41 Mass. 359 | Mass. | 1837
afterward drew up the opinion of the Court. The only exception taken to this conviction, and to the instructions of the judge, in point of law, is, that the law of this Commonwealth, prohibiting any person from selling wine, brandy, rum or other spirituous liquors by retail without license, is repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United States, and consequently inoperative and void.
It has already been remarked in another of this class of cases, argued at the present term, that in considering the constitution and laws of the United States and those of the several States, and deciding whether their respective provisions do come in conflict or not, and to what extent, it is propei and absolutely necessary to have a just regard to the laws and institutions of the country, and of the respective States, as-they existed before the formation and adoption of the constitution of the United States, and to the objects and purposes had in view, by that constitution. The great and leading object of this complex system of government was, to select a few great and important subjects of administration, in which all the States, and the people of all the States, had a common interest, to confide them to the general government, with all the collateral, incidental and implied powers, proper and requisite to enable that government to conduct and administer them, in all their details, and to organize a system with all the executive, legislative and judicial powers and functions, necessary to the full Snd entire performance of all the duties of such a government. All other powers of sovereign government, necessary or proper, to provide for the peace, safety, health, morals and general welfare of the community, remain entire and uncontrolled, to the State government; and in the
It is contended that the laws in question prohibiting the sale of brandy, rum and other spirits, by any person within this Commonwealth, without being first duly licensed, is contrary to that provision in the constitution of the United States, which prohibits the.several States from laying any duty or impost, upon imports or exports, except such as may be absolutely necessary, to enforce and carry into effect, their respective inspection laws, and also that it is repugnant to that clause, which confides to the general government the power to regulate commerce with foreign powers, and amongst the several States.
The power to regulate licensed houses, and to provide for the regulation of the sale of spirituous liquors, in such manner as to guard against abuses, and to prevent the evils of disorderly houses, breaches of the peace, riot, immorality and pauperism, is an acknowledged power of the State government; it had long been in active operation, in this State, and no doubt in other States, before the constitution of the United States was adopted. It is not to be presumed, that the constitution was intended to inhibit or restrain the exercise of so useful and necessary a power, unless it shall so appear by plain words, nr necessary implication. The burden is upon those who would set up and enforce the restraint, to establish it, by showing that the constitution, by particular provisions, or in the accomplishment of its general purposes, necessarily interferes with it.
The power to direct and regulate the mode of selling, by
The proposition upon which the Court rest this decision is this, that to promote the peace, order, and security of the community, to prevent the evils of vice, riot, pauperism, and the temptation to crime, by securing and enforcing due regulations for the control and superintendence of the bouses and places where spirituous liquors are to be sold, is an important subject of internal police ; that it was, before the adoption of the con stitution of the United States, and still is, within the jurisdiction of the State government, never having been confided to the general government; and that the laws of Massachusetts, on which this indictment is founded, do not, by any of the means adopted to accomplish this useful and legitimate end, interfere with the laws of the United States.
The case mainly relied on by the counsel for the defendant, is that of Brown v. The State of Maryland, 12 Wheaton, 419. That case turned upon the effect of a law of the State of Maryland, prohibiting every importer of foreign goods from selling the same, by wholesale, bale, or package, without first taking out a license, and paying fifty dollars therefor. It was
The exception to the instruction of the judge of the Court of Common Pleas in this respect, is overruled.