Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1939 )

March 16, 1959
Hcnorable Qeo.
Comptroller of ;;b% % ara
oounts
Aus tin, Texaa
Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-376
Re$ What~ is the zWaning of the word
?oheirgen as used in Artlole
1047f. R.C.S.?
Our attention is dlreated to Article 7047P (a), Revised civil
Statutee, .~ rhloh reads as fioIlora:
Qvery person, firm, or corporation oondtruting a
theatre, place of amusement, or any.buainess enterprise
in oonneotioin rith the operation of which a prize in
the form of money or eomething of value la offered or
given to one or more. patrons of such theatre, place of
amusement, or ~buslnesS enterprise, and not given to all
patrons~ thereof paying the same oharge ~for any aertati
servioe, commodity, or entertainment, shall make a
verified monthly report op the twenty-fifth day of eaoh
month of the Comptroller of Public Aooounta of the State
of Texas, ahonIng the’amount of maney 80 given in prizes,
and the value of all rieea or awards no given in
coMection with suoh t usin~ss during the next preceding
month.”
iirticle 7087f (b) then provides for a 20$ tax on hoh priaes.
Since, under the express terms of Article 7047f, (a), no tax
is due where the person reoeiving the priae ~has paid a oharge
additional to that paid by other patrons, It beoomes necessary
in every instanae to asoertaln whether auah adalt,ional acharge”
ha8 been paid within the meaning of the statute. - .-
In order to avoid the neoeaalty of requesting our opinion on
each individual oaee as it arises; you request our oplnlon as
to the meaning of the word “oharge” as ueed in the foregoing
Article.
The word under ooneideratlon haa many different meanings.
There 5s the oharge of the oourt. There was Piokettre famoue
oharge, and that of the Light Brigade. A man bequeaths a pieoe
Hon. Gee. H. Sheppard, March 16, 1939, Page 2 , O-372
of Iana to a daughter, but there is a charge against lt ln
Savor of a son. & jailer has oharge of a group of oltlzens
against each of whom is a serious charge brought by the
grand jury. One man Is charged with the duty of administering
to another a charge of eleotrloity that will eliminate the
vlotlm as a oharge upon society. There follows a burial
charge.
.-
We quote from Reese v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 6 L.R.A. 529
Pa., 8s~ S allows :
“‘Charget Is a word of very general and varied use.
Vebster glves It thirteen different meanings, none OS
which, however, expressee the exact aense in wblch it
Is used ln this oharger. The great dictionary of the
Phllologlcal Society, now ln course of publication, gives
it twenty separate prLnolpal definitions, besides a
nearly equal number of subordinate variations of meaning.
OS these definitions one (10 b) la: ‘The price required
or demanded for servloe rendered, or (less usually) for
goods supplied,’ and this expresses accurately the
sense of the word in the present case. The essenoe of the
meaning 1s that It la something requlred, exacted or
taken from the traveler as compensation for the service
rendered, and, of oourse, something taken permanently,
not taken temporarily and returned.”
Slnoe the above opinion, Webster has expanded his vooabularly
and his ‘Hew International gives the word twenty three
dlSferent meanings, of whloh Rumber Twelve la about the
same as the definition embodied ln the above ease.
In general usage the word %hargen.has one meaning which Is
about the same as soonsideratlono.(When such last mentioned
word 1s used ln connection with oontraots). We think the
word nconslderatlonn could have been uaed.ln the statute
here,.lnvolved ‘without any ohange in meaning.
The word as 80 used might include money, or any other artlole
of value. It mlght include skilled or unskilled labor, a
poem, essay~or motto. It oould be a painting or other piece
of art. In short, anything of value wuld suffioe. On the
other hand, the delivery of something of no value or the
performanoe of merely a peri’unotory aot, such as signing a
name to a register lnvol.vlng no obligation, would not be
sufl?lclent. It must be a bona Side oonslderatlon passing
the reoelver to the given of the prlae, a conslderatlon not
c . 4
! )
Hon. Gee. H. Sheppard, Msroh 16, 1939, Page 3, 0-3'19
reoelved by the giver from other patbans of his business.
Yours very ktwly
I``ORLWXGE?ERALOFTEXJIS
a/ Glem R. kria
BY Glenn R. Lewis
&sslatant
GIiL:W/cg
hppR6vE,
a/ Gerald C. Mann
ATTORNEYGBTERAL OF TEXAS
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