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Show THAT FA3I0TS LICJOOE DECISION. DECI-SION. , The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, rendered April S, Invalidating the law of the State of Iowa which provided for the confiscation of Intoxicating liquors exposed for sale contrary to Its provisions, has occasioned a great amount of discussion all over the country. It has been both commended com-mended and condemned by lawyers and newspapers, and is generally regarded as a staggering if cot fatal blow to prohibition, unless Congress shall come to the rescue of that cause with appropriate legislation. One of the most strongly written criticisms of it which have appeared in the American press is an article by T. E. Willson, which was given in the ew York ITorM of May 7th. That any writer should rind in any decision of the supreme tribunal of the Union, ground for such denunciation denun-ciation of the action of that august body, as Is uttered by Mr. Willson, is a matter ot profound regret, and of the deepest concern to every citizen of every State. The World precedes the article with the following headlines set in display type: "AS IM1'BIAI, DECREE. TUE STATE! COXTBOl, OT TRACE RE- STB3CTEX TO ITS OVS TBODCCTS. -W1UTETEK CROSSES X STE LT5B IS CXDER CONTROL OF COSCEES". 'All Sute Lavs BccnUUncuie $!s at Duelled Du-elled Slut, Adulterated rood, 1'olionf, Explosive, Liqnorv, Obscene Boeks, and ETerTUUDg Brought Into One Sute rrom Another, Declared Void 07 the Eopreme Court." Tho article in full Is here appended. append-ed. It Iwara date of Washington, D. C. May 5th: "Tho decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Lersey A Go. vs. J. A. Harding, city marshal of Keoknk, la,, who seized certain kegs of liquor imported by Lersey A Co., from another State and exposed by them for sale In Keoknk, in violation of the Sute law forbidding forbid-ding the tale ot liqoor, is one which fifty years ago would have convulsed the country. Both political parlies woald have united then in wlpingout a court so evidently in open rebellion against the Union. Today it is difficult diffi-cult to gel any one even to listen for two minutes to a mere statement of the case, much more a thousand times more important than the Dred Scott decision. Patriotism is absolutely absolute-ly dead. Only here and there can be found a man who cares whether he liveoundera despotism or a democracy. democ-racy. "In cflect the decision of the Supreme Su-preme Court of the United States is that the State law ot Iowa, and all laws made by any State, regulating the sale within its boundaries of any thing brought into it from another State, is UDons,titutlonal and void, all control and regulation uf such imported impor-ted proiucts within a State being exclusively ex-clusively -within the furi'diction of tho United States. The conrt geaer-ou"lr geaer-ou"lr leaves to each State the right to regulate the sale of its domestic products, pro-ducts, and ot Imported products from other States aftor they haie been so broken up and disturbed that they are no longer distinguishable In the gen-eral gen-eral mas. "The State lawot Iowa is ditided into parts, and tbl decision Is also dhidedlnto two parta. "The fitst part of the State law prohibits pro-hibits the importation Into the Stata of certain manufactures which the first part of the decision declares the State of Iowa has no right to do. It cannot pass any law limiting or confining con-fining tho absolute free trade ordained by tho Constitution between the States, or any act affecting In any way any goods (or bada) which may be outside its boundary lines. This inhibition has never been assailed by the most anient advocate of State rights. There was no objection to it In the constitutional constitu-tional convention. It was a part of the Articles of Confederation. It has often been explained, expounded, and upheld by the Supremo Court of the United States from the adoption of the Constitution" to the present time. There Is no one who would attempt at this day to controvert it, and no State court would permit a State law to be enforced in violation of it. "Our federal union of States Is based npon an absolute and unqualified untaxed un-taxed free trade within the boundaries of the United States each as exists within one country or State; which cannot Ibe 'regulated,' limited or restrained re-strained in any way by Congress or by the States. Any State law forbidding forbid-ding a citizen to Import a certain thing is a limitation of the right which the Stato may not attempt. The bringing it to the boundary line the actual crossing of tho boundary line is not In Itself an act which the Stato may punish. But after the thing get across the boundary line the Stale is sovereign. "The