Monopolies -- United States; Railroads and state -- United States
What are the powers delegated to the general government by the
constitution in questions of this character? Article I. Section 8,
contains, among others, the following, as some of the powers conferred
upon congress: "To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the
several states, and with the Indian tribes;" "To establish post offices
and post roads;" "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers
vested by this constitution in the government of the United States, or
in any department or office thereof." The same section gives congress
power to provide for organizing the army, &c.; and, in time of war,
extraordinary powers, controlled only by the necessities of the case,
are vested in congress. If congress have power under the constitution to
charter private corporations, it must be derived from, or contained in,
the provisions above quoted. Article IX. of the constitution reads as
follows: "The enumeration in the constitution of certain rights shall
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."
And Section 10 reads as follows: "The powers not delegated to the United
States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are
reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." And the framers
of the constitution it would seem, for the purpose of making the line of
demarcation between the powers of the states and the general government
still more plain and definite, provided as follows: Article IV., Section
2: "The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and
immunities of citizens in the several states."
We think that the above quotations from the constitution (and we have
quoted all having any relation to the question we are discussing) prove
conclusively that the powers conferred upon congress by the
constitution are limited; that while within the scope of the delegated
powers its action is supreme, there is inherent in it no general power
to legislate upon subjects not named in the constitution, or not
included by necessary implication. On the contrary, all the powers not
expressly given are reserved to the states or to the people.
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