State v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

89 S.E. 288, 78 W. Va. 526, 1916 W. Va. LEXIS 137
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedJune 1, 1916
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 89 S.E. 288 (State v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 89 S.E. 288, 78 W. Va. 526, 1916 W. Va. LEXIS 137 (W. Va. 1916).

Opinions

Rofeenbarger, Judge:

The question presented by the record in this cause is whether the State may restrain common carriers from allowing passengers to carry suit cases, trunks or other containers containing .intoxicating liquors as unchecked personal baggage, on the ground that the allowance of that privilege to passengers enlarges the opportunity for violation of the constitutional and statutory laws prohibiting the manufacture, sale and gifts of such liquors.

Tt arises upon a final decree, reading in part as follows: “It is therefore adjudged, ordered and decreed that the respondent, The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, be and it is hereby enjoined and restrained from permitting the carriage or transportation as baggage in and on its passenger trains running into or operating within the State of West Virginia, and particularly within said County of Mineral,, or elsewhere within the jurisdiction of this Court, any suit case, trunk or other container labeled as containing liquor. It is further adjudged, ordered and decreed that in the event such suit ease, trunk or other container labeled as containing liquor is found on a passenger train in West Virginia, the same shall be removed at the next stopping point for such train where there is a railroad agent in said State, and unless removed by the person claiming the same, such suit case, trunk [529]*529or other container shall he placed in the hands of the station-agent at snch station and notice given to the Commissioner, of Prohibition at Charleston, West Virginia, or to any of his officers or agents.” This decree was entered after the overruling of a demnrrer to the bill and two motions to dissolve the preliminary injunction, one made before, and the other after, the filing of an answer. As to issues of fact raised by. the answer, no proof was taken.

The bill sets forth the prohibition policy of the state, made manifest by its constitution and statutes, and the statutory limitation upon the right to bring liquors into the state for personal use. The allegation recognizing this exception and purporting to give the limitation thereon reads: 1 ‘ And .plaintiff further represents that her public policy, other than as to certain liquors for druggists for the special purposes and un-, der regulations provided by law, as expressed by her laws, only. permits the bringing of intoxicating liquors into her jurisdiction by the person who personally procures the same from the outside dealer and personally carries the same into plaintiff state, and only then when such intoxicating liquors are intended for the personal, lawful use of the person who has so purchased and is so carrying them into plaintiff state for his personal, lawful use, and not for the purpose of-keeping, storing, selling or having for sale such intoxicating liquors; and, then, subject to the requirement that when the aggregate of such intoxicating liquors, so carried into plaintiff state by such person,- for his lawful personal use, shall exceed one-half gallon in quantity that there shall be plainly-printed or written on the side or top of the container of such intoxicating liquors, in large display letters, in the English language, the contents of the container or containers, and the quantity and-kind of intoxicating liquors contained therein.”

It avers knowledge on the part of the defendant, of the fact that many persons transport, and have been .transporting, large quantities of such liquors into the state, by means of its trains, under the guise of personal baggage; that a large part, if not the largest part, of the liquors so brought into the state, is and has been brought in for the purpose of being here unlawfully kept, stored and sold, and the practice is continued [530]*530or permitted notwithstanding notice of the abuse or perversion of the privilege of such carriage has been brought to the attention of the defendant and protests made against allowance thereof, by the prosecuting attorneys and other officers charged with the duty of enforcement of the prohibition laws; that the defendant has not heeded protests of the owners and operators of coal, lumber and other industries against the permission of this privilege under which liquors are so brought into cities and towns, including mining and lumber towns, and sold and disposed of contrary to law; that the officers charged with enforcement of the prohibition laws have unavailingly brought to the attention of the defendant, such transportation and unlawfulness thereof, requested establishment of rules defining and limiting the quantity of such liquors passengers may carry as personal baggage, and charged discrimination in favor of persons carrying liquors in its passenger coaches and against passengers carrying other baggage and allowance of carriage of liquors as personal baggage .in greater volume and weight than is permitted as to other articles so carried and permission of the same passengers, at extremely short intervals, to carry such packages in its coaches; that defendant, despite the information so given, continues the privilege so accorded to its passengers and has formulated no rules respecting the carriage of intoxicating liquors into the state in its coaches and its action and conduct are in aid and assistance to those who bring into the state such liquors for sale, keeping and storage contrary to law; that such conduct constitutes the defendant a common nuisance under the common and statute laws of the state; that a large number of persons, many of whom are of questionable character and standing, travel on defendant’s cars between certain towns in Maryland in which liquors are sold and points in this state, carrying no other baggage than large quantities of liquors in containers, called paper cartons, with content labels on them, conforming to the statutory requirements; that such packages are not baggage; that the carriers of these packages seem to be “only incidental to this liquor baggage, their functions being the supervision and sáfe transportation thereof; ’ ’ that George McCarty brought in 362 pints of beer, [531]*531weighing 360 lbs., July 5, 1915, Louie Viney 57 qts. oí whiskey, 5 gals, of alcohol and 18 pints of beer, weighing 303 lbs., July 15, 1915, Jos. Biekos, 10 gals, of alcohol and 1 qt. of whiskey, weighing 175 lbs., August 16, 1915 and Chas. Viney, 55 pints of whiskey, and 24 pints of beer, weighing 155 lbs., Dec. 4,1915, and that many persons transported into the state with liquors in their possession, by the defendant, have been arrested and convicted of unlawful sale, keeping and storage of the liquors so brought in.

The prayer of the bill is that the defendant, its agents, etc., be enjoined from permitting the carriage of intoxicating liquors as “personal baggage” in any of its passenger coaches, when the containers are so labeled as to disclose the character of the contents, unless the defendant, through its agents, etc., has first ascertained by diligence and caution and in good faith, that such liquors are not intended for unlawful use or disposition.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
89 S.E. 288, 78 W. Va. 526, 1916 W. Va. LEXIS 137, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-baltimore-ohio-railroad-wva-1916.