Mexico weekly ledger., 1889-04-11
lice power Of your state and aid and
abet and assist In legalizing robbery

Iilc Ibnilce power lS given the State
to protect the health and morals of its
citizens, but no convention Oh legisla-
ture can under the guise of exercising
this power take ron the citizen his
right to manufacture any article unless
its manufacture ~endangers or Injuries
the lives or property OF Others" The
legislature of New York passed an act
forbidding the manufacturing of cigars
i'll tenement houses, and u cigar maker
was arrested for plying his tradeiu his
w room in a tenement house, though
hecouid'nt follow it elsewhere. The Leg
isiature in the title to the act declared
it was for the Improvement of the public
health, but the cigarInaker challenged
taS unconstitutional, arbitrarily inter
fering with his personal liberty and
private property without due process
OF law. The court OF that state went
behind the title and into the motive OF
the legislation and in the matter of
Jacobs, 9S, y. Y, 9S, says: Liberty in
its broad sense, as understood in this
country. means the right not only of
freedom from actual seryitude, I'M
prisonment and restraint, but the right
OF one TO use his faculties in all lawful
ways-to live and work when he will,
t q earn his livelihood in any lawful
calling and 10 pursue any lawful trade
or vocation. . X i Generally it is
for the legislature 10 determine what
laws and rcgulationsare needed to pro-
tect the public health and secure the
public comfort and safety; and while
its measures are Observation-Disclosures
convenient and appropriate to accom-
plish these ends-the exercise ofits dis
erection is not subject to review by the
ngrtrtE. bJyt Thnp rnt1st ttn W. S,.ta rnia.
ton 10 these ends. Under the mere
guise of police regulations, personal
rights and private property II not be
arbitrarily invaded and the deterlni-
nation OF the legislatures not final and
conclusive. ifit passes an act ostensjb-
~ for the public health and thereby
destroys or takes away the property OF
Il citizen and intefferes with his person.
al liberty, then it is for the courts to
scrutiniZe the act and see whether it
really relates TO and is convenient and
appropriate to promote the public
health. Ii matters not that the legis-
laturc may III the title of the act, or i'll
its body declare that it is intended for
the Improvement of the public health.
such Il declaration does not conclude
the court and they must yet determine
the fact declared and enforce the SUI
preme law
Other authorities are cited by the
speaker aud it is shown conclusively
that the limitations of the States po-
lice power have been clearly defined
by The Supreme Court of the United
States.
If this act is passed and Il citizen of
- nt,iI antnp- tho ,N,11i. .,arl-D -.
purchase meat, and at one stall he sees
before him meat offered for sale by a
farmer. which perhaps was slaughtered
on his farm a week before fifty miles
from the city; at another stall, meat OF
Il butcher slaughtered the day before
in ST. Louis; and at third, meat of the
Dressed meat company slaughtered in
Kansas City three days before-you
say TO the citizen you can buy of the
farmer or the butcher, but you shall
have nc dealings with the dressed beef
man whatsoever, though his product
may be cheaper and healthier than the
other two. Here are three products Of
fered the citizen neither Il fraud or in
imitation Of the others, as in the oleo-
margarine case, Powell VS.. Pennsylva-
MIA, l.. [. :. page 67S, but products OF
the ame class equally healthy and
equally nutritious. All this under the
gnise Of protecting the public health.
statistics show that only II animal III
every $500 has Il single faint OF disease.
TTIE ACT UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
The unconstitutionality of YOUR act
lies primarily in the test that o make
in guarding the health OF the citizen.
requiring an inspection on foot within
tpy.f tr-nirhf hHI1rs of tho taIrhfapip
and within two miles of the place
where the meat is exposed for sale, and
is class legislation by granting priyi-
leges to the farmer to the exclusion of
every one else, instead of making the
test the condition of the meat when Of
fered for sale, The meat of YOUR local
butcher mayin twenty-four hours be in
Il deleterious condrion, yet he "a sell,
and the dressed Geefis prohibited.
Mr.. Merryman showed very conclu-
sively that the passage of this bill car
ries the legislator beyond the limits the
constitution of the State prescribes.
With the inauguration of this legis-
lation will expire all liberty OF the citi-
zen as guaranteed by section ?, article
/. The citizens of each state shall be
entitled to all privileges and immuni-
ties of citizens III the several states.
This legislation renders meaningless
the fourteenth amendment. No state
shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge the privileges or immuni-
ties of the United States, nor shall any
state deprive any person of life, liberty
or property without due process Of flaw.
or deny to anyone within its jurisdic-
ton the equal protection Of laws.
WHERE WILL II END?
Once that you set out on this new de-
parture where will it end! What is
there to hinder you from protecting
wheat and corn and the cereals of the
state or to aid and assist the fishmon-
gers. The able and eloquent represen-
tative from Pike (the Hon. Champ
Clark, with whom in my boyhood
democracy amid the green hills of West
Virginia and in whose successful career
[ so much rejoice as [ watch the eagle
in its flight, will doubtless desire to
protect the wheat raisers of theancient
realm ofPike, and we will have a wheat
inspection bill forbidding any citizen Of
the state to buy flour unless the wheat
has been inspected forty-eight hours
before grinding. In a short time we
will hayea Chinese wall erected around
the state and have Missouri isolated
from the sisterhood Of states and we
will build up a home market rivaling
the dreams of Il Hamilton.
MISSOURI AN EXPORTING STATE.
Missouri, as regards cattle, is an ex-
porting state. Where would be your
market whenitdepends solely on what
is consumed by your local butcher!
Where was ityears ago? When Kansas
City, a struggling village, was a mere
shipping point, when a glutin the mar
ket would lower the price a dollar per
100 per day; where is it o with its
stable market, with its packing facili-
ties for Strengthening all the cattle that
come to its doors and for curing and
storing its meat for an indefinite time??
Do you want to render tenantless Il
thousand homes of its laborers which
this industry has built up and transfer
them and its packing facilities to the
eastern ~seaboards? If so, pass this bill.
Mr.. Chairman and gentlemen of the
committee, | thank you for the atten-
ton which You have paid me,a stranger
personally to you all, pleading ONE
what the cause of strangers. I leave
the matter in your hands, confidently
believing that you will deal with it in
that way which you conscientiously be-
lieve will advance the best interests of
tho sitiva1s thn anraf:tufayt. and tha