The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1907-10-04

" 40 Jul lily
and hat they will have the authority
of the courts to work their desires
unchecked: and such q decision would
in the end be as disastrous for them
as for us. If the theory of Marshall
prevails, then an immense field Of
national power, unused. will be
developed, which will be adequate for
dealing with many, IL not all, Of the
economic problems which vex us; and
we shall be saved from the ominous
threat of a CONSTANT oscillation be-
tween economic tyranny and economic
chaos. Our industrial. and therefore,
our social future as a nation depends
upon settling Alright this urgent ques-
ton.
The constitution is unchanged n
Interchangeable save by amendment in
due form. But the conditions TO which
it is to be applied have undergone a
change which is almost a transforma-
ton, with the result that many sub
jects formerly under the control OF the
states have come under the control OF
the nation. AS one Of the justices Of
the supreme court has recently said:
The growth of national powers, under
our constitution, which marks merely
the great outlines and designates only
the great objects of national concern,
is to be compared TO the growth Of a
country not by the geographical en-
largement Of its boundaries, but by
the increase Of its population. A
hundred years ago, there was, except
the commerce which crawled along
our seacOast or up and down our in
terror waterways, PRACTICAL no inter
state commerce. Now, by the rail
road, the mails. the telegraph, and the
telephone an immense part Of u
commerce is interstate. BY the trans
formation it has escaped from the
power of the state and come under
the power of the nation. Therefore
there has been a great practical change
in the exercise Of national power, I'M
der the acts OF congress-, over inter-
state commerce; while on the other
hand there has been no noticeable
change in the exercise of the nation
al power TO regulate commerce with
foreign nations and with the Indian
tribes The change as regards inter-
state commerce has been, not in the
constitution, but in the business of
the people to which it is to be applied
Our economic and social future de-
ponds in a very large part upon how
the interstate commerce power of the
nation is interpreted.
[ believe that the nation has the
whole governmental power aver inter
state commerce and the widest dis
erection in dealing with that subject:
Of course under the express limits pre-
Scrf5ed in the constitution for the ex-
erCiSe of all powers, such for instance
rs the condition that due process OF
law shall not be denied. The nation
has no direct power owe purely insra-
state commerce, V e where it is con.
Quoted by the same agencies which
conduct Interstate commerce. Tht
courts must determine what is ma
tiOnal and what is state commerce
The same reasoning which sustained
the power of congress to incorporate
the United States Bank tends to su5
tain the power to incorporate an in,
iterstate corporation conducting an in,
l terstate business.
} There are difficulties arising from
, our dual form of government. If the,
, prove to be insuperable resort mus
be had to the power of amendment
Let us first try to meet them by ar
exercise Of all the powers Of the ma
tiOnal government which in the Mar
shall spirit of broad Interpretation
, can be found in the constitution as i
is. They are of vast extent. The chic
economic question of the day in thi!
country is to provide a sovereign fO1
the great corporations engaged in in,
I terstate business; that is, for the rail
roads and the Interstate industrial cor
J porations. At the moment u prim'
: concern is with the railroads.. Wher
the railroads were first built they wers
purely local in character. Their boun
+ daries were not c~oextensive even witt
the boundaries of one state. They
usually covered but two or three coun
ties. All this has now changed. A;
? present five great systems embody
nearly four-ffths of the total mileage
: of the country. All the most import
ant railroads are no longer state roads
but instruments of interstate com
i, merce.
Probably So per cent of their bus;
ness is interstate business. 1t is tht
=, nation alone which can with wisdom
Justice and effectiveness exercise Owe
these interstate railroads the thorough
and complete supervision WhlcE
should be exercised. One Of he chic
and probably the chief, of the domes
tic causes for the adoption Of the con.