Such a power would be inconvenient and is certainly unnecessary. The completely internal commerce of a state then, may be considered as reserved for the state itself. But, in regulating commerce with foreign nations, the power of congress does not stop at the jurisdictional lines of the several states. It would be a very useless power if it could not pass those lines. The commerce of the United States with foreign nations is that of the whole United States.
Every district has a right to participate in it.
The deep streams which penetrate our country in every direction pass through the interior of almost every state in the Union, and furnish the means of exercising this right. If congress has the power to regulate it, that power must be exercised whenever the subject exists. The power of congress, then, whatever it may be, must be exercised within the territorial jurisdiction of the several States. The sense of the nation on this subject is unequivocally manifested by the provisions made in the laws for transporting goods by land between Baltimore and Providence, between New York and Philadelphia, and between Philadelphia and Baltimore. This power, like all others vested in congress, is complete in itself, may be exercised to its utmost extent and acknowledges no limitations other than are prescribed in the constitution.