Southern Express Co. v. State
Southern Express Co. v. State
Opinion of the Court
The Southern Express Company was indicted for violation of the law passed by the General Assembly of Georgia at its extraordinary session held in March, 1917. The indictment contained two counts, the first charging .that the defendant “did then and there transport, ship and carry from "Valdosta, Ga., to Camilla, Ga., both being points within this State, spirituous, vinous, malted, fermented, alcoholic, and intoxicating liquors. and beverages, the last named point, to wit, Camilla, Ga., being in the county of Mitchell, and said defendants did so transport,. ship, and carry said liquors and beverages in the said county of Mitchell.” The .second count alleged that the said company did “unlawfully and with force and arms, in the county aforesaid, have, control, and possess spirituous, alcoholic, and intoxicating liquors.” The case was submitted to the judge on the following agreed statement of facts: “The Southern Express Company was a corporation and common carrier at all times herein mentioned. In April, 1917, said express company received for transportation, from the Mashburn Drug Company, which was at all times herein mentioned a wholesale druggist of Valdosta, Ga., at said Valdosta, Ga., one gallon of pure alcohol, to be transported by said Southern Express Company to Dr.,H. G. Eussell at Camilla, Ga., and did transport the same from said Southern Express Company’s office in Valdosta, Ga., to its office in Camilla, Ga., in Mitchell county. Said alcohol was not delivered by said express company to Dr. Eussell, but was seized in the office of said express company by the sheriff at Camilla, Ga. Dr. Eussell was at all times mentioned herein a practicing physician of Camilla, Ga., but was not a pharmacist or apothecary holding license' as much from the State Board of Pharmacy, but kept a stock of drugs and medicines, costing at wholesale from «$100 to $200 in his office at Camilla, Ga., for use in putting up his own •prescriptions and dispensing medicines from his own office, and in his practice of his profession as a doctor of medicine; and said alcohol was wanted by him for medicinal purposes in connection with said stock of drugs and medicines. He had ordered the same
1. In the brief of one of the counsel for the plaintiff in error, the issue to be settled is thus stated: “The case can be stated in one question, to wit: Can a wholesale 'druggist doing business in Georgia ship alcohol under the restrictions contained in section 3 of the act of the legislature of the State of Georgia approved March 28, 1917, to a practising physician who is the sole proprietor of a drug-store in the State of Georgia?” We are convinced that this question must be answered in the negative. Section 1 of the said act is as follows: “Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Georgia, and it is hereby enacted by authority of the same, that from and after the passage of this act it shall be unlawful for any common carrier, corporation, firm or individual to transport, ship or' carry, by any means whatsoever, with or without hire, or cause the same to be done, from any point without this State to any point within this State, or from place to place within this State, whether intended for personal usa or otherwise, any spirituous, vinous,
Section 2 of the act approved March 28, 1917, is as follows: “Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 'that nothing herein contained shall prohibit the use of. pure alcohol for medicinal purposes as is prescribed in sections 426, 427, 428, 429 and 430 of the Criminal Code of 1910, said alcohol, however, to be shipped, received and possessed only as is provided in section 3 of this act.” It will be observed that this section provides for “the use of pure alcohol for medicinal purposes as is prescribed in sections 426, 427, 428, 429 and 430 of the Criminal Code of 1910.” Section 430 of the Criminal Code just referred to is as follows: “Nothing in the preceding sections of this Article shall be so construed as to prevent wholesale druggists from selling or furnishing alcohol in wholesale quantities to regular licensed retail druggists, or to public or charity hospitals, or to medical or pharmaceutical colleges. All wholesale druggists shall be required to keep a complete record of all their sales of alcohol, which record shall at all times be open for inspection to the regular authorities of such counties or cities in which such wholesale stores are located.” The mention, of section 430 in section 2 of the act approved March 28, 1917, causes counsel for plaintiff in error to insist that section 2 of the act approved March 28, 1917, among other things, “preserved the life of sections 426, 427, 428, 429, 430 of the Criminal Code of 1910, and added thereto .by reference the provisions which are set out in section 3; it thereby brought into section 2 the terms of section 3; the purpose of this was to make the same requirements as to shipments of alcohol from points within the State to other points within the State as were made as to shipments from points without the State to points within the State.”
We can not agree with this 'Conclusion of learned counsel. While section 2 of the act approved March 28, 1917, provides for the .use of pure alcohol, as provided in sections 426 to 430, inclusive, of .the Penal Code of 1910, this same section provides: “said alcohol, however, to be shipped, received and possessed only as is provided in section three of this act." (Italics ours.) The ■ word “only,” as here used, is exclusive, and while under this section ■ (2 of the act of 1917) alcoholic liquors after being received can be used, as .prescribed by sections 426 to 430 inclusive, they can be
2. Under the act approved March 28, 1917, the act of transporting alcoholic liquors as set out in the first count of the indictment is a separate and distinct offense from that of having, controlling, and possessing alcoholic liquors as charged in the second count thereof.
