William R. Day

“ The Bill of Rights, which declares that among the inalienable rights possessed by the citizens is that of seeking and pursuing their safety and happiness, and that the absolute and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty, and property of freemen exists nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest majority,-would be but an empty sound if the legislature could prohibit the citizen the right of owning or drinking liquor, when in so doing he did not offend the laws of decency by being intoxicated in public. ”

“ It is not within the competency of government to invade the privacy of a citizen's life and to regulate his conduct in matters in which he alone is concerned, or to prohibit him any liberty the exercise of which will not directly injure society."
'It, therefore, appears that the issue in this case really comes down to this: was the liquor involved in this transaction intended by any person interested therein to be received, possessed, sold, or in any manner used in violation of any law of this state? ”

“ The Express Company requested a peremptory instruction for a verdict of not guilty because the shipments of liquor were interstate shipments and constituted interstate commerce within the meaning of the commerce clause of the Federal Constitution. ”