14 S.D. 119 | S.D. | 1900
Upon an information filed by the state’s attorney of Brown county, charging the plaintiff in error with the crime of selling malt and brewed liquors at wholesale without a license, he was tried and convicted, and brings the proceeding before this court for review upon writ of error. It appears from the evidence on the part of the prosecution that the plaintiff in error was the agent of the Theo. Hamm Brewing Company, a corporation or
It is contended on the part of the plaintiff in error that that part of the law requiring a wholesale dealer in malt and brewed liquors not manufactured within this state to pay a license fee of $600, while
We shall not attempt to review the many cases that have been decided, bearing upon this question, as the case at bar presents so clearly a case of unjust discrimination against the citizens of other states' that the further discussion of it seems entirely unnecessary. We are of the opinion that that part" of the act referred to, imposing a license fee upon wholesale dealers whose products are manufactured without the state is clearly in conflict with the provisions of the United States constitution, and is therefore void. The plaintilf in error, acting as the agent of the brewing company in soliciting orders for that company, committed no offense against the laws of the state, and the motion made at the clos'e of the state’s evidence should have been granted by the court. The judgment of the ciicuit court is reversed, and that court is directed to discharge the plaintiff in error from further custody.