James Clark McReynolds

“ The police power of a state, while not susceptible of definition with circumstantial precision, must be exercised within a limited ambit and is subordinate to constitutional limitations. It springs from the obligation of the state to protect its citizens and provide for the safety and good order of society. Under it there is no unrestricted authority to accomplish whatever the public may presently desire. It is the governmental power of self-protection and permits reasonable regulation of rights and property in particulars essential to the preservation of the community from injury. ”

“ We cannot accept the view that under the Federal Constitution appellant's transmission lines are upon the same footing as railroads. The opinion below declared there was adequate distinction between the two to justify different classification and treatment under the act of 1929. And counsel for appellee very properly say: 'A railroad grade crossing presents an entirely different problem for public regulation than does a pipeline buried beneath the highway. ”

“ The Kansas highway commission, administrative agency of the state, without any proceeding in condemnation, ordered the appellant company to make specified changes in its transmission lines. It refused. By an original proceeding in the Supreme Court, the commission obtained a peremptory writ of mandamus directing compliance. The company insists that to enforce the commission's order would deprive it of property without due process of law, contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment.
Judgment went for the commission upon the pleadings; there is no dispute concerning the facts ”