The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1894-04-25
UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
THE SUPREME COURT so DECLARES
THE ClsPfNSaRY LAW.

FC OSEnc"C SSOni W D1SS|N'@S
THE GlsPiNsARY LAW.
Chief Justice McIvtr and Associate Nc
Gowan on One Side and Assoctste JUS
ttce Pope on the other-What Is Sid
About the D. sion.
COLUMBIA, S. C, April 19.-The long
expected decision of the State Supreme
Court in reference to the Disperssry
Law was fled today. The judgment
Of the Court was rendered by Chief
Justice McIver, Associate MCGOWAN
concu1ring. Associate Justice Pope
sled a dissenting opinion. The decis-
ion is 8 long one and contains fully 3d.
600 words. It is for the most part
strictly legal view of the case but with
it all it has features that will be OF IL
terest to everybody.
The case was legally entitled: Chas.
S. Mccullough VS.. George Just Browne
ct al and the State rs. Hentz Jacobs,
j. G. 81. Troeger, Jerome Pagan, j. 4.
Byrd and Ben David. In the first in-
stance Judge Hutson rendered his IA
nous decision and ali the remainder OF
the cases come from Columbia the re-
suit of which is well known. In each
instance the Supreme Court sustains
the judgment of the lower court.
Judge McIver's decision is said
to be an able document and COM
pletely knocks out the Dispensary
Law. he says that the Attor-
ney General during the hearing
had suggested to the court that the act
Of 1898 Superseded the act of 1892 but
that no motion had been made by the
State Attorney along that line and the
court would consider, for the sake Of
argument, the two acts Identical. Pro
ceeding in the decision Judge Mcl7er
says that ordinarily the presumption is
in favor of any act passed by the Leg
islsture being constitutional and re-
views at some length the nature, scope
and object of the law.
He declares that it violates two ar
ticles Of the Constitution namely the
first and the fourteenth. The first ar
ticles declares all men free aud equal
with right of enjoying liberty and
property and the second guarantees
every man against being deprived Of
his night to engage in any lawful busi-
ness. These rights, the court observes.
are derived from the creator rather
than from the government. The traffic
andiquor itself is not unlawful and
the law N so far as it forbids citizen
from engaging in it when the State Is
allowed to conduct The same business
null and void.
The court next considers the question
Of the alleged police regulation Of the
traffic under the dispensary law but
concludes that It has no such idea. The
whole scheme the court says is one to
increase the revenue of the State. The
State has no right to engage IN busl-
ness In competition with her citizens.
Such an idea Is at variance with all
ideas of civil government. The power
given the State to engage in the liquor
business py the last Legislature Is out
side and beyond the power conferred
upon the General Assembly by the peo-
pie.
The court answers also the argument
raised that because the State engaged
in business of supporting colleges that
she could also engage in the business
of selling liquor. This is answered by
showing from authorities that educa-
ton is q legitimate function Of govern
ment while selling liquor is not. rhe
above are some of the leading ideas
advanced by the majority Of the court
tndeclaripg the lag unconstitution.
Associate Justice Pope's dissenting
opinion covers nearly 100 pages of fools
cap. He argues chiefly that the whole
Law is constitutional from the fact that
the regulation Of the liquor traffic Is a
legitimate function of government and
he holds that the dispeDSary law is such
regulation. He does not think the
prime object of it is the raising OF a
revenue.
Chief Justice McIver, who delivered
the opinion, while in no sense polltl-
clan, is understood to sympathlzs with
the Straightout faction, and the same
may be said of Justice MCGOWAN, who
eoncurred with him. Justice Pope is a
Tllmanite and was elected Attorney
General when Tillman was first elected
Governor IN 1890. Justice McGoWan's
term expires in July, and Eugene B.
Gary. until recently Tillmanite lieuten-
ant governor was elected to succeed
him last December. It is surmlsed
that an effort will be made to have the
law again submitted to the court after
he takes his seat, when the court will
include a majority of Tillmanises.
Lawyers say, however, that an act de-
clared unconstitutional cannot be re-
stored by the mere reversal Of an opln-
ion; that it will be necessary for IL to
be again enacted by the Legislature be-
fore its constitutionality can have an
other test.
The opponents of the administration
are jubilant over the decision OF the
Supreme Court declaring the dispensary
law unconstitutional. The whiskey
men are more than jubilant over the
decision and whiskey is being openly
sold 10 many places in South Carolina
tonight. The friends of the dispeasary
law are not dishearteDed, despite the
decision of the court. They believe the
law constitutional ana believe that IT
will yet triumph. Governor Tillman is
known to be a man of many resources
and his opponents do not believe that
be will yield and close the dispensaries
Immediately after the decision was
filed several orders werecountermanded
by the State dispensary. The "blind
tigers" which have never been especial
" cautious in their operations in this
city, have sold whlskey today with con.
siderable more sudaclty than usual and
have not been interfered with. The To-
cal dispensaries have been doing busi-
ness as usual. 1t is probable that the
bar keepers will not publicly resume
business until they have been advised
by their counsel. whose opinions they
are now awaiting.
THE DECISION DISCUSSED.
The journal says the State House Of
fcials seemed to have caught on tc the
idea that the discussion would be sd-
verse to them. There was lot con-
sulttng among them, John Gary Evans
was an interested visitor at the State
House. When he heard Of the decision
he said that it would make no differ
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