If they did not wish to submit themselves to such interference, they should not have clothed the public with an interest in their concerns. Property does become clothed with a public interest when used in a manner to make it of public consequence, and affect the community at large. When, therefore, one devotes his property to a use in which the public has an interest, he, in effect, grants to the public an interest in the use, and must submit to be controlled by the public for the common good, to the extent of the interest he has thus created. For protection against abuses by legislatures the people must resort to the polls, not to the courts. Chief Justice Waite delivers the opinion of the Court.
Every statute is presumed to be constitutional.
The courts ought not to declare one to be unconstitutional, unless it is clearly so. If there is doubt, the expressed will of the Legislature should be sustained. To determine its signification, therefore, it is necessary to ascertain the effect which usage has given it, when employed in the same or a like connection. While this provision of the Amendment is new in the Constitution of the United States as a limitation upon the powers of the States, it is old as a principle of civilized government. It is found in Magna Charta, and, in substance if not in form, in nearly or quite all the constitutions that have been from time to time adopted by the several States of the Union.