3. The agreed statement of facts shows that the defendant was guilty on both counts of the indictment, and the judgment is
Affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
■ The questions here presented for determination are, first,' is it a violation of the criminal laws of this State for a common carrier, upon the conditions set forth in the agreed statement of facts, to haul and transport, from one point within this State to another point within this State, wholesale shipments of pure alcohol; and, second, is. the possession by such carrier of such alcohol for the purposes of such transportation likewise a violation of the criminal laws of this State? Answering the first question in the negative would eliminate and dispose of the second question, since if it be not unlawful for the carrier to transport alcohol as above set out, it certainly would not be unlawful for such carrier, for the'purpose of effecting such transportation, to have such alcohol in its possession and control. ■
By way of defense, the defendant, admitting the facts charged in both counts of the indictment, relies upon the provision of section 3 of the act of 1917, claiming that it received for shipment at a point within this State pure alcohol in wholesale quantities from a wholesale druggist for the purpose of transportation to another point in this State, and to be delivered to a person authorized to receive the same under the terms of the exception provided for in section 3 of this act. The case, therefore, turns upon the proper construction to be placed upon section 3 of the act of 1917, which section reads as follows: “Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that nothing herein contained shall prohibit the use of pure alcohol for medicinal purposes as is prescribed in sections 436, 437, 438, '439 and 430 of the Criminal Code of 1910, said alcohol, however, to be shipped, received and possessed only as is provided in section 3 of this act.” Section 3 of the act of 1917, therefore, modifies the broad and sweeping terms of the preceding section making it unlawful to transport or possess alcohol and other prohibited liquors therein mentioned, by expressly providing that jmre alcohol of a certain description and for certain purposes
It is clear beyond .question that by the precise terms of the act of 1917, as set out in section 3 thereof, a common carrier may legally transport, under the restrictions therein provided as to delivery, etc., pure alcohol from a point without this State to a point within this State. Can such a shipment of alcohol by a common carrier be legally made under the terms of this act as set out in section 2 thereof from a point within this State to another point within this State? I think it can, under certain restrictions and for certain designated purposes. Section 2 of the act, as has already been pointed out, provides that “nothing herein contained shall prohibit the use of pure alcohol for medicinal purposes as is prescribed in sections 426, 427, 428, 429 and 430 of the Criminal Code of 1910, said alcohol, however, to be shipped, received and
If there be any doubt, therefore, as to the legislative intent to legalize such intrastate shipments the doubt should be resolved in favor of the legality of the same. Therefore, the clause in section 2 of the act of 1917, which provides that “said alcohol, however, to be shipped, received and possessed only as is provided in section 3 of this Act,” should not tie construed as meaning that the phrase “said alcohol” refers back to, and has reference only to, the phrase “pure alcohol,” appearing a few words back towards the beginning of this section, but will be construed as having reference to alcohol mentioned in the recited code-sections 426 to 430 contained therein.
I understand my colleagues in the majority opinion to hold that section 2 of the act of 1917 goes no further than to preserve and
The word “shipping” is defined by Mr. Justice Hall in Robertson v. Wilder, 69 Ga. 345, as “putting the cargo into a vessel.” Webster’s New International Dictionary defines the verb “ship,”— “to put for transportation aboard a vessel.” The Century Diction
“'The tane is shipped at the pier of Leith,
The tother at the Queen’s Feme.”’
Bouvier’s Law Dictionary defines “shipper” as “one who ships or puts goods on board a vessel’ to be carried to another place.” Abbott’s Law Dictionary, referring to the word “skipper” says: “ Shipper generally means one who places his goods on board a vessel for transportation.” Rapalje & Lawrence’s Law Dictionary says a “shipper” is “the owner of goods who entrusts them on board a vessel for delivery abroad.” See 7 Words & Phrases (First Series), 6487; 4 Words & Phrases (Second Series), 571. In State v. Carson, 147 Iowa, 561 (136 N. W. 698, 140 Am. St. B. 330), it is held, “The words “ship’ and 'shipments’ are used to express the idea of goods delivered to carriers for the purpose of being transported from one place to another. -. . The ordinary meaning of the word 'shipped’ is to load for transportation.” In Bowes v. Shand, L. R. 21 App. Cas. 455 (House of Lords), the court was' unanimous in the opinion that the word “shipped/’ according to its natural and ordinary signification, was “the putting of goods on board.” It was said in that case by Lord Hatherley, “I think the meaning of the word 'shipped’ is sufficiently understood by this time in commerce. But if it were heeded, I think we have sufficient evidence before us that by the word 'shipped’ all the witnesses understood 'put on board’. I read the contract therefore as if it said 'put on board,’” etc. See also Ledon v. Havemeyer, 131 N. Y. 179 (34 N. E. 397, 8 L. R. A. 345); Fisher v. Minot, 76 Mass. 360. In the language of the court in State v. Carson, cited supra, “the court is not to presume that the legislature intended the word ‘ship’ to mean something different from its ordinary signification.”
