Addison v. Saulnier

Citations

• 19 Cal. 82

Syllabus

<p>The Act of May 3d, 1852, entitled “An Act to provide for the appointment of a Gauger for the Port of San Francisco,” is constitutional. It does not violate section eleven, article one of the Constitution, requiring all laws of a general nature to have a uniform operation, because it is not a general, but a special law.</p> <p>Nor does the act violate section thirteen of article two of the Constitution, which says taxation shall be equal and uniform, because the percentage allowed the Gauger is not a tax within the Constitution, but is a mere fee to a public officer in the exercise of a police power.</p> <p>Nor is the act unconstitutional as imposing duties on imposts by State authority, or as interfering with the Federal Government in its regulation of commerce, because the State has a right to pass inspection laws, and this involves the power of enforcing such laws by adequate provisions to pay the officers inspecting the goods.</p>