The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-17
CAN'T DEMAND A LICENSE.
The Chester Case Decided Against the
Saloon Men.

44AO ivy OOOAAGAA SUSTAINED 4LS
Refusal to Issue a Permit to Sell
Good Beyond July 1.-The Court
Heroically OverruIes Two of It's
Own Decision.
Columbia, S. c., May 16-A decision in
the dispensary test case was filed in the
supreme court tonight adverse to the
liquor men. 1t is signed by Justice Pope,
the other justices concurring. The case
came up on the petition of Chester bar
keepers for mandamus requiring the
city council to grant them license for
the full year, the grant having been made
only until July, the time of the Inaugural
tion of the diSpensary system The petit
TONERS held that the act never acquired
the force of law, because the speaker
of the House amended it as he saw fit;
that the bill originated in
the Senate and not in the House, as re-
quired by the constitution that the OBJ
ject of the bill was to raise revenue and
such was not expressed in the title of the
bill; that the bill never received three
readings in the House; that the act
clothes the governor with power pro-
hibited by the constitution; that sections
of the act violate the constitution of the
United States.
USE OF THE STATES NAME.
The attorney general interposed before
the hearing, denying the right of the pc
tltlOnerS TO use the name of the state
when no consent had been given to
them. Therefore the decision remarks
that this point is one of serious conse-
quences to the relators, for if it should be
determined that only those are en-
titled to the use of the states name who
have the consent of the attorney general
the courts duty might terminate at an
early stage. "But, under the peculiar cir
cumstances of the petitioners, we have
determined to have the consideration of
this objection" The court holds that the
petitioners are stopped from raising any
question as to the refusal of the town
council to give them yearly license,
as the minutes showed that
they based such refusal upon
the ground that the dispensary act for
bade any other license. The court holds
that the act was duly enrolled and rati-
fed.
THE COURT ovERRULEs ITSELF.
In regardlto the contention that not
withstanding this due regularity of the
enrolled act the journals of the two
houses fail to correspond in every partic-
ular with the entries of amendments on
the original bill. the court says it de-
sires to place itself fairly and unani-
mously on record in this language
However unpleasant it may be to revise
previous decisions of the court, still after
full and mature consideration we feel
it to be duty we owe the
state that the case of the state VS.. Platt
supra should be and is hereby overruled,
and as the case Of the state VS.. HagOOd
supra was really decided upon the au-
thority of Platt's case, it follows, neces-
sarily, that the case of Hagood must fall
when the foundation upon which it rests
is taken away. We announce that the
true rule is, that when an act has been
duly signed by the presiding officers of
the general assembly in open session in
the state house, approved by the
governor of the state and duly de-
posted in the Office of the
secretary of the state is sufficient evi-
dence, nothing to the contrary appearing
upon its face, that it passed the general
assembly and that it is not competent
either by the journals of the houses, or
either of them, or by any other evidence
to impeach such an act, and this being so
it follows that the court is not at liberty
to inquire into what the journals of the
two houses may show as to the successive
steps which may have been taken in the
passage of the original bill"
The court says it is quite clear that
there is nothing unconstitutional in for
bidding the granting of a license to sell
liquor except in the manner prescribed by
the act but whether the act contains
other features not affecting the right of
the relators to the license claimed by
them is a question that cannot properly
arise in these cases, and cannot therefore
be considered. 1t would be extra judicial
to do so.