, 1890-05-22
SENATE PROCEEDINGS.

III the duty Oh DaHey'
SENATE PROCEEDINGS.
WAsnISGroS, May Ex-senator stan
ford to-day introduced bill for ioaus
on lands, and announced that he would
hereafter address the senate on the sub
ject.
The senate then proceeded to consider
the original package I'LL,
Mr.. Wilson, OF Iowa, who introduced
tho bill, addressed the senate In ex.
! PLANTATION and advocacy OF IL, stating
that IL was made necessary by the recent
decision of the supreme court II was
In response 10 the suggestion contained
| In that decision that congress could per.
nut the exercise Of the restraining
power by the state, and IL was for the
purpose Of giving that permission that
tho bill had been introduced anl re-
ported. The effect would be TO leav,
each state to determine for itself " hat
its policy should 10 with regard to the
traffic In intoxicating liquors At the
present time original package saloons
were being organized in his state. IL
was to put stop to such practice and to
recognize every s.ate's power TO resu
late its own internal policy that the bill
was reported.
Mr.. Vest said that he was not able to
agrce with the majority OF the commit
tee In favor Of the bill because it would
sweep away tho exclusive Jurisdiction OF
tho United States over interstate coiu.
inerce. The supreme court had decided
ompbaticaliy that alcoholic stlmutnnts
were articles OF interstate commerce
and the power TO regulate commerce
among the states and with foreign M
tions was power exclusively vested In
congress by the constitution. The intlma-
tion that congress might delegate to the
states that power was contained In tho
mere obiter dictum Of the supreme court
decision. lie tVestl contondcd that 1t
could not be done. The supreme court
had decided that tile power OF congress
over interstate commerce was
exclusive. II 1t could be delegated
in regard to one article Of merchandise
alcohol-it could be delegated TO any
other article, such rs corn, rye, oleo-
margarine. etc. Was the senate going
to make that new departure? Was IL
on the mere obiter dictum ofthcsupreme
court to tear down the barriers OF the
constitutionY The real question, he
/ said, was whether congress could dele
gate tho power vested in 1t by constitu.
tion TO any state or number OF states.
/ lie believed that 1t could not. To do 90
would be to dstroy the interstate clause
In the constitution, and all the pur-
poses for which IL was enacted. So far
D fFnF Ia UtA 10 10
would be in that case diversity and
hostility. Missouri would shut out
one article Kansas another, and so on,
until there would be chaos from one
end OF tho Union TO the other
At 2 O'Clock the silver bill came up AZ
unfinished business, but was laid aside
Informally.
Mr.. Vest continued that the original
package bill were passed Il would open
up opportunities for successive series
OF such bills, Just rs the emergencies or
opinions OF the different states might
call for that sort OF legislation. How
long would II be, Inc asked, until an
other demand was made ON congress to
givo permission 10 nil the states to OK
cludo something else, tobacco for in.
stancef
Mr.. Hoar argued in favor OF the bill.
Unless what was proposed In this bill.
or something equivalent, could be
done, II would Do the law of tho
United States for all future time, unless
the constitution was amended In that
respect, that any person living in an.
other state, or q foreign country, could
state and dispose OF II through agents,
and II would not be possible for any
state authority to prohibit Il.
Mr.. Edmunds rema rked upon II as n
curious and ting circumstance
that u condition OF things had been
reached when, accord ing to tho debate,
and according TO the Judgment OF the
supreme court, neither tho states nor
congress had any power to deal with
this subject. Tho result was that there
was In every man, In every state, an In
heront individual right to carry into an-
other state what that state might con-
slider injurious to It's safety, and there
TO sell IL, and that congress had no
power TO stop II. and that tho states
could not stop II unless congress gave
them that power. IL was only neces-
derstand that somewhere, either In the
supreme court or M the senate, there
was q fault in the logic oil
somebody. He did not feei
embarrassed by tho fact that
the supreme court had taken tho longest
step ever taken within 100 years in the
republic toward tho Capitalization OF
power somewhere, either In tho supreme
court, or In congress, He did not bo-
lieve. however, In the Capitalization of
power. speaking Of the importation OF
Intoxicating liquors into a Na,e, Mr.,
Edmunds claimed that once they got
there thoy were, whether In hands OF
tho natives or not, subject 10 tho state
laws, and that was what the suprsme
court would como 70 within the next
twenty yenrs.
After further discussion the bill went
over without action, and the senate pro
cseded 70 considcralion OF tho resoi,i-
tions offered by MIR. Cameron with ro-
Jpsct to the memory OF tho latc Reprc-
sentative Kelley, OF Pennsylvania. At