Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 6.djvu/571

 ALLEKTOK V. ellTC OF CHICAGO. 559 �that these municipal alithorities are not'reotricted as to the means that they shall employ to regnlate the business ; and various authorities are cited' by the court iti support of the view which they take, and they repeat the ruling -which had been previously made, that a license was not, in the consti- tutional sense of the term, a tai. �The supreme court miist also have considered and passed upon a question which has been discussed in this case, namely, whether of not the aot tvhich gave the authority to the city to license was a general law under the constitution of this state; and they held that it was, a-nd that it was in- tended to apply to aU cities which might adbpt it. It is true that was a case of licensing a business which was generally admitted to be injurious in its character to those near the place where it was carried on ; but it was a question of power, and the point in controversy was whether the city of Chicago had the right to exercise the power of licensing. The license fee demanded in that case was $100. It seems to me that the question involved in this case arose siibstantially in that, and it was deeided by the supreme court of the state that it was a valid exercise of the power to regulate a particulaf business. That is also the view taken by the supreme court of Pennsylvania in the cases referfed to. In view of these decisions, and of several decisions of the supreme court of the United States within the last few years, (Munn v. Itlinois, 94 U. S. 113, and others,) I think the weight of authority is in favor of regarding this as a police regulation. �One of the difficulties I have had with the case has been whether it ought not to be regarded as a tax for revenue un- der the form of a license. It may be conceded that the argu- ment is strong for treating it as a revenue measure; but, as 1 before stated, there are some objections which I consider very weighity, and which would prevent nie at this time from placing the decision on that ground.. limay be adiiiitted that, viewing it as a piolice regulation reqtlirihg the paynieiit of a fee for the license, in amount it goes to the very verge of the exercise of police power; but as other courts have heid that such a tax did not e'xce'ad that limit,' i cannot hold that ��� �