power is not taken from the Sute by the Constitution to be lodged in Congress. The perpetual, unlimited unlim-ited and unlimltable free trade between be-tween the States can no more be interfered with cr 'regulated by the United Slates than it can be by a Sute. The free trade of the Constitution Constitu-tion is as binding upon the one as upon up-on the other. It is not at the pleasure or will of either. Tho State is not forbidden for-bidden because Congress may, but becauseif be-causeif there be a because the Congress is forbidden to meddle with trade between tho States as well as within the SUtc. "A score of decisions of the Supreme Court, running back to 1610. uphold tho present judges In declaring that so much of tho Iowa Stato law as forbids the importation cfaoy foreign products pro-ducts is unconstitutional, but there is not one lino to justify their reason for lU-lhat tho Congress has control of the question, and that the Congress may setup a tariff and free lint of goods to bo imported from one Sute into another. anoth-er. Their reason, however, need not be debated here. So much of the decision deci-sion la sound, however faultythologic maybe. "But and here is tho point which marks the new doctrine of tho Supreme Su-preme Court tho second part of tho law and the second part of this decision de-cision affect tho right of the State) to regulate the action -of Its domestic trade inside its boundaries. The Sute law of Iowa forbade the exposure of liquor forpnbllc sale. The Sqpreme Conrt of the United Sutes wipes this law off the Iowa statute books. The SUte not only may not forbid the importation, im-portation, tho court declares, but it may not forbid or even interfere with or regulate tho aalo of imported articles so long as they remain in the original packages or the possession of the Importer. It bis no authority or control over tho buyer, the seller or the goods. "The risht to regulate domestic trade Is expressly reserved in the Constitution Constitu-tion to each Sute of the Union. Il is one of the most Important of their reserved re-served rights. There is not a word, a hint, in any of the expressly delegated powers ot Congress that can,' by the TtidcsC stretch of fancy, be made to grant to Congress aright to Interfere In any way with the absolute contro by each SUte of all internal State trade of every kind, or with the right of each SUte to dictate what shall be sold or what shall not be sold within its boundaries boun-daries and by its citizens. "When the Supreme Court declares, as it does declare in this case, that Congress Con-gress and not the SUte has the right to decide what shall be sold and what shall not be sold within the limit of each SUte, It is revolution. "It is a revolution that can only be metby force; and It Is the duty of every eve-ry patriotic American to arm himself, to provide himself with powder and ball, and to organize for armed resistance resist-ance to any attempt to carry out this decision, whctherlnhisownSUteorin any other SUte. "There can be no appeal to the ballot-box. Though every citizen in the United SUtes sbonld 'vote against this decision, their 12,000.000 ballots would not disturb it. It cannot be repealed, re-pealed, or changed, or amended. Six ty millions of pooplo are helplessly in the grip of these six infalliblo Casars, who can do no wrong. There Is no legal le-gal remedy for this monstrous betrayal betray-al of a foolish trust. Force Is alone left the force of arms to overthrow this treason and rebellion of these six men against their sovereign tho people. "There can be no appeal to Congress. These six Cxsars are tho masters of Congress, of the President, of all other courts. They may wipe any enactment enact-ment they wish from the sututo book. They may Interpret or change those that remain to suit themselves. They are the LAW. It Is the Law which ha seized the sovereign by the throat. It Is the law which has committed treason, and which is now in open rebellion re-bellion against the Union. The only appeal from the Law Is to the Bullet. "Mark what the decision means. It Is not a question whether liquor shall be sold in Iowa or in any other SUto of the Union. It is not even a question of the invasion of the rights of the SUtes. It passes In Importance behind be-hind all these. It Is the last time the people ot the United SUtes will ever havo an opportunity to ask themselves if the Constitution shall bo preserved and whether this Government shall bo converted Into an absolute despotism, governed by the President and Congress Con-gress aocoi ding to the arbitrary will of the six Cxsars of the Supreme Court. "The Sute of Xew York cannot forbid for-bid the lmjiortatlon; but It can and docs forbid tho salo within her boundaries bound-aries of obscene books