Davis v. City of San Diego

[191]

The following opinion was prepared by the late Mr. Presiding Justice Grail and is adopted and published as the opinion of the court.

THE COURT.

This is an appeal from a judgment after the sustaining of a demurrer without leave to amend. The question is: Did the complaint state a cause of action?

The complaint alleges that the plaintiffs are engaged in the personal property loan business in San Diego; that on or about the 26th day of May, 1936, the common council of the defendant city adopted and enacted Ordinance No. 915 (new series), and that said ordinance is entitled, “An Ordinance providing for licensing and regulating the carrying on of certain professions, business, trades, callings and occupations in the City of San Diego, ’ ’ etc.; that under the ordinance it is unlawful to engage in the businesses designated therein without first having secured a license; that under said ordinance the chief of police is required to detail at least two police officers to act as license inspectors and that it is the duty of the inspectors to investigate and report on all matters of licenses applied for; that upon the contents of the report of the license inspector the chief of police may grant or deny the application; that upon demand each applicant must furnish his finger-prints and photograph to the chief of police; that personal property brokers are required by section 73 of the ordinance to pay $100 per year for a license to do business; that anyone violating the ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of $500 or imprisonment in the city or county jail for a period of six months, or both such fine and imprisonment; “8. That the said Section 73 of said Ordinance is unconstitutional, invalid and void, and in direct conflict with and repugnant to the Personal Property Brokers Act as enacted by the legislature of the State of California now in full force and effect. 9. That the said Section 73 of the City Ordinance is regulatory; that it is a reenactment of similar sections in previous ordinances; that the Common Council first enacted said section about ten years ago at the request of the personal property brokers then doing business in San Diego; that the purpose of the original ordinance was to provide police regulation to prevent irresponsible and nonresident persons from engaging in said business in