In Re Application of Blanc

The petitioners were arrested and are detained upon a warrant issued by the municipal court pursuant to a complaint charging them with conducting, operating, and carrying on “a certain plan and scheme and system of merchandising by means of an endless chain for the sale of silk hosiery and ladies’ underwear and men’s furnishing, . . . without first having obtained from the Board of Police Commissioners of the City of Los Angeles a permit so to do.” It is admitted that the acts complained of were contrary to the provisions of a municipal ordinance regularly adopted and approved by the properly constituted authorities, and that it is still in force.

The ordinance in controversy, and under which the petitioners were sought to be prosecuted, is known as No. 53,315, and is entitled “An ordinance regulating the sale of merchandise or other property by means of the plan commonly known as the "Endless Chain,’ ” By its terms “Endless Chain” is said to mean and include:

Hence, any person who sells or issues to another a right or contract by the terms of which the latter undertakes or is required or permitted to undertake, either personally or by agent, to issue to a subsequent person any…