The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-01-19

to the Union, pleasing first of all
themselves in the framing of their
laws and constitutions, not asking
leave to exist, but existing first ana
asking leave afterwards, self-origi-
mated, self-constituted, se~lf-confidenr.
self-sustaining, Veritable communities.
demanding only recognition. Commu-
mites develop, not by external, but by
internal forces. Else they do not live
at all. Our commonwealth have not
come into existence by invitation, like
plants in Il tended garden; they haV"
Sprung up of themselves, irrepreSSi-
bic, q sturdy, spontaneous product OF
the nature OF men nurtured in a free
air.
The division of powers between the
States and the Federal Government
effected by III Federal Constitution
was the normal and natural division
for this Under it the States
possess all the ordinary legal choices
that shape a peoples life. Theirs is
the whole of the ordinary field of
law: the regulation of domestic rela-
items and of the relations between
employer and employee, the determi-
nation of property rights and of the
Validity u enforcement of contracts.
the definition of crimes and their
punishments, the definition of the many
and subtle rights and obligations
which lie outside the fields Of prop
erty and contract, the establishment
Of the laws of incorporation and of
HE rules governing the conduct of
every kind Of business. The p~reSunlp-
tlOn insisted pom by the courts in
every argument with regard to the
Federal Government is that it has no
power not explicitly granted it by the
Federal Constitution or reasonably to
be inferred as the natural or neceS-
sary accomplishment Of the powers
there conveyed to it; but the presump-
ton With egard to the powers of the
States hHN ha w q Wa VIC hold 70 10 Af
exactly the opposite kind. 1t is that
the states OF course possess every
power that government has ever amy
where exercised, except only those
powers which their own constitutions
or the Constitution of the United
States explicitly or by plain inference
Withholds. They are the ordinary
governments Of the country: the Fed
eral Government is it's instrument
only for particular purposes.
Congress IS, indeed, the immediate
government of the people. 1t does
not cover the States, but acts di-
fectly upon individuals, as directly as
the governments of the States them
selves. 1t does not stand at a dis
lance and look Onto be ready for
lH1meulate and 1amiliar Instrument
OF n people in everything that it ua-
dertakes, as if there were no States.
The states do not stand between it
ana the people. But the field of its
ACTON is distinct, restricted, definite.
we are not concerned in our pres
ent discussion With its powers as rep
resentatiNe of the people in regulating
~ foreign affairs Of the country. The
discussion Of the citation of the
states to the Fedora! Government
does not touch hat field. About it
there has never been doubt or de
bate. Neither is the power of the
Federal Government to tax, or to
regulate the military establishments
OF the country any longer in dispute,
even though the Federal Governmrnt
use its power to tax to accomplish
many all indirect object of economic
stimulation or control which touches
the independent industrial choices of
NJ States very nearly. The che
source from which all debatable Fed
eral powers Of domestic regulation
now spring is the power TO regulate
commerce etWeen the States.