149 A. 710 | Pa. | 1930
Argued February 3, 1930. The four bills in this litigation are based substantially on the same grounds and have a like import and purpose: viz.: to enjoin the police authorities of the City of Philadelphia from interfering with plaintiffs in *498 conductiong their respective manufacturing plants, praying for the return of property seized by the police and that further seizures be restrained. The bill in each case was dismissed by the court below and these appeals followed. The four appeals will be considered and disposed of in one opinion.
Plaintiffs allege in their several bills that they are manufacturers of toilet waters, perfumes and a kindred line of commercial preparations, from formulas requiring an extensive use of denatured alcohol. The seizure particularly specified was the taking possession by the police of about 2,000 gallons of perfume, prepared by one of plaintiffs, while being transported in a truck on a public street in the City of Philadelphia. The seizure was made on the grounds that the perfume comprising the shipment was not manufactured in accordance with the federal permit, admittedly held by the manufacturer of the perfume, but was so differently prepared as to permit of being readily converted, by distillation or other simple process, into alcoholic liquor, fit for beverage purposes, the manufacture and sale of which are unlawful under the provisions of the Act of March 27, 1923, P. L. 34, known as the Snyder Act, and the supplement thereto of February 19, 1926, P. L. 16. Plaintiffs claim the property seized was manufactured in strict conformity with the government permit, properly in their possession, and was not consequently liable to seizure nor their plants subject to police surveillance. That plaintiff held a proper permit and the seizure was made without warrant are admitted. By consent of the parties all testimony was heard in the case of the seizure specified and the trial treated as a final hearing covering the bills filed. The trial judge in an opinion granted the injunction against defendants and a decree nisi was entered restraining defendants from surveillance of the business of plaintiffs and directing a return of the liquor seized. Subsequently a majority of the court in banc sustained exceptions of defendants and held the court *499 below was without jurisdiction in equity to issue an injunction restraining officers of the law from enforcing the provisions of the Acts of 1923 and 1926, because under the provisions of the Snyder Act appellants have a complete remedy at law in the court of quarter sessions and that by the Act of 1926, supplementary to the Snyder Act, no jurisdiction exists in a court of equity to compel by injunctive process an officer of the law to surrender possession of seized alcoholic liquors. In reaching their decision the court in banc deemed it unnecessary to detail consideration of the merits of the questions involved.
If appellants here have an express statutory remedy at law, the decision of the court below is in direct accord with the principle, unwaveringly adhered to in this jurisdiction from early days, as set forth succinctly in Turnpike v. Martin,
The record here reveals that, for some time previous to the seizure of the perfume in question, plaintiff's plant had been under close surveillance by prohibition agents, who reported to the police authorities of Philadelphia that alcohol stored in the property was disappearing in large quantities and that a truck load shipment was about to be made. The shipment by truck was made, the seizure above referred to followed and surveillance over the place of manufacture was instituted. The liquor was subsequently delivered, under authorization of the Snyder Law, into the custody of the district attorney of Philadelphia County.
The bills of complaint and answers thereto were filed in May, 1929, and in June, 1929, proceedings for condemnation of the seized truck and merchandise were instituted, under provisions of the Snyder Act, by the district attorney, which action is now pending. Meanwhile *500 the court below proceeded with the pending equity cases. Early in the trial of those cases, counsel for defendants challenged the jurisdiction of equity, contending that an adequate and exclusive remedy at law was given plaintiffs under the provisions of the Snyder Act, by petition in the court of quarter sessions. The objection was overruled by the trial judge and an exception granted.
The questions for determination here arise wholly under a law of this Commonwealth, not under any federal statute. "Each state, as also congress," said Chief Justice TAFT in U.S. v. Lanza,
In Com. ex rel. v. Keister,
It seems unnecessary to do more than point out that the entire intent and direction of the Snyder Act combine to distinctly place all violations of its provisions and resulting trials within the exclusive jurisdiction of the court of quarter sessions. What is really to be determined here at present is whether or not the seized property of plaintiff shall be forfeited and condemned; and a proceeding for that purpose is now pending in the court of quarter sessions, instituted by the district attorney, having custody of the goods. Section 11, subsection D(I) of the Act of 1923, directs: "The proceedings for the forfeiture or condemnation of all property, the destruction or sale of which is provided for in subsections (II) and (III) of clause (B) of this section, shall be in rem in which the Commonwealth shall be the plaintiff and the property the defendant. A petition shall be filed in the court of quarter sessions of the peace, verified by oath or affirmation of any officer or citizen, . . . . . . and a prayer for an order of forfeiture — that the same be adjudged forfeited to the Commonwealth and condemned and be ordered sold or destroyed (as the case may be) according to law — unless cause be shown to the contrary"; and the act in various other sections directs modes of procedure to be followed in the quarter sessions.
Undoubtedly, in the course of the trial already instituted by the district attorney, plaintiffs will have ample and free opportunity to show and to prove, if possible, that the seized perfume was prepared in full conformity with the federal permit and that the remaining property over which the police authorities maintain surveillance is equally free from the taint of illegality. In the *502
event of such proof, his seized preparation must be returned to him and the surveillance ended. His remedy accordingly lies where the Snyder Act of 1923 places it, — within the exclusive jurisdiction of the court of quarter sessions. Where a remedy for a particular wrong or injury has been provided by statute, the general rule is that no relief in equity can be afforded in such case by injunction: 32 C. J. 65. We have adhered to that well established rule in a number of cases, among them Com. v. Exler,
Our conclusion answers the substantial questions as to the matter of jurisdiction offered in the statements of questions involved, presented by counsel for the respective parties; and since we have not considered the merits of the case in reaching our conclusion, most of appellants' *503 assignments of error do not require attention; and the first of the assignments, being directed against the final decree of the court below, and also assignments 28, 49 and 50, relating to the question of jurisdiction, are overruled.
The decree of the court below in each case dismissing plaintiffs' bill is affirmed at appellants' costs.