Watts v. Commonwealth
| Decision Date | 04 December 1907 |
| Citation | 56 S.E. 223,106 Va. 851 |
| Parties | WATTS. v. COMMONWEALTH. |
| Court | Virginia Supreme Court |
Licenses — Occupation Tax — Labor Agent —Statutes—Construction.
A person employed by a railway construction company as a day laborer was sent to a city to employ additional labor. He hired several laborers and was endeavoring to induce others to enter its service. Held, that he was not a labor agent, within Va. Code 1904, p. 2247, imposing a fine on one conducting the business of a labor agent without having first obtained a license therefor; the statute requiring a strict construction as against the state, because it imposes a tax and is intended to reach persons who for compensation conduct the business of employing laborers for others.
Appeal from Corporation Court of Danville.
Albert Watts was convicted of conducting business as a labor agent without a license, and he brings error. Reversed.
Daniel & Harper, for plaintiff In error.
The Attorney General, for the Commonwealth.
This writ of error is to a judgment of the corporation court of Danville convicting the plaintiff in error, Albert Watts, of conducting business as a labor agent in that city without a license.
The prosecution was had under section 128 of the tax bill, which reads: Appendix, Va. Code 1904, p. 2247.
The following are the agreed facts in the case: The Nave Ryan Curtis Construction Company is a corporation chartered under the laws of the sta, te of Ohio, and duly licensed to conduct its business of general contracting in this state. The company is engaged upon construction work for the Southern Railway Company's new double-track line in Pittsylvania county. Watts was employed by the company as a day laborer on its work, and rendered such service as was required of him, Including the manual labor commonly performed by that class of employes on work of similar character. The exigencies of the operation demanding additional labor, Watts was sent to Danville by his employer to secure it. He had succeeded in hiring several laborers for the company, and was endeavoring to induce others to enter its service, when he was arrested, and prosecuted and convicted of an alleged violation of section 128, supra.
It thus appears that the single question presented by the record for our determination is, whether or not the plaintiff In error was engaged in the business of a...
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