City of Kansas v. Overton

Citations

• 68 Kan. 560
• 75 P. 549
• 1904 Kan. LEXIS 145

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Cities and City Oeeicers — Subject of Ordinance. A city ordinance imposing a license-tax cannot be regarded as embracing two subjects because it operates to regulate a business as well as to provide public revenue.</p> <p>2. - Publication of Ordinances. Section 855, General Statutes of 1901, which provides that ordinances shall be published in a newspaper within the city, is the controlling statute as to the publication of ordinances in cities of the first class, and section 3893, General Statutes of 1901, regulating the printing of legal notices, does not apply.</p> <p>3. -- Newspaper Defined. A weekly publication, printed and circulated in a city, containing the current news and matters of general interest, as well as the local happenings, is a newspaper, within the meaning of the statute requiring the publication of city ordinances, although its circulation may be very limited.</p> <p>4. License— Tax on Hucksters and Hawkers Valid. An ordinance requiring hucksters or hawkers to pay a license of thirty-five dollars for each six months, and requiring a helper or assistant of such huckster or hawker to pay a license of fifteen dollars for the same time, is not so unjust or unreasonable in its operation as to be invalid.</p> <p>5. —-- Amount of License-tax a Question for the City. The expense of inspection and regulation, the amount of the city indebtedness and the necessary cost of carrying on the municipal government enter into the question as to whether a license-tax is reasonable and just, and these are considerations for the municipal authorities rather than for the courts.</p> <p>6. - Ordinance not Invalid Because of Exemption. A city ordinance imposing a license-tax on hucksters or hawkers is not invalid because it exempts from its operation those who are personally selling the products of their own or leased lands.</p>