The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-01-07
LIABILITY ACT IS
UNCONSTITUTIONAL
Dses Not Permit Regulation of
Interstate Commerce
AN IMPORTANT DECISION
The Supreme Court Stands Five To
Four Against the Law-Justice
Whites Opinion In
Brief.
AN IMPORTANT DECISION

Washington, January 6.-That the COLI
gressional act known as the employers
liability law is not in accordance With
the constitution of the United States be-
cause it goes beyond the bounds per-
uniting in the regulation of interstate
commerce was the conclusion reached by
the supreme court Of North Carolina IN
deciding two damage cases coming to the
court from the federal courts of Ken
lucky and Tennessee which were brought
under the provision of the law The de-
cision was announced by Judge White,
the court standing five to four against
the law Even among the five who volt
ed for not to sustain the statute, there
were different shades of opinion.
Much interest was manifested in the
aesult Of the court deliberations.
Justice Whites Opinion.
Following are the principal points from
Justice Whites opinion:
1.-THE act then being addressed to all
common carriers engaged in interstate
commerce and imposing a liability upon
them in favor of any of their employees
without qualification or restriction as 10
the business in which the carriers or
their employees may be engaged at the
time of the injury, of necessity includes
subjects wholly outside of the power of
Congress to regulate. Without stopping To
consider the numerous instances where,
although a common carrier is engaged
il, interstate commerce such carriers may
in the nature of things transact bust
ness not interstate commerce, although
such local business may indirectly be re-
lated to interstate commerce, a few illu-
STATIONS showing the operation of the
statute as to matterswholly independent
of interstate commerce will serve to make
clear the extent of the power which is ex-
erted by the statute. Regarding inter-
state. having purely local branch op-
Grated wholly within state Take again
the same road having shops for repairs,
and it may be for construction work as
well as a large accounting and clerical
force. and having it, may be, storage ele-
vators and warehouses, not to suggest
beside the possibility of its being engaged
In other independent Enterprises Take
telegraph company engaged in the trans
In other independent enterprises. Take
Take an express company engaged in
local as well as interstate business Take
a trolley line moving wholly within a
state as to a large part of its business
and yet as to the remainder crossing the
state line.
Act Is Repugnant.
"As the act thus includes many sub
5ects wholly beyond the power to regu-
late commerce and depends for its sane
mission of interstate and local messages.
the act is repugnant to the constitution and
cannot be enforced unless there be merit
in the propositions advanced to show that
the statute may be saved.
$50 far as the facts of the statute are
concerned, the argument is this: That
because the statute says that carriers en-
gagged in commerce between the states,
etc, therefore the act should be inter-
preted as being exclusively applicable to
the interstate commerce business and
words any employee as found in the stat
words any employe as found in the stat
utes should be held to mean any employee
when such employe is engaged only in in
terstate commerce. But this would re-
quire us to write into the statute words
of Limitation and restriction not now
In it.
But if we could bring ourselves to