Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-05-20
JUDGE EXPLAINS
/ LIQUOR DECISION
Ridht to Import for Personal
ItUse Not Determined in
+ Freeman Case.


mobile can transport in his car rea
sonible amount of whisky into the
District for personal use.
Judge Hardison said today his opin-
lob bin the Freeman case does not oe-
eide the question On the contrary. he
said that in ruling on the case he mao
avoided taking into consideration thai
question, deciding it upon its merits
oveiruling the claim of the attorney
for the defense that Freeman had not
violated the law by reason OF the
fart that the whisky found in his pos
setsfon when arrested was transpoTI-
edith Freeman's automobile. and hold
inR that the contraband whisky had
been transported in common car.
rier-the automobils--in violation OF
the bone-dry law, the fact that the
whisky was put up in small haif-plnt
containers being sufficient evidence to
make a prima facie case of violation
of the law.
Case Decided on It's Merits.
A careful reading Of the opinion OF
Judge Hardison will show that the
court passed upon the Freeman case on
its own merits on grounds OF pur-
chase, possession and intent. and had
nothing to do with a judicial settle
1nent of the contention that the owner
of an automobile is at liberty to bring
into the District of Columbia in that
car, for his personal use. whisky in
reasonable quantities without danger
of violating the bone-dry law.
; Friends of the bone-dry law point
out that II this contention was sound
the whisky runners" practically all
of whom own automobiles of large
carrying capacity, could defy the law
and make it impossible of enforce
ment. Others go further and say that
those who are not now in the business
t,,tn Voc hi rfflf,
would be tempted to get into the bust
ness and purchase automobiles as
means Of violating the law.
Judge Hardison's Opinion.
Judge Hardison's opinion in full
follows:
The defendant Emanuel Freeman,
purchased in the state of Maryland
and transported into the District OF
Columbia in an automobile, OF which
he was a joint owner. 332 half pints
and quarts of whisky. bottles OF
Virginia Dare wine. / quart of black
berry cordial, pints of turkey gin
and 2 half pints of gin. and the case
presented for decision upon a demur-
rer to the evidence is whether this
transaction constitutes interstate
commerce and is. therefore. a viola
tion of the act Of Congress making
the Reed bone dry law applicable to
the District. Of Columbia. The rele-
want part oYsthe Reed act reads:
"Whoever shall order. purchase or
cause intoxicating liquors to be trans
ported in interstate commerce. except
for scientific, sacramental. medicinal
and mechanical purposes. into any
STATE or territory the laws of which
state or territory prohibit the manu-
-faSthre or sale therein of intoxicating
liQuoIs for beverage purposes. shall
be Hnpished .as- aforesaid: Provided.
Thst nothing herein shall authorize
ses ,f's saes . s.s.s
PrdSsAsd further, That the Postmas-
eri1AAeral is hereby authorized and
dirSptAd to make public from time to
time - suitable bulletin Or public
n0ttc0o The names of states In which
1t nnlawful to advertise or solicit
orders for such liquors
ne specific charge upon which thu
goy1rnment relies Ia that the defend
antsraused fhes Hasor to be transport
ed IN interstate commerce. The In
eistence Of the defendant 10 that as
thefransDortatton was by his person
ally owned automobile the transac-
tioA il not Interstate commerce and
theTefore not forbidden by the Reed
law The question presented Is i'm
pof4ant and it's solution not free from
difficulty. Prpbably no section OF the
Constitution has been SO prolific In lit
igatton as the commerce clause and IL
would seem hardly possible that q
case of first impression under it could
ariss at this late day.
Supreme Court Decisions.
"rhe many hundreds of decisions b,
the, Supreme Court of the United
States in which the commerce power
of the federal government was undei
confederation do not afford decision
of the exact question here. although
they do AFFORD some valuable side
lights. The tcsAnmerce clause az it,
name impite6 has to do with com
merce am0Hg the states. that is, com
meree thSf Crosses state lines. Web
sters neN International dictionary de
fercour4e; especially exchange or buy
ing and selling of commodities. ans
particularly. the exchange Of mer
chandi4e on a large scale between diff
ferent faces or communities. extendet
trade eT traffic The earlier word uset
case Of Gibbons vs., Ogden. 9Th wheaton
page l. the Supreme Court in defining
= commerce said: ..-;ig
The counsel for the appelie,
would limit ii to traffic, to buyint
and selling, or the Interchange o,
commodities. and do not admit tina
IT comprehends navigation. Thi,
would restFict "A general term. ap
piica BILE TO many objects. to one O.
Its Specifications, Commerce. un.
doubted1y. is traffic. but it is some
thing, more: it is intercourse. 1
describes the commercial intercours,
between, nations. and parts of ma
tions, IN all it's branches, (s190) an&
81 regulated by prescribing rules fo
carrying on that intercourse TIL,
49,
for regulating commerce betwee,
nations, which shall exclude all law
conce fnfng navigation. which shall b,
silent on the admission of vessels O
one natipn into the ports of the other
and be confined to prescribing rule
the actual employment Of buying an,
selling. or. of barter
Lumber Case Action.
I'm; Coe VS.. Enroll. 116 U. S. 81;
the Supreme Court held that logs Gu
in one state and ffoated in RATS dow
a river into another state to b.
saved into lumber were interstat
commerce. And in speaking OF tn
point OF time at which such article
became subjects of interstate com
merce, the court said:
when the products of the farr
or forest are collected and brough
in from the surrounding country t
a town or station serving as a
entrepot for that particular regior
whether, on a river or line Of rail
road, such products are not yet ex
portss nor are they in process of ex
portattun. nor is expectation begu
until they are committed to the com
mon carrier for transportation on
of the state to the state of thei
destination, or have started on thei
ultimate passage to that state. Her
= A.
pertatioR in Interstate commerce l
not limited to a common carrier