The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1915-03-30

IldD-t ~ ar est Without " al dIII, ~ u
,,ided a warrant shall be procured
within q reasonable time thereafter.
Ii the person is violating tie law by
conveying and being III possession of
whiskey Tor an unlawful purpose, you
! ave the right to arrest him without
warrant, provided warrant snail be
procured within reasonable time
thereafter
No Seizure Provision.
"As to the right of seizure of liquor,
there is a question in my mind as to
whether or not there has been any
change whatsoever made in tie law
in reference to the seizure Of whiskey.
The gailon-a-month act makes no
provision whatsoever as to the seizure
of Whiskey which is being conveyed or
transported unlawfully, or which is
being stored unlawfully. l presume
you are familiar with your right OF
seizure of contraband whiskey under
the law before tie passage of the gal
lon-a-month' act Under the law as
it existed before that time liquor in
t. e possession of any person for per-
sonal use or other lawful use was eX-
empt from seizure. The diSpensary
law as it existed before the passage
of the 'gallon-a-month' act was very
drastic in its terms as to all liquors
in possession of any person in this
State, except such as were purchased
from the various county dispensaries.
'sThe Webb-Kenyon act, as passed
by congress, removed such constitu-
tional restrictions, divested intoxicat-
ing liquors of their Interstate COM
merce g. aracter and permitted the va
rious States to enact such laws for
the regulation and control of liquor as
each State might deem wise. The
pssage of tie M'ebb-Kenyon act did
not give life to the South Carolina
statutes which were unconstitutional
and from the decision of tie court in
tie Atchison case, which mas been
cited, the only manner in which such
statutes would be and could become
of force would be by re-enactment by
the general assembly of South Caro-
lima.
"As before indicated, all statutes, in
cluding the right of seizure, referring
to interstate shipments of liquor for
personal use, were unconstitutional
and void under the interstate COM
merce clause of the United State con-
stitution. The 'gallon-a-montl' act
does not re-enact such statutes and l
am of the opinion, under the authori-
ties cited, that no additional right OF
seizure is conferred by the 'gallon-a-
month act, and tnat the only powers
you have along tat line are such as
you had under the dispensary statutes
before the enactment of the 'gallon-a-
month act
"Violators of the 'gallon-a-montn'
act may be indicted and convicted for
violating the provisions of the act, but
in my opinion no auU- -ority is given
for the seizure of liquor except such
authority as existed before the pas
sage of tnat act.
"In reply to your fourth question
| will say that section 025, code of
laws of 1912, volume 2, provided that
constables, steriffs, etc., could examine
the way bills or freight books of c)nl-
mon carriers. This along with otter
provisions of the dispensary law relat-
ing to shipments of liquor from with
out the State for personal use was
unconstitutional when enacted. 1t mas
not been re-enacted by the 'gallon-a-
month act, and | am therefore of the
opinion t. at you have no such right
under the 'gallon-a-month' act.
"The foregoing is the law as l see
it, but, of course, my opinion is not
conclusive. 1t is for the courts to de-
eide what the law is under the statute
as enacted
Copies of the "gallon-a-amonth' law
passed by the general assembly were
sent yesterday to the s@eriffs of all OF
the counties from the governors Of
fee.
81 cope everything is going we'll in
your county and that you and your
magistrates will use every effort to
preserve the best of order in every
line" SAID the letters which accom-
panied the copies of the new Wciskey
shipment law.