134 
Urdahl—Historical Survey of Fee Systems. 
not only to regulate the sale of liquor, 1 but also for permission 
to carry on various other occupations. Maryland required 
licenses to be taken by keepers of cook-shops or taverns, peddlers, 
and others. The fees were collected partly for regulation but 
largely for revenue. An attempt to vary the size of the fee ac¬ 
cording to the amount of stock 2 was inaugurated as early as 
1828. This same idea was applied roughly to the charges for 
peddlers’ licenses in New Jersey, in that a peddler on foot was 
required to pay only eight dollars, while one with a horse was 
charged fifteen dollars. 3 Pennsylvania was almost the first to 
extend her license system so as to include a very large number 
of industries. Brokers of all kinds, venders of foreign and do¬ 
mestic merchandise, sample agents, and many others were 
brought under its requirements. 4 Pursuits in which fraud was 
most likely to be practiced, were charged a higher license fee 
than others. But there is no uniformity in the different states 
in this respect. Each law was passed usually under pressure of 
circumstances. 5 The conditions of one state brought the abuses 
of one pursuit to light, while another at the same time felt the 
need of regulating a different occupation. 
Shows, theaters, and circuses had become of far greater im¬ 
portance than at any previous period. This is manifested by 
the number of acts which regulate and license these amuse¬ 
ments, 6 also by the fact that the license fee is slowly increasing 
1 Liquor license in Maryland from twelve to fifty dollars. Laws , 1832, 
Ch. 26. 
2 Laws, Ind., 1828, Ch. 85. 
3 Statutes, N. J., 1816. 
4 Law, Penn., 1830, p. 387. Much of this later license legislation was 
unquestionably directed toward raising revenue, and was in essence taxa¬ 
tion; but its importance in this connection lies in the fact that it originated 
as pure license fees. During the period under consideration, many of the 
license charges possessed all the characteristics of pure fees. The license 
and business taxes which became very common in the South, were radi¬ 
cally different, although they too originated, indirectly at least, in license 
fees. 
6 In some states clock-peddlers were charged no license fee, while in Penn¬ 
sylvania thirty dollars was charged for each. Ibid., p. 39. 
6 Statutes, N. H., 1850, Ch. 971; Md., 1841, Ch. 194; Penn., 1850, p. 147. 
