Melville Fuller,
Williams v. Fears — Opinion of the Court
“ Undoubtedly the right of locomotion, the right to remove from one place to another according to inclination, is an attribute of personal liberty, and the right, ordinarily, of free transit from or through the territory of any state is a right secured by the 14th Amendment and by other provisions of the Constitution. ”
Melville Fuller,
Williams v. Fears — Opinion of the Court
“ This distinction has always been carefully observed, and is clearly defined by the authorities cited. If the power to regulate interstate commerce applied to all the incidents to which said commerce might give rise and to all contracts which might be made in the course of its transaction, that power would embrace the entire sphere of mercantile activity in any was connected with trade between the states, and would exclude state control over many contracts purely domestic in their nature.'The imposition of this tax falls within the distinction stated. ”
Melville Fuller,
Williams v. Fears — Opinion of the Court
“ The individual laborer is left free to come and go at pleasure, and to make such contracts as he chooses, while those whose business it is to induce persons to enter into labor contracts and to change their location, though left free to contract, are subjected to taxation in respect of their business as other citizens are.The amount of the tax imposed on occupations varies with the character of the occupation. Dealers in futures are compelled to pay $1,000 annually for each county in which the business is carried on ”
