1955-106.

Who may be

come auctioneers

To execute bond, etc.

SEC. 139. Any citizen of the State may become an autioneer for the parish in which he is a qualified voter, and be authorized to sell any real or personal property at public auction, upon giving bond and security, according to law, and taking the oath prescribed by law.

SEC. 140. Before entering on the discharge of his duties, he shall execute his bond according to law, with good and solvent securities, conditioned for the faithful performance of all the duties required by law, towards all persons who may employ him as auctioneer, and for the prompt payment of the taxes or commissions payable to the State, and of all the sums which he shall receive in his official capacity belonging to other persons.

SEC. 141. The bonds to be given shall be in the following Amount of bond amounts: Ten thousand dollars for the city and parish of Orleans, and two thousand dollars for the other parishes of the State. SEC. 142. Every auctioneer shall take out an annual license from To take out an- the Auditor of Public Accounts authorizing him to do and perform, all the business properly belonging to an auctioneer.

nual license.

SEC. 143. No person shall act as an auctioneer who is indebted No defaulter to to the State or any municipal corporation, for any tax as an auctioneer, or any license or commission which he has neglected to pay after final judgment rendered against him therefor.

be auctioncor.

authority.

SEC. 144. No other person than an auctioneer or a civil officer Penalty for actacting under the authority of some court of the United States or of ing without this State, or the legal representative of a succession of minors, curators of interdicted persons, syndics of insolvents, or the sheriff, when there is no auctioneer in the parish, shall exercise the trade or business of an auctioneer, by selling or offering for sale at auction, any property, real or personal, within this State, under penalty of five hundred dollars for each offense, one half of the penalty for the informer when recovered.

on property sold by auctioneers.

SEC. 145. All property, rights or credits, which shall be sold at Tax to be paid public auction, or at private sale by any auctioneer (except such as are or may be exempted by law) shall be subject to a duty of onehalf of one per centum of the value or price at which it shall be sold, to be paid by the person who shall sell the same, to be subject each and every time it shall be stricken off, to duties at the above rates.

paying amount

due the State,

etc.

SEC. 146. Any auctioneer who shall neglect to pay into the State Penalty for not treasury the duties required by law upon auction sales made by him, shall forfeit his license, and in case he refuses to return the same, the Auditor of Public Accounts shall give public notice in the official gazette of the cause for which the license of such auctioneer has been forfeited, and that his license has been withdrawn from him. SEC. 147. Every auctioneer in the city of New Orleans shall make out in writing a quarterly account, dated on the last days March, June, September and December, and shall therein state minutely and particularly:

of

First. The sums for which any goods or effects shall have been sold at every auction held by him from the date of his last quarterly account.

Second.-The days on which sales were made, and the amount of each day's sale.

of

Third. The amount of all private sales made by himself or any his partners in commission, and the days on which such sales were made.

Fourth. The amount of duties chargeable on all sales, public or private, mentioned in the account.

the

SEC. 148. The auctioneers throughout the State, those in parish of Orleans excepted, shall settle their accounts with the Treasurer annually.

Quarterly ac

count to be rendered by auctioneers of New Orleans

and parish of Jefferson.

tioneers in the country to be settled annually

Accounts of auc

the accounts of

SEC. 149. Every such account, within ten days after the day on which it is dated, shall be exhibited to the Auditor of Public Anditor to audit Accounts, who is required to audit in the city of New Orleans the auctioneers. accounts of any auctioneer of that parish, and charge a fee of five His fees for so dollars therefor, and every auctioneer exhibiting an account shall doing. take the following oath before the Auditor, and auctioneers of the rest of the State shall take it before any justice of the peace of the parish in which they are authorized to exercise their functions:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that the account exhibited by me, and to which I have subscribed my name, contains a just and Oath. true account of all property of every description, sold or struck off at public sale, or sold by me at private sale on commission, whether subject to duty or not, and the day on which the same was respectively sold; that I have examined the entry of all sales mentioned in said account, in the book kept by me for that purpose, and fully believe this account to be in all respects correct."

Payment to be made into the treasury.

