Territory of Hawaii v. Wong Feart

17 Haw. 353
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 28, 1906
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 17 Haw. 353 (Territory of Hawaii v. Wong Feart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Territory of Hawaii v. Wong Feart, 17 Haw. 353 (haw 1906).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

HARTWELL, J.

The defendant was convicted upon an indictment which charged that on Sunday, February 28, 1904, when holding a license under Act 61 of the Laws of 1898, entitled “An Act to Authorize Licenses for the Retail of Wines, Beers and Ales of Low Alcoholic Strength,” he furnished to one William Elrekela at his place of business, set forth and described in said license, certain spirituous and intoxicating liquor, to wit, beer.

The defendant excepted to the overruling of his demurrer to the indictment, based upon the grounds (1) that the act (meaning the section 8 under which the prosecution is brought) is illegal in embracing more than one subject; (2) that the indictment does not charge an offense within the jurisdiction ■of the court, or (3) the commission of acts which constitute any offense under the laws of the Territory. It is contended that this is more than an act to authorize licenses; that it is an act to regulate the traffic of intoxicating liquors; that the two things are quite distinct, regulation of the traffic being more extensive than authorizing licenses; that a provision for prosecuting and punishing licensees “is neither necessarily nor reasonably included within the scope and meaning of the title;” that the present law, Act 61, 1905, entitled “An Act to Regulate the manufacture and Sale,” etc., in using the word “regulate,” conforms to general usage in titles of acts which provide [355]*355for prosecution and punishment of those who violate their provisions. Eor this contention the following cases are cited: Lauer v. State, 22 Ind. 461, holding that “An Act to Regulate and License the Sale of Intoxicating Liquors, and Providing Penalties for the Violation Thereof” did not lawfully embrace a section relating to the jurisdiction of courts and of the practice therein for the prosecution of offenses, on the ground that the section “is not embraced by the title of the act nor properly connected with the subject matter of it;” Commonwealth v. Frantz, 135 Pa. 389, that “The Act to Prohibit the Issuing of Licenses to Sell Liquors” in certain boroughs does not lawfully include a section providing a penalty for sale of liquor in the boroughs, since “there is nothing in the title to give notice of such legislation.” The rule which has the “greater weight of reason and authority” is that, “When an act of the legislature expresses in its title the object of the act, the title embraces and expresses any lawful means to achieve the object, thus fulfilling the constitutional injunction that every law shall embrace but one object, and that shall be expressed in its title.” San Antonio v. Mehaffy, 96 U. S. 315. AYhen the general purpose is declared in the title, the means for its accomplishment, being a penalty, will presume to be intended as a necessary incident. Cohn v. People, 149 Ill. 491. In “An Act to Provide for the Collection of the Special Taxes Imposed by Law on Dealers in Spirituous or Malt Liquors,” the indictment for which it provides is only a means to the end for which it was passed. Brown v. State, 13 Ga. 38,

In The King v. Fernandez, 1 Haw. 505 (1888), this court held that “An Act to Better Prevent Illicit Traffic in Spirituous Liquors” was invalid in providing that the mere possession of liquor beyond a certain small quantity is unlawful. If incongruity between the title “Illicit Traffic” and the subject of possession had been the only thing to consider in that case, the conclusion would not be as obvious as when considered in connection with its making possession of liquor not merely evidence of an intention to sell but an offense per se. “This statute creates a new, distinct, offense. The possession of liquor [356]*356without selling or intent to sell has hitherto been lawful. The possession without intent to traffic is not related to the offense of illicit traffic.” Such an innovation in the penal law ought to be indicated clearly in the title. Acts for granting licenses to sell usually provide penalties for violating the conditions expressed in the licenses. Whether the title “To Regulate Sales” be more usual than “To Authorize Licenses to Sell” or not, the object of licensing sales of spirituous liquor is not merely to obtain revenue, but to regulate the traffic. Nor is the act objectionable in its provision in section 9 conferring jurisdiction “upon all district magistrates to hear and determine all prosecutions authorized under the provisions of this act.” Circuit courts have jurisdiction “of all criminal offenses, cognizable under the laws of the Territory, committed within their respective circuits.” Sec. 1647, R. L. Neither statute gives exclusive jurisdiction, the language used being common in statutes granting concurrent jurisdiction.

The next exceptions relate to the refusal of the court to strike out the evidence of the witness Ekekela on the' ground “that it was not shown by the record that the saloon in which the witness alleged that he had been drinking was the saloon operated by defendant under the license in question.”

The prosecution showed, by Sheriff Coney, that the defendant was the holder of a license which was proved and filed, to sell at Kapaa, District of Kawaihau, Island of Kauai, which, among other things, provided that no liquor other than that allowed by its terms should be sold or furnished “in the building or on the premises wherein the said licensee is authorized to sell;” that the sale should be “carried on only in one room fronting on the street on which the saloon is situated.” The sheriff testified that he knew the Chinaman wffio actually operated the business under the license, who was the one who handed out the beer every time he went there to get a glass of beer; that the China-man he referred to had just stepped out from the room (obviously meaning the court room).

Ekekela next testified that he knew “the place in Kapaa, known as the Kapaa Saloon” where he went upon the day in. [357]*357question to buy beer; three other persons, Cummings, Sheldon and Ticktum, having gone in while he was there; that the bar tender, with whom the witness was well acquainted, who had charge of selling the beer at that place and whom the witness had seen every day in the saloon behind the counter selling beer, sold him three bottles for one dollar, which the witness and the others drank there; that when the witness went into the saloon two Portuguese were there drinking beer; that he knew the defendant’s saloon in Kapaa, which was the place where he had seen the license which was in evidence and shown to the witness.

This evidence shows that the saloon where the witness drank the beer was the one which the defendant used under the license. We do not sustain these exceptions.

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18 Haw. 402 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 1907)

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Bluebook (online)
17 Haw. 353, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/territory-of-hawaii-v-wong-feart-haw-1906.