Show CONGEESS ALONE CAN LICENSE OR PIIOIUBIT The United States supreme court rend red a decision on tho 2Sth ultimo tho full 1t text of which will be awaited with great interest The facts in the case were as follows a firm of Illinois brewers shipped beer to I iowa in sealed kegs and cases and offered I them for sale through their agent in tho i original packages the city marshal seized I the liquor under the authority of tho state prohibitory law and the brewers brought I suit against him alleging that the seizure was in violation of that provision of the federal constitution which gives to Congress Con-gress the exclusive right to regulate interstate inter-state commerce The local court sustained the brewers the supreme court of tho State reversed tho lower court and now the supreme court at Washington in turn overrules the supreme court of Iowa holding with the inferior court of that state that the transportation of liquor from one state to another is a matter for federal regulation with which states have no right to interfere inter-fere and that the right of transportation carries with it by necessary implication the right of the consignee to sell the liquors so shipped in their original unbroken packages pack-ages This decision concurred in by six of the nine judges including Justice MILLER tho recognized leader of the court the chief justice and Justices FIELD and BRADLEY has the weight both of authority and numbers num-bers 4 bersUnder Under this decision original packages either barrels kegs bottles or flasks of liquor may be shipped into Mainfc and sold without fear of the state authorities Prohibition Pro-hibition therefore without the action and approval of Congress seems impossible in this country And not only is prohibition within the jurisdiction of Congress but it seems that license also is a matter no longer to be left to local regulation regu-lation Justice GRAT the dissenting dissent-ing opinion of the court concurred i nor by Justices HARLAX and BREWER says un the statutes of a state restricting or il prohibiting tho sale of intoxicating liquors within its territory are to be held operative opera-tive and void as applied to liquors sent or brcught from another state and sold by tho importer in what are called original packages pack-ages the consequenco must be that an inhabitant in-habitant of any state may under the pretext pre-text of interstate commerce and without license or supervision of any public authority author-ity carry or send into and sell in any or all of the other states of the union intoxicating liquors of whatever description in cases or kegs or even in single bottles or flasks despite any legislation of those states on the subject and although his own stn toed should be the only one which had enact to-ed similar laws All of our laws to secure high license will come to naught unless Congress steps in to protect us If this is good law it would seem wise to amend the constitution so that communities desiring some moderation in the liquor traffic could erect an effectual bar against tho distillers and brewers of other states |