DECISION OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT ON THE KANSAS APPEALS, AFFIRMING THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF PROHIBITION AND DENYING THE RIGHT OF COMPENSATION. DECEMBER 5, 1887. OFFICIAL COPY

New York: The National Temperance Society and Publication House, 1889. Original printed wrappers [some edge and spine chipping, rear wrapper detached but present] and original staples. 36pp. Clean text. Except as noted, Very Good.

In 1881 Kansas enacted a constitutional amendment prohibiting the manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages. Doing so was a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or imprisonment. The amendment effectively rendered Peter Mugler, who operated a brewery, unemployed. He brought suit, claiming that Kansas had unconstitutionally (truncated) deprived him of his property in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Writing for the Court Justice Harlan-- who would issue a powerful dissent several years later in the notorious case of Plessy vs. Ferguson-- held that the amendment was a permissible exercise of the State's police powers, which have always been reserved to the States as an attribute of their sovereignty.
The rear wrapper advertises works sponsored by the National Temperance Society.
OCLC locates eleven copies under two accession numbers, as of November 2013. (Inventory #: 30728)