Dragich v. County of Los Angeles

[398]

SPENCE, J.

Two separate actions were brought to recover taxes alleged to have been illegally collected. Said actions were consolidated for the purpose of trial and the trial resulted in judgments in favor of plaintiffs. Defendant appeals from said judgments and the appeals are presented on one set of briefs.

There is no dispute concerning the facts and the sole question involved is whether the fishing boats owned by the plaintiffs were exempt from taxation under the provisions of article XIII, section 4, of the Constitution. Said section reads as follows: “All vessels of more than fifty (50) tons burden registered at any port in this State and engaged in the transportation of freight or passengers shall be exempt from taxation except for State purposes. ...” Said section is the same in substance as the original section 4a which was adopted in 1914 and which was effective by its terms only until 1935. The present section was adopted in 1932 and it continued the same exemption until 1955. The background of said section is discussed in the briefs, but we need only call attention to the fact that the original section was adopted by the people in November, 1914, which was two years after the passage of the Panama Canal Act of 1912 and about two months after the opening to commerce of the Panama Canal. It is conceded that there were no fifty-ton fishing boats in California in 191,4 and that fishing boats of that size first appeared here several years later.

The fishing boats of the plaintiffs were of the type known as “purse seiners” and they were enrolled and licensed at San Pedro. Each was over the specified tonnage. Said boats were engaged in fishing and were not engaged in any other business. They would leave San Pedro for various places where schools of fish might be found. After making their catches by means of the purse-seine nets, they would return to San Pedro or some other port and sell said catches.

It is appellant’s contention that the fishing boats of respondents were not exempt as they were neither “registered” nor “engaged in the transportation of freight or passengers” within the meaning of the above-quoted section. In support of the proposition that respondents’ boats were not “registered”, appellant cites numerous authorities which discuss the distinction between “registered” vessels on the one hand and “enrolled and licensed” vessels on the other