The Washington herald., 1912-07-23
LIQUOR SHIPMENT
BILL IN SENATE
Restricts Sending of 1ntoxicants
Into Prohibition
Territory.
LEGALITY IS IN
DOUBT

AIIer a controversy III Inc ocIdtc Soiii-
mittee on judiciary that has ragged for
several years. that committee yesterday
agreed to make a favorable report to
the Senate on a bill to prevent inter-
State shipments of intoxicating liquor
into prohibition States: The bill re-
ported is a combination of measures in
troduced by Senator Kenyon of Iowa and
Senator Newell Sanders OF Tennessee
Senator Cummins was authorized to re-
port the bill.
The committee struck from the Kenyon
bill that feature of II which declares
void all contracts for interstate ship
ments Of liquor where 'tany person in
terested therein" intended to violate the
law of the State in which the shipment
was to be received. As amended. the
bill also strikes out a paragraph which
declared that no person should have
property right in any such shipment
Only so much of the Kenyon bill is re-
tained as declares such shipment unlaw-
full. and then is added as an amendment
the bill by Senator Sanders. which is in
tended as a modification of the Federal
statute known as the Wilson law. which
subjects such shipments of liquor in In
terstate commerce into prohibition States
to the laws of the State Immediately
upon arrival within the boundaries OF
the State" and before delivery TO the
consignee."
NulIined I'm Courts.
The Wilson bill. which was introduced
in Congress by the late William 1. Will
son of West Virginia, was intended to
break up the practice Of shipping liquor
In Interstate commerce in original pack
ages into prohibition territory. But the
Supreme Court of the United States con-
Co. -fFaer hi
ity on the officers of the State to take
charge of such shipments Immediately
after they entered the boundaries of the
State and before they passed into the
hands of the consignee- The court held
that the shipments were still a part OF
interstate commerce, even after they had
crossed the boundaries into the prohibited
territory, so long as they remained In
the original package in which they were
shipped, and until they passed INTO the
hands of the consignee.
There has been a serious question in
the minds q some of the members OF the
judiciary Committee as TO whether the
bill in the form in which II was ordered
reported yesterday will stand the test
of the courts 1t was a fact that scarce
" two members of the Judiciary Com
mittee, able lawyers as they are recog-
nized to be- were agreed as to what leg
that would stand test of the courts
But they realized that some steps should
be taken in response to popular de-
mand, and they finally decided to put
the matter up to the courts.
Doubt Constitutionality.
number of members of the committee
are of the opinion that Congress has no
power to turn over TO the States its
authority over interstate commerce, ever
within the boundaries of the State They
hold that once an article has been en-
tered for shipment in interstate COM
merce the Federal governments author.
ity over it attaches and remains with II
until it passes into the hands of the
consignee. This objection will undoubt-
edly be urged against the bill in the
Senate. Senator Cummins is one member
of the committee who does not believe
that this objection will hold.
1t is not expected that the bill will
become a law at this session, and 1t is
doubtful if II even passes the Senate.
In fact, there is some doubt whether It
will be seriously considered at this ses-
sion Of the Senate, because of the GER
tainty that 1t will lead to a long consti-
tutional debate-a thing that the Senate
leaders are now seeking to avoid.