAND.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

137 Ill. 534

27 N.E. 692

CITY OF BLOOMINGTON

v.BOURLAND.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

May 11, 1891.

Appeal from circuit court, McLean county.

Sain Welty, for appellant.

J. E. Pollock and A. J. Barr, for appellee.

SCHOLFIELD, C. J.

This was an action for a penalty for violating a city ordinance. The case was commenced before a police magistrate, and on appeal from the judgment rendered by him to the circuit court of McLean county the following were agreed to be the facts:

The charter of the city of Bloomington confers power upon the common council ‘to license, tax, and regulate auctioneers, merchants, retailers, grocers, sample sellers, taverns, hawkers, peddlers,’ etc.; and the following ordinances were adopted by the common council pursuant thereto: ‘Be it ordained by the city council of the city of Bloomington: Section 1. That chapter 26, entitled ‘Peddlers,’ of the Revised Ordinances of the city of Bloomington, be and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: ‘Section 1. No person shall sell, or attempt to sell, any goods, articles, or things by peddling, soliciting, hawking, public outcry, or at any temporary or uninclosed stand or place of business within the city, without first obtaining a peddler's license therefor: provided, the grower of farm and garden products, including meat and poultry, may, without license, sell the same by peddling. Sec. 2. Every person soliciting, canvassing, or taking orders for books, pictures, publications, or other articles shall be deemed within the scope of this chapter, and be required to take out a peddler's license; but no license shall be required for the delivery of an article where the order therefor was taken under a license. If, however, no license was taken out by the canvassers, the article shall not be delivered without a peddler's license: provided, that regular commercial travelers employed by wholesale houses, and selling staple articles of merchandise to the merchants of the city, shall not be deemed to be a peddler within the meaning of this article.’ ‘Sec. 8. Any violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, or any failure by any person to comply with this chapter, shall subject the offender to a fine of not less than three dollars nor more than fifty dollars for each offense.’'

‘It is stipulated and agreed that the motion to dismiss the appeal in this case. be withdrawn, and that the case shall be submitted as if the appeal was well and property taken; that the defendant resides in Normal, Ill., and that shortly prior to the commencement of this suit he was acting as agent for a wholesale concern in the city of St. Louis, in the state of Missouri, and in their employ; that as such agent he was soliciting in the city of Bloomington, in the state of Illinois, orders for books published by the said concern, in St. Louis Mo.; that, while soliciting orders as aforesaid, he was arrested and fined under the city ordinances of Bloomington for doing so without a license; that in the taking of such orders he proceeded to obtain the orders by going from house to house, and that after the obtaining of such orders the books were to be shipped to him from said concern at St. Louis to be delivered. It is further stipulated that the ordinance under which the fine was had in the court below may be considered a part of this stipulation, and may be here inserted....