In re Swan. Original
Decision Date | 18 December 1893 |
Docket Number | No. 10,10 |
Parties | In re SWAN. Original |
Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Statement by Mr. Chief Justice FULLER:
By an order of the circuit court of the United States for the district of South Carolina in the case of F. W. Bound v. The South Carolina Railway Company and Others, Daniel H. Chamberlain was appointed receiver of the railway company and all of its property was placed under his care and management, and protected by injunction. In the operation of the railroad as a common carrier, there was delivered to the receiver April 12, 1893, a barrel of liquor shipped by citizens of North Carolina from Statesville, in that state, and consigned to their agents in Charleston, S. C. By reason of some confusion arising over the bill of lading, or from the markings on the barrel, there was difficulty in discovering the consignees, and the barrel was stored in the warehouse of the railroad company, awaiting the result of an investigation in that particular.
An act of the general assembly of South Carolina, commonly called the 'Dispensary Law,' and entitled 'An act to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage within this state, except as herein provided,' was approved December 24, 1892, and by its terms was to go into full operation July 1, 1893. Acts S. C. 1892, p. 62.
On the 1st of August, 1893, while the matter of the ascertainment of the consignee was being investigated, and the barrel was in the warehouse of the receiver, freight unpaid, one C. B. Swan entered the warehouse, seized the barrel, took it out of the custody of the receiver, and deposited it in the jail of Charleston county, in the care of the sheriff. Swan showed no authority either from the consignee or the consignor of the goods, and produced no warrant by virtue of which the seizure was made. When questioned by the receiver, the sole authority referred to by him was his commission as a constable of the state. His suspicions had been excited respecting this barrel, it having been, presumably from necessity, removed from one part of the floor of the warehouse to another, and he acted on his suspicions. It was admitted that he took the course he did of his own motion, without instructions from any one in the legal department of the state, and probably without instructions from any other person. After the seizure the goods remained in the place where deposited by Swan, without any proceeding or application whatever, until on August 7, 1893, the receiver filed his petition in the circuit court in the case in which he was appointed, setting forth the facts, and praying that Swan be attached and punished for contempt of court in seizing the goods without warrant, and that he be compelled to restore them to the receiver's custody for delivery to the consignee. A rule to show cause was accordingly entered, to which Swan made answer, disclaiming any purpose to commit contempt of court, but justifying the seizure under the dispensary act, and making no offer to restore the goods. The court, after full hearing, ordered that the rule be made absolute, and committed him to the custody of the marshal, to be imprisoned in the jail of Charleston county until he returned, 'to the custody of the receiver, the barrel taken by him from the warehouse without warrant of law; and, when that has been surrendered, that he suffer a further imprisonment thereafter in said county jail for three months, and until he pay the costs of these proceedings.'
In its opinion, the court, (SIMONTON, District Judge,) after stating the facts, said:
The various sections of the dispensary act were then considered, and the result reached that a constable had no authority to so search and seize under the terms of the act, on general principles, or under the constitution of South Carolina, and it was said in conclusion:
Swan, having been committed, presented his petition for the writ of habeas corpus, and a rule having been entered thereon, and a return having been duly made thereto, the application was heard by this court upon the petition and return, and the accompanying exhibits, which included the opinion, now reported in 57 Fed. 485.
By the first section of the dispensary act it was provided that after July 1, 1893, the manufacture, sale, barter, or exchange, or the keeping or offering for sale, barter, trade, or exchange, within the state, of intoxicating liquors, should be regulated and conducted as provided in the act.
The second section provided for the appointment of a commission to purchase all intoxicating liquors for lawful sale in the state, and to furnish the same to persons designated as dispensers thereof, to be sold as prescribed.
In all purchases or sales made by the commissioner it was made his duty to cause a certificate to be attached to each and every package, 'and without such certificate any package containing liquors which shall be brought into the state, or shipped out of the state, or shipped from place to place within the state, by any railroad, express company, or other common carrier, shall be regarded as intended for unlawful sale.'
The following are applicable sections of the act, some immaterial parts being omitted:
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