Tarver v. Silver

178 S.E. 377, 180 Ga. 124, 1935 Ga. LEXIS 195
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedJanuary 18, 1935
DocketNo. 10470
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 178 S.E. 377 (Tarver v. Silver) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tarver v. Silver, 178 S.E. 377, 180 Ga. 124, 1935 Ga. LEXIS 195 (Ga. 1935).

Opinions

Gilbert, Justice.

This case involves the transportation of a truck-load of liquor which the petitioner alleged he was taking from Newark, N. J., to New Orleans, La., in interstate commerce, and which the defendant contended the petitioner had brought into the State of Georgia for the purpose of violating the State prohibition law. The court in the injunction proceedings had a broad discretion in case of conflicting evidence, as has uniformly been held. “This power, however, being extraordinary, ought to be exercised with great caution, and applied only in a very clear case and in such manner as to prevent injustice and unnecessary injury, and it is also necessary that there should be some special circumstances bringing the case under some recognized head of equity jurisdiction. The court should therefore be guided by the fact that the burden of proof rests upon the complainant to establish the material allegations entitling him to relief. 14 E. C. L. 308, § 5. “There must be no misrepresentation or concealment of important facts, and if plaintiff keeps in the background facts which are important to enable the court to form its judgment, such conduct is of itself sufficient to prevent the interposition of the court.” High on Injunctions, § 11. “Full and candid disclosure of all facts must be made in the application for injunction; and if- the case of complainant shows that it has not been made, or if it shows a concealment of facts which would, if stated, materially affect the conscience of the court, the chancellor may properly refuse an injunction.” Reddall v. Bryan, 14 Md. 444 (74 Am. D. 550). “The [127]*127rule has been frequently laid down broadly that a preliminary injunction will not issue where the right which the complainant seeks to have protected is in doubt, where the right of the relief asked is doubtful, or except in a clear case of right.” 32 C. J. 36, § 16. Injunction is not of right but of grace; to warrant the interposition of this strongest arm of the law the case must not be a sham but a well-grounded complaint, the bona lides of which is unquestioned, or capable of vindication if questioned. Kenton v. Kailway Co., 54 Pa. 401. “The power of . . ordering injunctions should be prudently and cautiously exercised, and except in clear and urgent cases should not be resorted to.” Civil Code (1910), § 5477. This court held, in Gaines v. Holmes, 154 Ga. 344 (3) (114 S. E. 327, 27 A. L. R. 98) : “There is no law oí this State which makes contraband or unlawful the transportation of intoxicating liquors on a through bill of lading in interstate commerce on an interstate railway train from one State to another State, merely passing through this State, where there has been no delivery to any person within this State, nor any access or control exercised by any person within this State, except the common carrier in the act of transportation.” Mr. Justice Hines specially concurred in the judgment, “because the liquor involved was not contraband. Under the police power of this State contraband liquor can be seized and confiscated, whenever found within the limits of this State, although the same may be moving as an interstate shipment by rail carrier. There is no property in intoxicating liquor, under circumstances which render it contraband, which is protected by the provision of the interstate-commerce clause of the constitution of the United States, against the police power of the State; and under this power such liquor can be seized and destroyed under any and all circumstances. I do not understand that there is anything in the opinion holding the contrary; but I wish to make my position in this matter clear.”

Why was that shipment held not contraband? That was fully explained in the opinion, viz.: “There was evidence to the effect that the whisky was loaded on a railroad train in Kentucky for transportation over different lines of railway from Kentucky to Los Angeles, Cal., under a through bill of lading from the point of shipment to the destination in California. It is not contended that the whisky was to be delivered anjwhere within the territorial [128]*128limits of the State of Georgia, or that it was delivered, or that any one had access to it except the sheriff of Dade County, who made the seizure. It is true that the whisky was shipped to the order of the consignor, with direction to notify Brunswig Drug Company; and it is contended that the consignor could have had access to it at any point en route to the final destination. It does not appear, however, that the consignor exercised the right to take possession of it within the territorial limits of Georgia, or attempted to do so; and so far as the principles of law applicable to the case are concerned, it will be treated as though the shipment were one passing through the State of Georgia without delivery to any person in the State, and to which no person in the State exercised the right of access to it or any right of property therein, save that the railway company as a common carrier exercised possession and control for the purpose of through transportation. In General Oil Co. v. Crain, 209 U. S. 211 (28 Sup. Ct. 475, 52 L. ed. 754), it was said: ‘Merchandise may cease to be interstate commerce at an intermediate point between the place of shipment and ultimate destination; and if kept at such point for the use and benefit of the owners and under the protection of the laws of the State, it becomes subject to the taxing and police power of the State/ In this case no act of the owner or of any other person caused the whisky shipment to terminate in this State, but, as above stated, the contrary definitely appears. The act of Congress known as the Volstead act, among other provisions, contains the following: ‘Liquor for nonbeverage purposes and wine for sacramental purposes may be manufactured, purchased, sold, bartered, transported, imported, exported, delivered, furnished and possessed, but only as herein provided, and the commissioner may, upon application, issue permits therefor.' Fed. Stat. Ann. Supp. 1919, p. 206, § 3. On the hearing of the case the petitioner offered in evidence certain permits purporting to have been issued by the proper Federal authorities, authorizing the transportation of the specific shipment of whisky from Glenn Creek, Ky., to Los Angeles, Cal.; and also similar authority for the sale of the whisky by Gaines & Co. and the purchase of the same by Brunswig Drug Company.”

Having announced principles of law that apply to circumstances of liquor being transported from one State to another State through an intermediate dry State, we shall now consider the testimony [129]*129which was introduced at the hearing in the present case, as an aid in determining whether the facts justified the grant of an interlocutory injunction until a jury could pass upon the facts, or whether they were such as left no reasonable inference save that the petitioner was violating the prohibition law of Georgia and, under the guise of interstate commerce, was seeking to hide his real, unlawful purpose. At the hearing Silver did not testify in person, but he introduced his sworn petition and other writings. He introduced no affidavits and no oral evidence. This fact is important for the ascertainment of the truth. Although there were three men co-operating with him in transporting the liquor when the truck was seized, neither of them was sworn as a witness and thus made subject to cross-examination. Their silence authorized the court to draw conclusions fatal to the petitioner’s contentions.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
178 S.E. 377, 180 Ga. 124, 1935 Ga. LEXIS 195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tarver-v-silver-ga-1935.