﻿DECISIONS 
  OF 
  THE 
  COURTS 
  ON 
  NONRESIDENT 
  LICENSE 
  LAWS.« 
  

  

  Several 
  cases 
  have 
  been 
  decided 
  in 
  State 
  courts 
  involving 
  directly 
  

   or 
  indirectly 
  the 
  validity 
  of 
  nonresident 
  hunting 
  licenses, 
  but 
  the 
  ques- 
  

   tion 
  has 
  not 
  yet 
  been 
  directly 
  decided 
  by 
  the 
  Supreme 
  Court 
  of 
  the 
  

   United 
  States. 
  As 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  immediate 
  prospect 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  decision 
  b 
  

   it 
  may 
  be 
  interesting 
  at 
  least 
  to 
  review 
  briefly 
  the 
  precedents 
  which 
  

   have 
  already 
  been 
  established 
  and 
  to 
  refer 
  to 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  decisions 
  of 
  

   the 
  Supreme 
  Court 
  in 
  analagous 
  cases, 
  which 
  indicate 
  to 
  some 
  extent 
  

   what 
  the 
  attitude 
  of 
  that 
  court 
  would 
  be 
  if 
  the 
  question 
  were 
  directly 
  

   before 
  it. 
  But 
  first 
  it 
  should 
  be 
  explained 
  that 
  the 
  chief 
  grounds 
  of 
  

   attack 
  on 
  the 
  constitutionality 
  of 
  nonresident 
  licenses 
  are 
  the 
  clauses 
  

   in 
  the 
  Federal 
  Constitution 
  prohibiting 
  taxes 
  or 
  duties 
  on 
  articles 
  

   exported 
  from 
  any 
  State 
  (Art. 
  I, 
  sec. 
  9), 
  guaranteeing 
  to 
  citizens 
  of 
  

   each 
  State 
  all 
  the 
  privileges 
  and 
  immunities 
  of 
  citizens 
  of 
  the 
  several 
  

   States 
  (Art. 
  IV, 
  sec. 
  2), 
  and 
  prohibiting 
  legislation 
  "which 
  shall 
  

   abridge 
  the 
  privileges 
  or 
  immunities 
  of 
  citizens 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  

   * 
  * 
  * 
  or 
  deny 
  to 
  any 
  person 
  within 
  its 
  jurisdiction 
  the 
  equal 
  

   protection 
  of 
  the 
  laws." 
  (Amend. 
  XIV.) 
  

  

  While 
  nonresident 
  license 
  laws 
  have 
  been 
  declared 
  void 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  

   cases, 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  declared 
  by 
  inferior 
  courts 
  or 
  on 
  technical 
  

   grounds 
  and 
  not 
  by 
  the 
  highest 
  courts 
  or 
  on 
  the 
  merits 
  of 
  the 
  ques- 
  

   tion. 
  In 
  1886 
  the 
  circuit 
  court 
  of 
  Craighead 
  Countj 
  T 
  , 
  Ark., 
  declared 
  

   the 
  Arkansas 
  act 
  of 
  1875 
  unconstitutional 
  (Am. 
  Field, 
  XXVII, 
  p. 
  49, 
  

   Jan. 
  15, 
  1887). 
  In 
  April, 
  1887, 
  the 
  circuit 
  court 
  of 
  Poinsett 
  County, 
  . 
  

   Ark., 
  held 
  the 
  same 
  act 
  unconstitutional, 
  and 
  as 
  a 
  consequence 
  judg- 
  

   ment 
  was 
  rendered 
  against 
  the 
  sheriff 
  of 
  the 
  county 
  for 
  $10 
  and 
  costs 
  

   in 
  each 
  of 
  18 
  cases 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  collected 
  $10 
  license 
  fees 
  from 
  

   nonresidents. 
  (Am. 
  Field, 
  XXVIII, 
  pp. 
  3-4, 
  July 
  2, 
  1887.) 
  In 
  

   1901 
  the 
  superior 
  court 
  of 
  Spokane 
  County, 
  Wash., 
  declared 
  the 
  

   Washington 
  law 
  unconstitutional 
  because 
  it 
  discriminated 
  in 
  not 
  re- 
  

   quiring 
  boys 
  under 
  16 
  years 
  of 
  age 
  to 
  be 
  licensed, 
  and 
  in 
  1903 
  declared 
  

   a 
  subsequent 
  nonresident 
  license 
  law 
  void 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  a 
  defect 
  in 
  the 
  

   title. 
  (Field 
  and 
  Stream, 
  VIII, 
  p. 
  501, 
  Oct., 
  1903.) 
  None 
  of 
  these 
  

  

  «See 
  also 
  article 
  on 
  'Xonresident 
  Licenses,' 
  by 
  William 
  A. 
  Talcott, 
  jr., 
  in 
  Forest 
  

   and 
  Stream, 
  L, 
  pp. 
  205-206, 
  March 
  12, 
  1898. 
  

  

  & 
  In 
  December, 
  1902, 
  the 
  'American 
  Field' 
  started 
  a 
  fund 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  defray- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  costs 
  of 
  carrying 
  a 
  test 
  case 
  to 
  the 
  Supreme 
  Court, 
  but 
  during 
  the 
  first 
  eight 
  

   months 
  collected 
  only 
  about 
  $160. 
  (Am. 
  Field, 
  LVIII, 
  pp. 
  593,597, 
  1902; 
  LX, 
  p. 
  

   145, 
  1903. 
  ) 
  

   46 
  

  

  