State v. Case

• Decision Date: 01 February 1918
• Docket Number: No. 88.,88.
• Citation: 103 A. 569,132 Md. 269
• Parties: STATE v. CASE.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

103 A. 569

132 Md. 269

STATE

v. CASE.

No. 88.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Feb. 1, 1918.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Carroll County; Wm. H. Forsythe, Jr., Judge.

Paul Case was indicted for carrying on the business of construction without a license. From a judgment sustaining defendant's demurrer to the indictment, the State appeals. Reversed and remanded.

Argued before BOYD, C. J., and BRISCOE, BURKE, THOMAS, URNER, STOCKBRIDGE, and CONSTABLE, JJ.

Philip B. Perlman, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Albert C. Ritchie, Atty. Gen. (William L. Seabrook, States Atty., of Westminster, on the brief), for the State. F. Neal Parke, of Westminster (James A. C. Bond, of Westminster, on the brief), for appellee.

CONSTABLE, J. The appellee, a resident builder of Carroll county, was indicted under section 184 of chapter 704 of the Acts of 1916, for carrying on the business of construction without having first taken out a license. He demurred to the indictment, which the lower court sustained, and from the judgment entered the state appealed.

The act is a lengthy one, and we will set out only such portions of it as are applicable for this decision:

"An act to repeal and re-enact with amendments section 59 of article 56 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, title 'Licenses,' subtitle 'Traders,' and also sections 108, 109, 110 and 111 of said article 56. title 'Licenses,' subtitle 'Shows and Theatrical Exhibitions,' and to add twenty-five additional sections to said article 56 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, to follow section 163, and to be known as sections 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187 and 188, said new sections providing for the licensing of detective agencies and agents, moving picture shows and carnivals, garages, cash registers, and adding machines, typewriting machines, commercial, mercantile and mutual protective agencies, intelligence offices and employment agencies, laundries, junk dealers, trading stamp companies, wholesale dealers in farm machinery, soda water fountains, livery stables, bowling saloons, storage warehouses, check rooms, cleaning, dyeing and pressing companies, shocshining parlors and hat cleaning establishments, restaurants or eating places, plumbers and gas fitters, construction firms or companies, nonresident wholesale tobacco dealers and nonresident wholesale liquor dealers. "Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, that section 59 of article 56 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, title 'licenses,' subtitle 'Traders,' and also sections 108, 109, 110 and 111 of said article 56, title 'Licenses,' subtitle 'Shows and Theatrical Exhibitions,' be and the same are hereby repealed and re-enacted with amendments, and that twenty-five additional sections are hereby added to said article 56 to follow section 163. and to be known as sections 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175. 176, 177, 178, 179. 180, 181, 182, 183. 184, 185, 186. 187 and 188. said new sections providing for the licensing of detective agencies and agents, moving picture-shows and carnivals, garages, cash registers and adding machines, typewriting machines, commercial, mercantile and mutual protective agencies, intelligence offices and employment- agencies, laundries, junk dealers, trading stamp companies, wholesale dealers in farm machinery, soda water fountains, livery stables, bowling saloons, storage warehouses, check rooms, cleaning, dyeing and pressing companies, shoeshining parlors and hat cleaning establishments, restaurants or eating places, plumbers and gas fitters, construction firms or companies, nonresident wholesale tobacco dealers and nonresident wholesale liquor dealers, said amended sections and new sections to read as follows:

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"Construction Firms or Companies.

"'184. Any person, firm or corporation accepting orders or contracts for doing any work on or in any building or structure, requiring the use of paint, stone, brick, mortar, wood, cement, structural iron or steel, sheet iron, galvanized iron, metallic piping, tin, lead, electric wiring or other metal, or any other building, material, or who shall accept contracts to do any paving or curbing on sidewalks or streets, public or private property, using asphalt, brick, stone, cement, wood or any composition, or who shall accept an order for or contract to excavate earth, * * * or other material for foundations or any other purpose, or who shall accept an order or contract to construct any sewer of stone, brick, terracotta, or other material, shall be deemed to be carrying on the business of construction.

"'Each foreign construction company, firm or person with its chief office outside of this state, operating or doing business in this state, directly or by agent, or by subletting contract, shall before doing so, take out a license therefor and pay an annual license fee of $50.00 if operating in the city of Baltimore, and the like amount of $50.00 in each county of this state in which said person, firm or corporation shall operate.

"'Each resident person, firm or domestic construction company and each foreign construction company, having its chief office in this state, who shall carry on the business of construction as mentioned in this section, shall before doing so, first take out a license therefor and pay an annual license fee of $10.00, if operating in the city of Baltimore, and the like amount of $10.00, if operating in each county of this state in which said person, firm or domestic corporation shall operate; provided, however, this section shall not apply to persons, firms or corporations doing a construction business the gross amount of whose orders accepted and executed does not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000...