or pictures. The six Cxsars of the Supreme Court declare de-clare that if those books are Imported from Connecticut, No w Jersey or Pennsylvania Penn-sylvania their sale shall not be interfered inter-fered with by the SUte of Xcw York, and they promise to protect the person per-son to whom tho obscene books are consigned, or who offers them for sale, from any molestation by any Sute Court so long as they remain in the original binding and until theyare absorbed ab-sorbed by traffic in tho general merchandise mer-chandise of tho SUte. "The SUte of New York cannot forbid for-bid tho importation of lottery and policy tickets; but it canand docs forbid for-bid their sale within her boundaries. The six Cxsars of the Supremo Court hare served a notice on tho legislature and courts ot New York and upon all peace officers, that hereafter lottery tickets imported from Louisiana or policy slips imported from Ilobokcn may lawfully be exposed for sale in their original shape anywhere and at . any time, Sundays or any days, and that any interference with them, either with the salo or the sellers or the bn era, will bring upon this Stato the mailed hand of military govcrment which thirteen SU'es have felt. The State of New York cannot forbid for-bid the importation of I quors, but it can and does regulate tho sale, permitting permit-ting ouly persons duly licensed to sell it, and forbidding its sale by them on Sundays or between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. on week days, or to minors. Tho six Cxsars of the Supremo Conrt notify the pcoplo of tho SUte of New York that they have no right to require a license for the sale of Imported liquor, that they cannot limit Its sale to any particular da s or times, or to persons of any particular age; and that each saloon in the city of New York, may keep open tho same on Sundays as en any other day, and may keep open all night, without license, provided it sells in tho original package (or bottle) Imports' from Jersey City. It warns the police captain of New York, who arrest only when they cannot blackmail, black-mail, that if they attempt to blackmail the unlicensed Sunday seller to children chil-dren of imported liquor they will land iu Auburn prison, Aa the Sunday law Is only kept on tho statute-books to provide black-mail and blood-money blood-money for these official BTneskins and. criminal protectors, this may bo a good thing so far as New York City is concerned. But it cuts deeper and wider. It absolutely destroys the license system. It make rum free, when imported. It exempts its sale from license, when imported. It forbids for-bids any court to Interfere with its sale, when imported. It forbids the legislature to reguUto its sale in any way, when importooVThc limitation to "Imports" and to "the original package" hra flimsy subterfuge. All liquor told will hereafter be from another an-other SUte and sold only in tho original ori-ginal package for to cart it out of the SUto and bring it back will cost less than a license. What liquor is made here will not even have to bo traded for that made in other SUtes. to mako it imported. The Sute of Now York cannot forbid for-bid the importation, but It can and does forbid the sale within her boundaries boun-daries of diseased meat, impure milk, and unhealthy food products. The alx Canars of tho Supreme Court promise to protect, with the army and navy if necessary, all persons engaged In violating these laws. If one hundred hun-dred cans of swill milk Is sent into New York City from New Jeraey, and the Board of Health attempts to interfere inter-fere with Its sale to tho dealers while It remains In the original cans, or dc-fore dc-fore it becomes absorbed Into tho general gen-eral trade, the members of the Board nhall be fined and Imprisoned. "The Sute of New York cannot for bid the inporution, bnt it can and does regulate tho sale irj thin her boundaries bound-aries of a thousand things of nearly everything from poisons and explosives ex-plosives to peanuU and excelsior. The six Cxsars of the Supremo Court wlpo ont this control and regulation, and declare that all licenses ot every kind are unnecessary when the thing sold Is Imported and in its original package whatever that may be. So long as the obscene book Is in iu original cavers, tho diseased meat in Iu original origi-nal carcass, the impure milk in tho original can, the poison In the original bottle, the dynamite in tho original bomb, the Sute of New York cannot forbid the sale, nor regulate the sale, nor Interfere with the seller or the boyer. Every action by a SUte court in contravention of this decision Is a misdemeanor to bo severely punished by these six Casars at Washington. "Tho six Cajsars go further than this. They Uke away this right from