The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-04-25
THE DIsPENsARY Law UNcONsTITU-
TlONAL..

a majority Of the court. Only that it
could have been possible to have had
the decision sooner. Justice Pope does
not agree with majority Of the court,
bat holds that the law is constitu.
tional.
Dispensaries have all been closed and
the State is, at least temporarily, out
of the whiskey business. But she still
has very large supply on hand. Gov.
Tillman says business has only been
suspended for the summer to allow
| time for repairs. What he means by
that we do not know. We rather sus.
pect that Gov. Tillman Is really glad
that the decision is as it is. The dis
pensary law was giving him a good
deal of trouble and no doubt ne is glad
to be relieved of the responsibility.
Many others who were drawing good
salaries no doubt feel just the other
way.
But the decision seems to need
further deciding and calculating. No
one seems to know just what the de-
cision decides, or rather just what the
status of affairs is. The best lawyers
give it different interpretations. Some
think we have prohibition, while Others
seem to think that we are back where
we were beforei and still others that we
have no law on the subject at all just
now and that every body can sell whis-
key now just as they can sell corn OF
bacon. It seems to US that we have
plain and simple prohibition.
In one paragraph the court says:
"After the fullest and most careful
| and deliberate consideration we feel
constrained to say that the act is
clearly unconstitutional; except in as
far as it forbids the granting of licenses
to retail spurious liquors beyond the
3Oth of June, 1898. Under this view
all subordinate questions presented in
all the cases, except the first named,
lose sll practical Importance, and need
not, therefore, be considered"
That portion of the act which re-
peals all other acts inconsistent with
this one, it seems to Us, is also Of no
force, and, therefore, all the laws on
the subject prior to the passage of the
dispensary act are still Of force except
that under them no license can &c
issued to retail spiritous liquors. It is
just the same as if. under the local
option law, a town voted not 20 issue
license. Instead of voting on the ques-
| ton the Legislature has passed an act
saying no licenses shall be issued and
the Supreme Court says it is good
law.
But we must admit that we do not
know just what the effect of the de-
| cision will be. The court says the law
is unconstitutional. We are very much
in the state of mind of Editor Viii.
! lame, of the Greenville News, who
says that he tried hard to decide what
the decision really decided and finally
came to the conclusion thai he was
about ready to walk off meekly and
humbly, to an asylum for the feeble
minded without demanding extrsdi-
ton papers or habeas corpus, until he
found nearly everybody was in the
same fix as himself We quote here
what he farther says which will give
! some idea of the uncertainty which
seems to prevail as to what the decision
does really mean. We hope, however,
that We will all soon know just where
we are at on this question. As we said
above the dispensaries have all been
closed.
In fact, we gather from the state
menS Of Chief Justice McIver, that the
decision is yet to be decided. There is
decision, as we understand it, or an
opinion. It is about twenty columns
long and is against the dispensary law.
Yet how it will affect the dispensary
law or what its prscticsl result to any
body will be, the Chief Justice declines
to say until case is carried before him.
Then the court will decide what its
decision means. Until then ali is
speculation and the opening stages Of
paresis.
It seems to rs that nobody can do
anything with liquor now, except
drink it. So far as We can see there is
nothing bearing on that point and any
man who is in possession of liquor de
tacto may absorb it at his convenience
and dodge the police II possible. Aside
FROM that, we are under prohibition
clause and also the claws of the blind
tiger. The old license law is repealed,
we suppose, but do not know how. The
prohibition law stands but it is not yet
in force. The dispenssry law is no law
atall, but continues to operate. Whether
there is any scrap of the law of 1898
which escapes the general fate of the
law Of 1882 is not yet revealed.
Where are we at, anyhow?
Everything waste be settled by tbe de-
cislon Of the Supreme Court. We were
all looking forward to it as disposing OF
the entire dspensary complication. Now
we are more complicated than ever. We
don't know whether We are in a prohibi-
ton State, license State, transition
state or state of sin and misery. In
junction and habess corpus have begun
work. Old mandamus Will be along pre-
sently. With all of these We became famil-
lar Ia 1870. After that We may look for
quo a0arrdnto and that viii settle it. We
won't get out Of it short Of presidential
proclamation and the United States army
and navy. Those OF US who wish to keep
from under the operations Of de lssnatico
inquirendo had better go out in the
woods and stay.
The supplementary qaesiossre not yet
in sight. Yves suppose Governor TIlinan
is about ike 4he rest OF nsand is waiting
for light to hreak through the clouds OF
words. l Associabe JaSsice elect Gray
and Associate Justice elected Pope have
been trying to explain shsnREser to hin
we do not wcnder that nedespera8ely dug
out for Rock Hin. We will expect to
hear Of him up there with three chicken
feathers and some stssw in his hsis, ,.dsnc-
ing around ON q tresttfe with aonsashes:o On