The Washington herald., 1914-05-17
SC0RES0GORlIAt
TOLLS ARGUMENT.
crammond Kennedy Cites
Authorities to Disprove
Senator $ Dictum.
PROOF IN CONSTITUTION
Treaties and Judicial Decisions Prove,
He Says. U. S. Acting Only at
Behest of Conscience.
PROOF IN CONSTITUTION
By rnAMMoNp KENNEDY.

To the Editor of The Washington
Herald: Senator o'Gormsn builds up his
argument in favor OF exemption from
Panama Canal tolls on q narrow and In
secure foundation. In order to show
that vessels in the coastwise trade are
not included in the phrase. vessels Of
commerce and war as used in the Hay
Pauncefote treaty, the learned Senator
rays. there is a manifest distinction be-
tween vessels OF commerce and coast
wise trade and then he cites a defini-
tion Of commerce from wharton's Law
Dictionary to the effect that commerce
relates to our dealings with foreign ma.
tions. colonies, etc." and trade ito mu-
tual dealings at home" He cites also the
Encyclopedfa Britannica and the Inter-
national Encyclopedias 10 the same effect:
and, assuming that these British au-
thorities" furnish conclusive tests of the
sense In which the phrase vessels of
commerce" is used in the Hay-Paunce-
fcte treaty. he says:
vessel Of commerce is. therefore,
a vessel. engaged in International trade"
Tins sounds quite conclusive, but II
depends of course. on the conclusive
ness and relevancy of the authorities
cited The : Encyclopedia. Dictionary
defines commerce as trade. trafiic: the
money" and adds that when the word
IL used with an extended meaning, it
signifies mutual exchange, buying and
selling. whether abroad or at home"
Meaning Il Double.
So in the Century Dictionary tcited in
1ss Ind, g. So; Is L. r. A. 500 commerce
IL defined as
Interchange of goods. merchandise, or
property of any kind; trade; traffic: used
more especially of trade on a large scale,
carried on by transportation of merchant
disc between different countries, or be-
tween different parts of the same coun-
try. distinguished as foreign commerce
and internal commerce"
II is only In q limited sense that COM
merce means foreign or colonial trade. In
a general sense commerce and trade are
used INTERCHANGEABLE for traffic in mer-
chandise at home and abroad. Thus In
his Advice to Sir George Villiers." Lord
Bacon used trade" in the sense Of
domestic and foreign commerce:
Il come" he said. ''to the sixth part
which is trade. and that is either, at home
or abroad. And begin with that which
in at home, which enableth the subjects Of
the Kingdom to live and layeth a founda-
ton TO a foreign trade. by traffic with
others. which enableth them to live
pientifully and happily"
Inc AfileI1Cdn 1ear BOOK treats OF
domestic commerce on the canals"
90 ..coas.wise commerce" and commerce on
the Great Lakes" as well as foreign
commerce" And Senator OGorman,
himself. in a subsequent part Of his argu-
mAnt says that "the domestic commerce
of the United States exceeds that of
any other nation" and that more than
f1ooo.ooo tons passed through the 500
Canal in 1872
Answer IL Constitution.
But We have the highest legal authority
for the proposition that the meaning Of
commerce" cannot be confined, as Sena-
tor o'Gorman contends in the earlier
and basic part of his argument, to sin
ternatienal trade" BY the Constitution
Of the United States, Congress has pow
. er ito regulate commerce with foreign
nations, and among the several States.
and with the Indian tribes
Commerce" said Chief Justice Mar
shall, in lGibbons v. Ogden, Wheat,
]. 1872. describes the commercial inter
course between nations and parts of ma
tons, in all its branches. and is regu-
lated by prescribing rules for carrying on
that Intercourse
In another celebrated case Drown v.
Maryland. u Wheat, 446), the same great
magistrate. speaking for the Supreme
Court Of the United States, and referring
to the constitutional grant said:
1T is not, therefore, matter Of sur
prise that the grant should be as ex-
tensive as the mischief. and should COM
prehend all foreign commerce and all
commerce among the States"
So the Senator's attempt to limit the
meaning of commerce" to international
trade is blocked by the Constitution
itself and its greatest expounder.
Nor does the distinguished Senator
from New York seem to be any less
astray when he says:
''Under International law the word
vessel when used in treaty. unless
the contrary meaning is clearly apparent,