the Sate to regulate their domestic trade, and they confer it upon Congress. Con-gress. They decree) that Congress may decide what shall and what shall not be Imported from ono SUto Into another. They announce that hereafter here-after the freedom of trade between the people of the different SUtes may be limited to a list of articles prepared by Congress, but until Congress prepares a forbidden list and free, list, everything every-thing must be considered aa on the In ter-SUte Free lilt. This Is the daring stand of the ultra Protectionists, and It simply forces a little In advance of the lima set for the fight they ha 0 planned for the future. The alx Casars notify them In advance that they are with them in 'protecting' the North against the South, the Bart against the West, and in extending the advantages of protection to the plutocrats pluto-crats of special SUtes and sections. "Tho six Ours notify Congress thit whllo they will not permit a duty to be placed upon Alabama iron sent into other SUtes for sale, it may forbid for-bid the importation of that iron from Alabama into Pennsylvania or any other SUte In the Union where it will interfere with a Republican iron master. mas-ter. The six Cesars notify Congress that It has their permission to say what products of labor In any ono SUto may bo sent into any other SUtes and what may not be sent. The six Cirsars notify Congress that they ha 0 conferred upou it the same powerover the trade between Sutes that It has over foreign commerce, with the sole exception that It may not couple a fine with permission to import from one SUto Into another Sute, aa it does with importations from foreign countries. Instead of a dutiable list and freellst as with foreign nations Congress must prepare for each SUto a Forbidden Forbid-den list and a Permitted list of articles it may Import and export, the list to be mado up for each SUte so as to best protect' the mill-owners and capitalists capital-ists of it against the competition of otherSutes. "The pretense under which tho six Caesars change the whole character of our Government Is foundjn the power conferred npon Congress "to regulato commerce with foreign nations and between tho several SUtes." ' Commerce is ono of tho sub-divisions of trade. It Is 'trade carried on in ships.' It had no othor meaning when tho Constitution was drafted, and it has no other proper and exact meaning now in connection with exchange ex-change of products. In 17s9 at least 90 per cent of tho trado between the Sutes was commerce trade carried on in ships and all trade with foreign nations was commerce. To give Congress Con-gress power to regulato 'commerce' with foreign nations and withhold from it the power to regulato 'commerce' 'com-merce' between tho Sutea,was abiurd. There would bo a conflict of jurisdiction jurisdic-tion over the ships, over the water, over the control of ports of entry. The whole question of shipping was given to CongTess,fof this was a federal matter. ''Butthecauicl'a noso of commerce then inserted under the tent flap of trade has been followed by his whole body and the expulsion of his master into tho storm. There never was any intention of giving Congress the slightest control over 'trade,' whether Inside or outside ofaSutc,orbctwcen two SUtes. If such a claim had been set Dp, not a Sute wonld have joined a union that required it. "Under the Supreme Court's method meth-od of defining tho word 'commerce,' no SUte in the Union has any right to pass any law regulating marria ges, or defining tho marriage relations, or limiting tho social eviL Tbcso are commerce, and quito as properly under the exclusive control of Congress Con-gress as the railway traffic between New York and Chicago. Certainly tho marriago of a malo citizen of New York to a female citizen of Illinois la as truly commerce betw eon tho Sutes as tho shipment by him of a package to her. "Tho leaders of the Republican party who proclaimed in 1S:.S that "tho Constitution was a Covenant with Death and a League with Hell," declared de-clared In 1S60 that the "Constitution should be rolled np like a scroll and put away foretcr." We who havo Ut ed through thirty years control of tho country by that party bao lived to see tho Constitution "rolled up" and 'cast Into tho flames," and the Union of our fathers change Into a despotism as absolute as any on earth. The Republicans who hated the bUrs and Stripes of the Free Republic and joined in the yell sUrted by tho Now York Thoitne to Tear down that 11 mating lie. Half matt the Urrrflajr, Insult no sunny skt Wlth Hale's pollnted rax, may now begin to bo satisfied. The end of their plotting and scheming and howling for a despotism bnilt upon up-on the destruction of the Union is In plain sight. T. EL Wilmi.t." |