Express Companies and Prohibition Laws

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 15, 1907

Express Companies and Prohibition Laws

An indication of the obstacles with which the temperance forces of this country have to contend is seen in the following: The United States Supreme Court decided May 16 that express companies may conduct a business which amounts to the vending of liquor in counties of Kentucky which have local option. Incidentally the decision will have an important effect on the liquor traffic in Iowa, Kansas, and other States that are trying to suppress the traffic. The decision was on an appeal of the Adams Express Company against the State of Kentucky in cases where the company had been defeated in the State courts. The suits originated in Knox and Laurel Counties, where a determined effort was being made to bar the sale of liquors. The company brought liquor from Cincinnati, consigned to no one in particular, and dispensed it to any one who would pay the cost and charges. The State claimed that this was merely conducting a saloon; but the company alleged that the goods had been shipped C. O. D., and that it was bound to deliver them. The Supreme Court of the United States held that any interference of the local authorities with this business, which was clearly against the laws of the State, would be interference with interstate traffic. Justice Harlan dissented. This decision permits the express companies to practically nullify the prohibition laws of the various States. The liquor business is being driven to desperate straits in some parts of the country, and periodicals devoted to the liquor trade have openly expressed their fears of the growing prohibition sentiment, especially in the Southern States; but it is desperately clinging to every hold it has ever gained upon the American people.