The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-10-10
CONSTITUTIONAL.

CONSTITUTIONAL.
Justice Gary, of the Supreme Court,
came to Newberry on Sunday ana nao
g. consultation with Justice Pope OF tne
same court and on Monday afternoon
his written decision on the dispensary
act of 1898 was sent by express TO the
clerk of the court at Columbia. He
and Justice Pope concur in the opln-
ion that the act 1885, is constitutional.
Justice McIver dissents and holds to
the same views as pressed by him in
former opinion. The two opinions
were printed in the daily papers yes
terday. We present synopses OF ootn
in another column. The majority
of the Court holding the view :hat the
law is constitutional, the forme: opln--
ion of tae-GGourtt is aEEnlled and the
law now stands. Gov. Tillman was
CORE ct in his judgment as to what were
the views of Justice Gary on this point.
We suppose he knew what he was talk
ing about and what hewas doing Ween
Justice Gary was elected. We suppose
now that renewed efforts will be put
forth to have the law enforced. we
trust that it will be done in such
manner and in such spirit as will cause
as little friction as possible! and thus
avert riot and bloodshed.
Justice Gary, in delivering the opln-
ion of the majority Of the Court, lays
down the following proposisionsas en-
bodying the principles governing the
case:
s:Ist. That LIQUOR in its nature is dan
perous to the morals, good order, health
and safety of the people. and IS not to be
placed on the same footing with the ordl-
nary commodities of life, such as corn,
wheat, cotton, tobacco, potatoes, etc.
'2nd. That the State, under its police
force, can itself assume entire control and
manasemeas these subjects, such as
liquor, that are dangerous to the peace,
good order, health, and morals and well
fare of the people, even when trade is one
of the instruments of such entire control
and management OF the part Of the State.
'.3d. That the Act of 1898 Is a police
measure"
Granting that the first proposition IS
true and correct, and that, therefore,
the State has the right to take charge
of whiskey because it is dangerous to
the good morals of the country, does
that mean that she shall sell it to
everybody and in sufficient quantities
to keep all the people drunk; and II
this is done, low is the danger to the
good morals averted by the State sell
ing it instead of the individual 1t
cannot be denied that the disposition
of the administration under the law is
to establish as many dispensaries as
possible and to sell all the whiskey
that can be sold. In many cases dis
pensaries are established against the
will of the majority Of the citizens,
and in most Of them, at least, every
body can buy whiskey who has the
money to pay for it. We cannot see
how this plan of taking the sale out OF
the hand of the individual and putting
it in the;hands of the State, through
, its agents, will help the good morals OF
be conducive to the peace and health
and safety of the people. Now if these
are the objects in view with the law, it
seems to US that the effort should be
op the part of the State to sell just as
little whiskey as possible; or, in other
words, to sell it only for medicinal and
manufacturing purposes. But instead
of an effort to reduce the sale, the effort
is made to sell as much as possible in
order that revenue may go into the
State treasury.
The dispensary has some good feat
ure, among which are the early closing
and not selling in small drinks and
doing away with the allurements and
attractions of the bar room. But to say
that whiskey is an enemy to the public
safety and then in the next breath to
say that the State can sell as much as
it pleases and to whom 1t pleases nno
that whoever wants it and has the
money can get all he wants has nc
logic or reason in it. If whiskey is ar
enemy to the public safety and DANCE
rous to the morals of the people it is as
. much so whether sold by the individu'
al or the State. But the Supreme
Court has decided that the law is Con
stitutional and as alaw abiding citizer
we advise everybody to bow to the will
of the Court and obey the law. The
best way to get rid of a bad law is K
have it enforced and if the people d.
not like it they will soon demand it:
removal from the statute books.
ALMOST A BLOT.
There was almost a liot in Greenvillt
= -.~t