Auctioneers

who have made no sales to make

an affidavit to that effect.

1859-26.

SEC. 150. Such oath shall be reduced to writing, be indorsed on the account, and be subscribed by the auctioneer taking it; and every auctioneer of the parish of Orleans, within ten days after he shall have exhibited his account as aforesaid, shall pay for the use of the State, into the treasury thereof, the duties accrued on the sales mentioned in the account.

SEC. 151. Every auctioneer who, within the period limited for his accounting, shall have made no sales, public or private, of any property, real or personal, liable to auction duties, shall make and subscribe an affidavit of those facts before the Auditor or a justice of the peace.

SEC. 152. In addition to the number of days allowed by the law, within which auctioneers are required to render their accounts and Time allowed to make payment of commissions to the Treasurer, they shall be entitled to one day for every twenty miles of distance from the seat of government to the parish site of their respective parishes.

render their

accounts.

1855-106.

Their duty

when offering jewelry.

Their duty when selling cutlery.

Right of purchaser to return jewelry, plate and watches.

Penalty for mock auctions and mock bidders.

SEC. 153. It shall be the duty of every auctioneer, who shall offer for sale jewelry of any kind or description, to announce to the persons present, in a loud voice, whether the same be gold, silver or base metal, before proceeding to sell the same; also, whether the article offered is to be sold by the lot or by the piece, and, if by the piece, the number of pieces. Every auctioneer who shall offer for sale any jewelry without first making such announcement, shall, on conviction thereof, pay a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, nor less than fifty dollars, for each offense, and said sale shall not be binding on the bidder.

SEC. 154. It shall be the duty of every auctioneer, before he shall proceed to sell any cutlery, whether in a box or on a card, to state whether it is to be sold by the piece or in gross, and, if by the piece, the number of pieces offered for sale; and every auctioneer who shall neglect or refuse to announce the same, shall pay a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, nor less than fifty dollars, and the sale shall not be binding on the purchaser.

SEC. 155. The purchaser at an auction sale of any watch, plate or jewelry, shall have the right to return it to the auctioneer at any time within twenty hours from the day of the sale, if the watch, plate or jewelry be not of the quality represented by him, and the auctioneer shall return to the purchaser the price of the article; should he refuse to do so, he shall forfeit his license and be liable to a fine of five hundred dollars..

SEC. 156. Any auctioneer who shall exhibit and offer for sale at auction article setting forth its value and character, and through any the aid of mock bidders induce its purchase by a real bidder, and who shall afterwards substitute any article in lieu of that offered to and purchased by the bidder, shall, on conviction thereof, be fined and imprisoned at the discretion of the court, and any mock bidder at any auction sale so made shall suffer the like penalty.

SEC. 157. It shall not be lawful for any person acting as aucNot to purchase tioneer to purchase, either directly or indirectly, any property at a at any sale made sale made by him, and any such sale shall be null and void.

by him.

1867-101.

Auctioneers to appoint deput.es.

SEC. 158. Auctioneers shall make in person, or by agents appointed by them, all sales advertised by them, provided that no auctioneer shall have the privilege of appointing more than one such deputy or agent, except in the parish of Orleans, where the auctioneers shall each have the privilege of appointing two such

Sureties to be

rial act.

deputies or agents; that every agent of said auctioneers shall be constituted such by power of attorney passed before a notary public of the parish in which said auctioneers exercise their functions; and to said notarial act the surety or sureties of said auctioneer shall parties to notabe parties, and shall give his or their consent to the appointment of said agent or agents, which said consent shall prevent the said sureties from pleading any exemption from said responsibility on the bond of said auctioneer in consequence of any appointment made under the provisions of this act.

New Orleans not

than one store

for dry goods

and one for

groceries.

