State v. McCosh

279 N.W. 775, 134 Neb. 780, 1938 Neb. LEXIS 112
Nebraska Supreme Court·Decided May 20, 1938·No. No. 29995·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Eberly, J.

This is a proceeding by the county attorney of Scotts Bluff county to secure a review of the decision of the district court for that county made in the above-entitled cause, ■ wherein that court determined that section 81-903, Comp. St. Supp. 1935, and sections 81-905, 81-910, and 81-911, Comp. St. 1929, “are unconstitutional and void.” The provisions of the statutes referred to, so far as involved in this proceeding, are as follows:

Section 81-903, Comp. St. Supp. 1935: “For the purpose of this chapter an article shall be deemed to be adulterated: * * * C. In the case of ice cream and/or dairy products made in the semblance of ice cream. If it does not contain at least fourteen per cent, butter fat, finish, and of fruit cream twelve per cent, butter fat, finish, if it contains any ingredient deleterious or detrimental to health. Provided: There shall be allowed a tolerance of one-half per cent, provided the one-half per cent, is not constantly below the standard.”

Section 81-905, Comp. St. 1929: “The term ‘food,’ as used herein shall include all articles used for food, drink, confectionery or condiment by man or animals, whether simple, mixed or compound.”

Section 81-910, Comp. St. 1929: “No person shall, within this state, manufacture for sale therein or have in his possession with intent to sell * * * articles of food * * * which are adulterated * * * within the meaning of this title (article).”

Section 81-911, Comp. St. 1929: “Any person * * * violating any of the provisions of this article (81-901 to 81-914), shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon con[782] viction thereof, shall be fined in a sum not less than ten ($10) dollars nor more than one hundred ($100) dollars.” The complaint in writing, on which this trial was-had, in apt language charged that the defendant, McCosh, “did then and there, wilfully and unlawfully have in his possession with intent to sell certain articles of food which were adulterated, to wit, twenty-five gallons of a dairy product, made in the semblance of ice cream, which did not contain at least fourteen per cent, of butter fat.”

After the introduction of evidence and submission of the case, a judgment of guilty as charged was entered in due form, and thereafter a motion for a new trial was sustained by the trial court and the proceeding was dismissed because the provisions of law upon which the prosecution was based were deemed unconstitutional and void.

It is the contention at the bar of this court that chapter 117, Laws 1931, was enacted in violation of section 14, art. Ill of the Constitution of the state of Nebraska, for that (1) the act is broader than the title; (2) that it in effect amends section 81-904, Comp. St. 1929, a part of the chapter of which the amended section 81-903 also constituted a part, and that section 81-904 is not contained in the amendment nor is this section repealed.

The questioned title is in the following form: “An act to amend section 81-903, Compiled Statutes of Nebraska for 1929, and to define ice cream and prescribe the tolerance and to repeal section 81-903, Compiled Statutes of Nebraska for 1929.”

Read in connection with the body of the enactment of which it is the title, we find it ample and sufficient. It fairly appears that the act is not broader than the title. Nor is it vulnerable to the objection that section 81-904 is not contained in the amendment nor is this section repealed. Section 81-903 is wholly occupied with the subject of adulteration. Section 81-904 is limited to the subject of misbranding. The proviso, upon which the challenge of defendant in error to the validity of this legislation is based, forms a part of the-fifth section of division “B” of section [783]*78381-904, Comp. St. 1929. The controlling construction of this proviso is:

“The operation of a proviso is usually and properly confined to the clause or distinct portion of the enactment which immediately precedes it, and does not extend to or qualify other sections, unless the legislative intent that it shall so operate is clearly disclosed.” 59 C. J. 1090. See, also, Paxton & Hershey Irrigating Canal & Land Co. v. Farmers & Merchants Irrigation & Land Co., 45 Neb. 884, 64 N. W. 343.

The language of this proviso, thus limited, is wholly restricted to section 81-904, and has no application to section 81-903. The amendment of 1931 to section 81-903 in no manner affects or qualifies the legal effect of the proviso under consideration, and therefore it is not vulnerable to the objection on which the defendant in error relies.

Lastly, the defendant in error insists that chapter 117, Laws 1931, is an arbitrary and unlawful exercise of police power, and violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and section 3, art. I of the Nebraska Constitution.

The substance of the provisions here under consideration was originally enacted as chapter 109, Laws 1913. It was then incorporated into the Civil Code as article V, title 3, ch. 190, Laws 1919. In turn this provision was carried into the Compiled Statutes of 1929 as sections 81-901 to 81-914, inclusive. The amendment of 1931 adds to the specific provisions of section 81-903, the words “and/or dairy products made in the semblance of ice cream,” and also by way of a modification adds to this provision a specific tolerance.

In this connection, it may be said that “ice cream” as defined by Webster’s New International Dictionary (2d ed.) is: “A frozen food containing cream, or butter fat, flavoring, sweetening, and, usually, eggs; specif., such a food made smooth by stirring during freezing; — distinguished from par fait and mousse.”

So, too, the same lexicographer gives as one of the definí[784] tions of the word “dairy” the following: “An establishment for the sale or distribution of milk or milk products,” and among its combinations and phrases the term “dairy product” is noted.

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State v. McCosh, 279 N.W. 775, 134 Neb. 780, 1938 Neb. LEXIS 112 (Neb. 1938).

279 N.W. 775 (State v. McCosh) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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