Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1864-06-25

Congress rclatiVe 10 "tn0 TeS'eVtIu"0 ~"
clearing of vessels" and the "enrolling and
licensing ships or vessels to be employed in
the c~oasting trade and fsheries." and the de-
PENDANTS produce a Pilot certificate and a
license Of the steamer Ezpress, above 20
tons, to carry on the " coasting trade y tor one
year from Sept. S, 1868.
A question so large as the determination OF
the meaning and scope Of this clause Of the
Constitution would be approached with un-
affected hesitrncy and diHidence but for the
fact that happily for the country this clause
has received an exposition and construction
from Chief Justice Marshall, whose fortune it
was to examine many Of the most interesting
and vital provisions Of our organic law, max
ing their hidden meaning plain and enriching
and illumining the investigations, with a
learning and a light to shine as brncons on
the Judicial shores as long as the Great Re-
public shall live.
The Legislature Of the State of New York
granted to Robert r. Livingston and Robert
Fulton tho exclusive navigation of all the
waters within tho jurisdiction Of that State
with boats moved by fire OF steam, for a term
of years. This grant was sustained by the
highest tribunals of that State, and upon an
APPEAR ~ tuC bCuptCuiC NOutt VI NV
States, 9th Wheaton Il. l., after solemn ar
gument. unsurpassed in this country for abili-
~, the Chief Justice considered this clause Of
the Constitution and the Acts Of Congress in
pursuance thereof, and held that the several
acts of New York, so far as they prohibited
vessels licensed for carrying on the " coasting
trade" pursuant to the laws Of the United
States, from navigating the waters of New
York, to be rrpugnant to the Constitution and
laws of the United States. and hence inopp-
rative and void. Without going into a de-
tailed examination Of the questions settled in
that case it may b. stated in general that tho
Court held that " the power to regulate COM
merce among tho several States," as far MS it
extends, is exclusively vested in Congress,
and hat while this power does not embrace
State inspection laws-or laws respecting
turnpike roads, canals, ferries, etc.-or laws
regulating the of q State complete.
ly internal and forming no connecting link
with another State these several matters be-
ing component parts of '' that immense mass"
of undelegated powers preserved to the States
respectively yet that this power docs en-
brace n m carried on from one State
to another and that q " among the
AluVo " IuC cCNcIuA ototcS oiIIO sup Ut tuC
external boundary line of each State but may
be introduced into the INTERIOR and that
among the several States must
Of necessity be commerce within tho States
and this power, would be a useless power
if it couldnot pass the jurisdictional lines
of the States and penetrate the interior.
TheCourt also held that a license under
the Acts Of Congress regulating the coast
ing trade" gives permission to carry on
that trade, and that this license would be
an idle empty form, conveying nothing un.
less it conveys the right to which tho privilege
is attached and in the exercise of which its
whole value consists" In the case of The
North River Steamboat TO-" q John II. Liv-
iugston, 8 Cowen, IN. W r. ia; the opin-
ion in Gibbons . Ogden, is critically exam
ined. and the principles enunciatsd in that
case fully adopted; the . Court Of Errors"
inded carrying the dicision in Gibbons .
Ogden perhaps somewhat farther than the
real points settled in that case might warrant.
The case of Veazie . Moor, IA Howard
500 has been referred to by plaintiffs coun-
sci, and it is commended that under the doc
trine enunciated in that case the plaintiffs have
the right to enjoy the exclusive privilege gran.
CCu tueH III tuCu CuuItcIs Au CANtiItiihttO1i
of this case, however, does not sustain this
position, and tho case in fact is authority
against the plaintiffs. The case in brief is
this:
On the 3Oth Of July. 1886. the Legislature
Of Maine authorized VIM. and Daniel Moor
and their associates and assigns to improve
the navigation Of the Penobscot river above
Old Town, n place eight miles above Bangor
the river between these places passing
over a fall and crossed by four dams for mau.
featuring purposes, and for that distance new
CT having been navigable-the corporators
being required to make certain Improvements
and to run a steamboat between the termini
named in their charter within seven years.
and upon performance of the several require
ments they should have the exclusive privi-
l-ge for 90 years after the completion Of their
improvements of navigating the Penobscot
above Old Town as far as they should render
the same navigable-the river having its rise
far in tho interior and being entirely within
the State and forming no continuous CONNER
cial track to the sea or any State or foreign
country.
The corporators having performed the re.
quirements of their charter and being en-.
gagged in navigating the Penobscot above
Old Town, Samuel Veazis and Levi and
Warren r. Young placed the steamboat Cor
ernor Dana, duly enrolled and licensed for
the "coasting trade" on the P~nobscot above
Old Town. and thsreupoo the Supreme Court
Of Maine upon application enjoined Veazie
and Young from running the Governor Dana.
aud ON appeal to the Supreme Court Of the
United States the decision of the lower
Court was held to be in accordance with the
Constitution and laws of the United States,
and was consequently afirmed-the Court