In re Ware
| Decision Date | 29 June 1892 |
| Citation | 53 F. 783 |
| Parties | In re WARE. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
M. D Munn, for petitioner.
Dellafield McGovern & Co., who were citizens of Illinois, manufactured in that state, and placed in a package which was not marked with the words, 'This Baking Powder Contains Alum,' a quantity of baking powder, and shipped the same to the prisoner, in Minnesota, who was their agent for the purpose of selling it. The prisoner, as such agent at St. Paul, in the state of Minnesota, sold this original package in the same condition in which he received it. There was no charge that this baking powder was poisonous, or in any way dangerous, or that its use was in any way deleterious to the public health. For this sale the prisoner was committed to the county jail by the municipal court of the city of St Paul, because it was a violation of section 1 of chapter 7 of the General Laws of Minnesota for 1889, as amended by chapter 119 of the General Laws of Minnesota for 1891, which declares it to be a misdemeanor to sell baking powder containing alum in Minnesota, unless the package containing it is labeled 'This Baking Powder Contains Alum,' and imposes a penalty by fine or imprisonment for such misdemeanor. Article 1 of section 8 of the constitution of the United States provides that 'the congress shall have power to regulate commerce among the several states. ' This power to regulate commerce was by this provision of the constitution granted by the people and the states to and vested in the congress exclusively, and no state, by virtue of any power reserved to the states, can lawfully infringe upon this grant. Any act of a state which interferes with interstate commerce in a well-known and sound article of commerce is unconstitutional and void. Railroad Co. v. Husen, 95 U.S. 465, 471-473; Bowman v. Railway Co., 125 U.S 474, 475, 479-481, 484, 485, 488, 489, 497, 507, 508, 8 S.Ct. 689, 1062; Henderson v. Mayor, 92 U.S. 271, 272; Foster v. Commissioners, 7 Minn. 140, (Gil. 84;) Hall v. De Cuir, 95 U.S. 485. There is no question that a state, in the exercise of the police power reserved to it, may pass sanitary laws, and laws for the protection of life, liberty, or property within its borders, and, for the purpose of self-protection, may pass reasonable quarantine and inspection laws, but it cannot, under the cover of the exercise of its police powers, substantially prohibit or burden interstate commerce. Thus it may prohibit the importation into the state, or the sale therein, of putrid, diseased, or dangerous articles of food; but it cannot prohibit or substantially burden commerce among the states in wholesome or healthful articles of...
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State v. Bayer
...95 U.S. 465; In re Sanders, 52 F. 802; Collins v. New Hampshire, 171 U.S. 30; Ex parte Scott, 66 F. 45; In re McAlister, 51 F. 282; In re Ware, 53 F. 783; Stubbs v. People [Colo.], 90 P. 1114; In re 58 F. 467.) An occupation which is thus perfectly legal and lawfully conducted cannot be pro......
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...grows his own fruit, and ships it into this state, and sells it from a railroad car within the limits of a village, is not a merchant. Re Ware, 53 F. 783; Hannibal & St. J. R. v. Husen, 95 U.S. 465, 471-473, 24 L.Ed. 527, 530, 531; Bowman v. Chicago & N.W. R. Co. 125 U.S. 474-508, 31 L.Ed. ......
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