Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1881-01-28
The ,robacco Inspection Laws su..


tanned Judge Robinson, on Friday Of
last week, delivered the opinion of the
Court of Appeals in the case of Henry A
Turner, indicted for violating the tobacco
inspection laws of this State The first
count charges that the appellant, grower
of tobacco, packed and shipped hogshead
of tobacco to Bremen, Germany, without
having the hogshead inspected and passed
according to the laws of this State. The
second count charges that he did not pay
the outage due the State To this indict.
ment the appellant filed a demurrer, and
the question OF this appeal is whether the
facts thus set forth constitute an indictable Of
Tense. This questioned depends first upon
the construction Of several statutes of this
State regulating the inspection of tobacco,
and second upon the construction of the
clause in the constitution of the United
States which provides that mo State shall,
without the consent of Congress, lay any
imposts, or duties on imports, or duties, ex-
cept what may be absolutely necessary for
executing its inspection laws" Art. 1, sec.
10, sub-sec. g.. BY the code of 1860 the to-
bacco laws of this State were codified under
title "City of Baltimore" subtitle "Tobac-
CO." These were repealed by act of 1864,
chap. 346, and other sections were inserted.
This act provides for the manner of inspec-
ton, and complete provides were made for
the inspection of each hogshead by sam
pling. 1t was provided that every hogs-
head should be liable to prescribed charge
for outage in proportion to its weight, and
41st section declared that it should not be
lawful to carry out of this State any tobacco
raised in this State except in hogsheads
which shall have been inspected, passed and
marked agreeably to the provisions Of this
act By the act of 1870, chap. 29l, the
grower or purchaser of tobacco was re-
quired to put his name on the hogsheads of
| tobacco, but was required to pay outage,
under the penalty imposed by sec Al Of the
act of 1854. The act of 1879, says the court,
in thus permitting the grower or purchaser
of tobacco, packed in the county or neigh
borhood, to export the same without having
the hogshead opened for inspection, does
not dispense with any other requirement OF
the Of act 1854 in regard to inspection. 1t
must be weighed, marked and passed by the
inspectors The penal clause of the act of
1854, amended by the act of 1870, which
hogheads tobacco raised in this State, except
in hogsheads inspected and passed and mark
ed according TO the provisions of the act, is
omitted in the act of 1879, and the appel
substitute for all prior acts on the subject,
and that there is now no law in force in this
State by which the inspection of tobacco is
made compulsory; but the court does not
think this view is justified by the facts. AT
ter all the money the State has expended in
the inspection Of tobacco and construction
| of warehouses in Baltimore, if it had in
tended to InEul the system o. inspection it
ton and construction, and it was the duty
OF the appellant to have delivered the hogs
head of tobacco in question to the State in
spectors, for them TO ascertain its wei hts,
size OF hogsheads, and for them to mark as
the statute directed. In considering The
second question the court says that the out
age tax TO pay the State Ior the expense OF
inspection is not tax on exports, and it
afflrms the Judgment Of the court below III
filming the appellant for violating the inspec-
| ton laws of the State.