Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1873-10-02

cue IL lnctuueS baSigatlOn, the klRn
to determine the form and kind o
vessels to be employed, how the,
shall be equipped and manned, and
how managed, propelled, and navi
gated. 1t may require any person
desiring to engage in foreign ccm'
meree to take out license for thai
purpose, and subject him to such bur.
dens, and COMPEL him to observe
such regulations, as it may please to
/. impose.
1t may declare what articles NAV.
and what shall not, be imported or
exported /; it may declare non.inter.
|. course with any particular nation, or
lay an embargo upon commerce il
may determine at what places vessels
!, shall land, and regulate, in every par.
J tlcnlar, the carrying business of for
eign commerce by cur own citizens;
: and that too as completely and abso.
lutely, save in the particulars except
ed by the Constitution, as any other
nation on earth may regulate its for
eign commerce. The power Of Con.
gress over such commerce, and over
every part of it, and every person en-.
| gagged, and every fundamentally EN-.
Iployed in it, is an absolute sovereign
power, save only in the instances ex-
cepted out of the power by the Con.
stitution itself The acts of Con-
gress now in force have established
system of regulation of foreign com.
merce embodying many of the par.
ticulars above mentioned and the
constitutionality of such laws is clear
| y and fully established by judicial
decisions, and cannot now DO ques-
| toned.
| COMMERCE AMONG THE STATES.
Coming now to commerce "among
the several States it is manifest thai
the general principles which are ap.
plcable to congressional control over
this class of commerce are the same
as those which apply to such control
over commerce "with foI eign ma
\ tons"
tbs true that some of the limita,
tons found in the Constitution, as for
example, that no vessel "bound to or
from one State shall be obliged to en-.
ter, clear, or pay duties in another"
may be more applicable to internal
than to foreign commerce; but it is
still true that the power of Congress
over commerce "among the States" is
an absolute sovereign power, save as
limited by the Constitution of the
United States; and that it includes
transportation by river, lake, or rail.
road as completely as the power over
foreign commerce includes navigation.
And every person or corporation en-.
gagged directly as a trader in such
commerce, or indirectly as carrier,
is amenable to such rules and regula-
tons, as Congress may prescribe.
A railroad company, Incorporated
by the laws of State, so far as il
confines itself to carrying passengers
or merchandise between places Who'll
ly within the State, is subject to State
authority, and exempt form the con-
troll Of Congress. But such corpora
ton, while Engaged in transporting
passengers or merchandise in transit
from one State to another, as, for ex.
ample, a railroad company in the
State of Indiana, transporting mer-
chandise shipped from New York to
the State of Illinois or Wisconsin, is
engaged in commerce "among the
several States" and as to such bust.
ness, is subject to the control of Con-
gress. Wheat shipped from ST. Paul,
in Minnesota, for the city of New
York, after leaving Minnesota, may
pass through Iowa, Wisconsin, Hi.
nois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
and New York. 1t may BIO transport
ed through each State by a corpora.
ton created by the laws of such State,
and whose road is wholly in such
State; yet such carrying is part of
the commerce among the several
States, and as to that business, each
company is subject to such regula.
tons as Congress may see fit to i'm
pose. 1t would be competent for
Congress TO grant to any one Of the
railroad companies Of Indiana the
monopoly of carrying all merchandise
across the State, shipped from New
York to illinois, and to regulate the
time and fix the rate Of tolls for such
carrying, or to authorize every rail-
road company of that State to carry
such merchandise at such rate as
should be imposed by law ; or in
still different form of enactment, Con-
gress might declare what rates Of toll
it should be lawful to demand for the
transportation of passengers or freight,
in all cases which belong to commerce
among the several States, that is,
when the points of original shipment
and of ultimate destination arc not
within the same State: and impose
penalty upon any person or corpora
ton demanding or receiving a higher
toll than that prescribed.
And any provision ofa State act OF
incorporation permitting the company
to demand any particular or an in
definite amount of toll, must give way
to the exercise Of this power of Con-
gress. A State cannot annul an act
of Congress, constitutiopally passed,
nor withdraw its own citizens from
its operation. And what it may not
do directly, it may not do indirectly.
The contract between the incorporat.
ing State and the Incorporated com.
pany was, of course, entered into with
actual, or conclusively presumed,
knowledge that Congress is vested
with supreme power to regulate
commerce among the States, and that
any regulation which Congress might
thereafter prescribe, would override
any provisions of the State act of in.
corporation.
As tending to show the Importance
and prominence of railroads as an
fundamentally of inter. State COM
merce, it may be mentioned, as shown
by the report of the board of railroad
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