The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 30, 1952
History
The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 30, 1952
Constitutional law -- United States; Constitutions -- United States
The applicability of Congress's power to the agents and instruments of
commerce is implied in Marshall's opinion in Gibbons _v._ Ogden,[339]
where the waters of the State of New York in their quality as highways
of interstate and foreign transportation are held to be governed by the
overruling power of Congress. Likewise, the same opinion recognizes that
in "the progress of things," new and other instruments of commerce will
make their appearance. When the Licensing Act of 1793 was passed, the
only craft to which it could apply were sailing vessels, but it and the
power by which it was enacted were, Marshall asserted, indifferent to
the "principle" by which vessels were moved. Its provisions therefore
reached steam vessels as well. A little over half a century later the
principle embodied in this holding was given its classic expression in
the opinion of Chief Justice Waite in the case of the Pensacola
Telegraph Co. _v._ Western Union Co.,[340] a case closely paralleling
Gibbons _v._ Ogden in other respects also. The passage alluded to reads
as follows: "The powers thus granted are not confined to the
instrumentalities of commerce, or the postal service known or in use
when the Constitution was adopted, but they keep pace with the progress
of the country, and adapt themselves to the new developments of times
and circumstances. They extend from the horse with its rider to the
stage-coach, from the sailing-vessel to the steamboat, from the coach
and the steamboat to the railroad, and from the railroad to the
telegraph, as these new agencies are successively brought into use to
meet the demands of increasing population and wealth. They were intended
for the government of the business to which they relate, at all times
and under all circumstances. As they were intrusted to the general
government for the good of the nation, it is not only the right, but the
duty, of Congress to see to it that intercourse among the States and the
transmission of intelligence are not obstructed or unnecessarily
encumbered by State legislation."[341] The Radio Act of 1927 whereby
"all forms of interstate and foreign radio transmissions within the
United States, its Territories and possessions" were brought under
national control, affords another illustration. Thanks to the foregoing
doctrine the measure met no serious constitutional challenge either on
the floors of Congress or in the Courts.[342]
Congressional Regulation of Waterways
NAVIGATION
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