The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-01-19


rags or diseased meat, but to things
which, when used in lawful manner,
are subjects of property and of COM
merce, and yet may be used SO as to
be injurious or dangerous to the life,
the health or the morals OF the people.
Gunpowder, for instance, is subject
Of commerce and of lawful use, yet,
because of its explosive and dan
gerous qualities, all admit that the
State may regulate its keeping and
sale. And there is no article, the
right of the State to control or to pro-
hibit the sale or manufacture Of which
within it's limits is better established
than Intoxicating liquors.
There is profit to a State in any
form Of licenses, yet license has been
held to be police regulation even
when protecting license holders in a
monopoly Of sale, until Judge Simon
tons recent decision, above quoted,
allowed liquors in "original packages"
to enter State $50 long as their
manufacture, purchase or sale, or
their use as beverage in any form OF
by any person are recognized In
ter-State commerce has, according to
Judge Simonton, destroyed the police
power unless State declares the use
Of liquor as beverage to be contrary
to good morals and against the health
of the people. No license system
does this. We cannot, therefore, get
protection from "free liquor by such
enactment. We can, however, get re-
lief by doing away with the profit
feature, as the following quotation
from the Vandercook decision shows
'sThe decision Of the Supreme Court
Of the United States must control all
Circuit Courts. By this decision it
is clear that so long as the State her
self engages in the business Of import
ing and selling alcoholic liquors for
the purpose Of profit Z; so long as she
recognizes that the use Of alcoholic
liquors as beverage is lawful and
can be encouraged so long as she
seeks a monopoly in supplying these
liquors for that use, and in this way
looks to an increase of her revenue,
she cannot, under her Constitutional
obligations to the other States Of this
Union, control, hinder and burden
commerce in such articles between
their citizens and her own" Here is
the law and we must obey it until
Judge Simonton is overruled by the
Supreme Court or by Congress. I'm
der license system, inasmuch as the
State would receive money, these
"original packages would continue
to come in, and Judge Simonton would
continue to ''cnjoin" the State officers
from interfering with them. Let US.
therefore, do what is left us, and
wait for action at Washington. The
money used in conducting the
dispensaries and in enforcing the law
could not be regarded as profit, but as
expended as purely and solely for
maintaining the morals and health of
the people. Judge Simonton might
declare this not to be an exercise Of
the police power; but we will have to
risk it, and depend for our security
on what he himself has written in
various decisions.
THE STATES EDUCATION SYSTEM.
The Constitutional three-mills tax
for school purposes yields on the pres
ent assessed value Of property some
thing over 100000. This is large
sum to collect from a tax-burdened
people, and this money should be so
expended as to secure the best posi-
BILE results. With this increased e1-
penditure of money on the public
schools the people have the right to
expect better results than have hereto
fore been secured. In the cities and
in majority of the towns the schools
are we'll sustained and meet the de-
mands upon them; but in the country
the results are generally very unsatis-
factory. With better school houses
and better equipment and better
teachers, boys and girls could be pre-
pared for college at the common
schools in the country without need
ing to take course in fitting schools
preparatory to entering college. The
State educational system, including
all schools, high and low, primary,
secondary and collegiate, looks to one
end and aim-to correct illiteracy, to
dispel ignorance, to train intelligent
and patriotic citizens. 1t is sustain
ed nv nuhlic anpropriatiOns. gathered