• The legislature of this State in adopting the clause under 'consideration, providing for the shipment of alcohol, did not intend to prescribe rules and regulations governing the manner in which a shipment may be begun or initiated in a foreign State beyond its jurisdiction. It certainly will not be presumed that the legislature intended to exceed its powers and go beyond its jurisdiction
How is a shipment, in its accepted sense of being put on board a carrier, provided for in section 3, when, according to the terms of this section, no such shipment is made from a point within this State? How can alcohol in this State be “shipped” or put on board in accordance with the provisions of section 3, which makes no provision for such shipments, but only provides for the possession or receipt of alcohol from other States? The answer is this: The word “shipped” as used in section 2, in addition to the idea of being put on board a ship or carrier, contains the further idea of transportation, i. e., transported, hauled, or earned from the point of shipment. See Kipling’s “Ship me somewhere east of Suez.” Hnless the idea of .transportation or movement from the shipping point is lodged somewhere between the ideas “shipped” and “received,”-the alcohol when “shipped” merely would remain stationary, and would not be transported or carried away. So when alcohol mentioned in section 2 is transported, shipped, or carried, or hauled, from a shipping point within this State, it is transported, shipped, or carried, or hauled as provided in section 3, which section provides that the carrier may “transport; ship or carry . . pure alcohol.” Furthermore, the instrumentality by which such alcohol is “shipped” or “carried,” under the provisions of section 3, is by a “common ca/rrier,” and not otherwise. Therefore, the alcohol referred to in section 2 must be “shipped” only as provided in section 3,” i. e. by a common carrier. Construing the two sections' 2 and 3 together, I take it that they mean that pure alcohol may be shipped and transported from a point within this State
If section 3 of. the act of 1917 is ambiguous or susceptible to two constructions, I am willing to presume that the legislature of-this-State, when authorizing the sale and use of pure alcohol within this State, as it does in section 3 of the act of 1917 and the act of 1907 there ratified, intended to discriminate against its own wholesale druggists in favor of those of other States by denying the means of transportation to the former while permitting the same to the latter. For this reason, if the language of the act does not imperatively demand the view taken by my colleagues in the majority opinion, I must give to section 3 a construction that will permit the citizens of this State to do business within this State on an equal footing with citizens of other States. However plausible may be the view taken in the majority opinion, it curtails the rights and privileges of the common carriers and citizens of this- State. • It is in derogation of the common* law and common right. Sound judicial policy, therefore, precludes any such construction upon a purely statutory enactment, unless its unambiguous terms imperatively so demand.
The act of 1907 (Penal Code, § 436-430, inclusive) provides that pure alcohol may in wholesale quantities be furnished by “wholesale druggists”- to “regular licensed retail druggists” and others. It seems to be conceded in the arguments and briefs that the shipment as made by the defendant carrier in this case was a wholesale shipment as provided in the act of 1907. However that may be, in my opinion the act of 1907 is to be construed as recognizing pure alcohol in excess of one pint as “wholesale quantities.” Therefore, when transported in wholesale quantities as authorized by the act of 1907, as declared and reaffirmed by the act of 1917, such alcohol must be shipped from one authorized by the act of 1907 to sell or furnish it, viz., a “wholesale druggist” within this State, to one’ authorized to receive it within this State.'
Did the Southqrn Express Company, a common carrier, ship or transport a consignment of pure alcohol in wholesale quantities from and to such persons as is provided by law? The shipment
The Southern Express Company, defendant in this case, a common carrier, having received a wholesale shipment of pure alcohol from a wholesale druggist within this State, for the purpose of transporting the same to another point within this State, and with the intention to there deliver it to a person authorized to receivé it, acted within its legal rights and violated no criminal law. The conviction, therefore, under the first count in the indictment was contrary to law! The possession of such alcohol being necessary to its transportation, which transportation was not criminal, but in accordance with law, such possession by said common carrier was perfectly legal, and a conviction cannot be sustained under the second count of the indictment. I am of the opinion that the judgment should b¿ reversed.
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