SEC. 159. No auctioneer in the city of New Orleans shall, at the same time, have more than one house or store for the purpose of 1855-106. holding his auction of dry goods sales, and one for the purpose of Auctioneers in holding his grocery sales. He may sell at different exchanges in the to have more city or at private stores, when called upon to do so by the owners, any kind of movable or immovable property. He may sell in the public streets or on the levee all goods sold in original packages, as imported household furniture, and such bulky articles as are usually sold at such places. And every auctioneer, on the first day of November of each year, shall designate, in a writing signed by him, such house or store, and shall also name therein the partner, if any, engaged with him in business, and shall deposit the writing or declaration with the Auditor.

sions.

SEC. 160. No auctioneer shall demand or receive a higher compensation for his services than a commission of two and a half per Their commis-" cent. on the amount of any sale, public or private, made by him; and on sales of succession property, of property belonging to minors, or in which they may be interested, and on property surrendered by insolvents made pursuant to an order or decree of any court of the State, by the sheriff or an auctioneer, upon all sums under twenty-five hundred dollars one per cent., and on all sums over that amount one-half of one per cent. In all sales made by the representatives of a succession or syndic of an insolvency they shall charge no commission.

sales of stock,

SEC. 161. The State duty or tax upon all sales by public auction 1859–166. of stocks of banks or incorporated companies, bonds of the State, State tax on bonds of the city of New Orleans, or bonds of incorporated com- etc., at public panies or insurance scrip of any kind, shall be one-quarter of one auction. per cent.

quire the auc

leans to keep

SEC. 162. It shall also be the duty of the Auditor to require all auctioneers in the city of New Orleans to keep in a book, to be 1835-125. provided at their expense, and to be by the said Auditor numbered Auditor to refrom the first to the last page, a correct and true account of all sales toneers of the made by them from day to day, showing the date of each sale, the city of New Or name of the seller and buyer, and the amount of the sale; to call accounts of as often as he may deem proper on any auctioneer and require the sales in a book production of any books or accounts kept by him in the ordinary course of his business as such; to examine and compare with the books the account to be rendered by all auctioneers, and certify the same under his hand; to copy into a book to be kept by him, the account so examined, and mention the day on which it was presented.

bonds shall be

SEC. 163. Hereafter all bonds required under existing laws to be 1869–43. given by auctioneers, shall be for the term of two years from the Auctioneers' date they may be approved by the proper officer to approve such for the term of bonds; and such bonds shall not affect any sureties thereon, except two years.

Expiration of prior bonds.

for acts of the principal during the time for which such bonds were executed.

SEC. 164. Within twenty days after the passage of this act in the parish of Orleans, and within sixty days after the passage of this act in the other parishes of this State, all auctioneers' bonds at present in force shall be deemed to expire, and the sureties thereon shall not be liable on any such bonds for any act of the principal in said bonds, after the date of their expiration as provided by this act.

1855-76.

Proces verbal of

manner of

SEC. 165. In all auction sales made by sheriffs, auctioneers or others authorized to sell at public auction, which are required by sale to state the law to be preceded by advertisement, it shall be the duty of the officer making the sale, in his proces verbal or act of sale, to state the manner, time and place of making such advertisements; which statement, when so made, shall be proof of the manner, time and place of making the advertisement.

making advertisements.

The sale to be

prima facie evi

dence that the advertisements

were regularly

made.

Liability of auc

SEC. 166. When any question shall arise out of any public sale made by any person authorized to sell at public auction, and which sale was required by law to be preceded by advertisements, the sale being proved, it shall be prima facie evidence that the legal advertisements were regularly made.

SEC. 167. If any person authorized by law to sell at public tioneer for not auction shall fail to advertise as required by law, he shall be personally liable for all damages which may result therefrom.

making the advertisements.

SEC. 168. All informalities connected with or growing out of any All informalities public sale; made by any person authorized to sell at public auction, shall be prescribed against by those claiming under such sale, after the lapse of five years from the time of making it, whether against minors, married women, or interdicted persons.

prescribed in five years.

Property to be adjudicated to the highest bidder.

SEC. 169. All property, real and personal, sold at auction, shall in all cases be struck off to the highest bidder, except such as may be limited, which shall be announced by the auctioneer before the bidding commences; and when the owner, or any person employed by him, shall be such bidder, they shall be subject to the same duties as if struck off to any other person.