Daily Yellowstone journal., 1891-05-27
The U. S. Supreme Court Up
holds the Constitutionality
of the Original Pack
age Law.
The Case was an appeal from
Decision from the u s.
Circuit Court for
Kansas.

WAsHISGToN, May 25.-The U. S.
supreme court to-day decided that the
original package law passed 10y the
last congress was valid and constltu
tiOnsl, and that it went into effect in
all states where prohibitory laws pre-
vailed without re-enAc'ment by those
states Of laws by which they forbade
the sale OF intoxicating liquors within
their boundaries, whether imported
from other states or not. Chief Jus
tice Fuller rendered the opinion Of the
court, and the bench was united In
support Of the conclusions to which he
arrived at, though Justice Gray an
nounced that Justice Harlan, Brewer
and himself did not concur in all the
reasoning Of opinion Of the court.
The case upon which the decision was
rendered was that OF John w. wiki
efsOn, sheriff Of Shawnee county,
Kansas, appellant, Va. Chss. A. Rah-
rer, brought here on appeal from
the decision Of the circuit court Of the
U. S. for district Of Kansas against the
state. RAhrer was an original pack
age agent at Topek.. Kan, OF the 6rm
Of Mayard, Hopkins & Co.. Of Kansas
City, Missouri. and was arrested the
day after the original package law
went into effect. He claimed the Law
was unconstitutional, and also that IL
could not go into operation until the
state has 'e-enscted Its prohibitOry
law. The court says the power Of q
state TO impose restraints aud burde ns
upon penons snd property in the pro-
motion Of public health, good order
and prosperity, ~ power always be-
longing 10 states, and not surrendered
by them to the geLeral government
nor directly restrained by the consti-
tuition of the United States, and essen
TALLY exclusive. The power Of con-
gress TO regulate commerce among the
several states. when the subjects are
national in their nature, 1t says, Is also
exclusive. The constitution does not
provide that interstate commerce shall
be free, but by grant of this exclusive
power TO requisite il, IL was left free
except as congress might undertake to
regulate IL. Therefore 1t has been de-
tsrmined in the Gaze Of Robbins VS..
Shelby, taxing district, that the fail
uIe Of congress to exercise this exclu-
slve power In any case is an expression
Of Its will that the subject shall be free
from restrictions or impositions upon
the several states, and If q state law
can be in conflict with the will OF con-
gress, q state and congress cannot oc-
cupy = position Of equal opposing SOW
sreignty. becanse the constitution de-
olArss its supremacy, and that Of laws
passed iu pursuance thereof. That
which ls not supreme must yield to |
that which Is supreme. The court |
says that intoxicating liquors are un-
doubtedly subjects Of commerce, like
any other commodity, and are so rec
ognized, but nevertheless it has been
often held that laws prohibiting the
manufacture and sale Of liquor within
state limits docs not necessarily in.
fringe any constitutional privilege or
immunity, this right being rested, as
In the Mugler cssa, upon acknowl-
edged right Of states TO control their
purely internal affairs, and In 50 doing
they protect the health, morals and
safety of their people by regulations
that do not interfere with powers of
the general government. Present
cases arises upon the theory of repug-
nancy between state law and the in.
terstate commerce clause Of constitu-
tiOns. and involves distinction be-
tween commercial power and police
power, which, though quite distin-
guishable when they do not approach
each other, are something's like colors,
so nearly allied as TO perplex the un-
derstsnding ~ colors do the vision.
Continuing. the court says: The |
Iowa laws held to De unconstitutional
in the Leisy original package case,
were enacted in excess Of the state |
police power and not at all as the reg.
ulations OF interstate commerce, but rs
IL amounted in effect to the regulation
Of such commerce it was held that so
long ss congress did not pass any law
to regulate specifically traffic between
states on intoxicating liquors, or act in
such 3 way ~ to allow state laws 10
operate on it, congress thereby indi-