Philip Pendleton Barbour

“ And this leads me more distinctly to the consideration of the other point in question; and that is, whether, if the act of New York be a regulation of commerce, it is void and unconstitutional? If the power of congress to regulate commerce be an exclusive power; or if the subject-matter has been constitutionally regulated by congress, so as to exclude all additional or conflicting legislation by the states, then, and in either case, it is clear, that the act of New York is void and unconstitutional. ”

“ That a state has the same undeniable and unlimited jurisdiction over all persons and things, within its territorial limits, as any foreign nation; where that jurisdiction is not surrendered or restrained by the constitution of the United States. That, by virtue of this, it is not only the right, but the bounden and solemn duty of a state, to advance the safety, happiness and prosperity of its people, and to provide for its general welfare, by any and every act of legislation, which it may deem to be conducive to these ends ”

“ I can discriminate no line of power between the different subjects of internal police, nor find any principle in the constitution, or rule of construing it by this court, that places any part of a police system within any jurisdiction except that of a state, or which can revise or in any way control its exercise, except as specified. Police regulations are not within any grant of powers to the federal government for federal purposes ”

“ The power to pass inspection laws, involves the right to examine articles which are imported, and are, therefore, directly the subject of commerce; and if any of them are found to be unsound or infectious, to cause them to be removed, or even destroyed. But the power to pass these inspection laws, is itself a branch of the general power to regulate internal police. Again, the power to pass quarantine laws, operates on the ship which arrives, the goods which it brings, and all persons in it, whether the officers and crew, or the passengers; now the officers and crew are not agents of navigation ”

“ To my mind, there can be no such cause for discriminating between an imported and a domestic pauper; one is as much an article of commerce as another, and the same power which can force them into a state from a vessel, can do it from a wagon, and regulate their conveyance on the roads or canals of a state, as well as on its rivers, havens or arms of the sea. In following out these principles to their consequences, congress may, and, to be consistent, ought to go further. ”

“ A grant of legislative power over any given subject, comprehends the whole subject; the corpus, the body, and all its constituent parts; so does a prohibition to legislate; yet the framers of the constitution could not have intended to leave it in the power of congress to so extend the details of a granted power, as to embrace any part of the corpus of a reserved power. A power reserved or excepted in general terms, as internal police, is reserved as much in detail and in all its ramifications, as the granted power to regulate commerce with foreign nations ”

“ The removal or destruction of infectious or unsound articles, is, undoubtedly, an exercise of that power, and forms an express exception to the prohibition we are considering. Indeed, the laws of the United States expressly sanction the health laws of a state. The principle, then, that the importer acquires a right, not only to bring the articles into the country, but to mix them with the common mass of property, does not interfere with the necessary power of taxation, which is acknowledged to reside in the states, to that dangerous extent which is apprehended. ”

“ If, then, the regulation of passenger ships be in truth a regulation of trade and commerce, it seems very difficult to escape from the conclusion, that the act in controversy is, in the sense of the objection, an act which assumes to regulate trade and commerce between the port of New York and foreign ports. It requires a report, not only of passengers who arrive at New York, but of all who have been landed at any places out of the territorial limits of New York, whether in foreign ports or in the ports of other states. ”

“ States have the same right of deciding when a necessity exists, and legislating on its assumption, as congress has. The constitution has put them on the same footing in this respect; but its framers have not left their great work subject to be mangled and multilated by any construction or implication, which depends on discretion, or actual or assumed necessity. ”

“ Can anything fall more directly within the police power and internal regulation of a state, than that which concerns the care and management of paupers or convicts, or any other class or description of persons that may be thrown into the country, and likely to endanger its safety, or become chargeably for their maintenance? ”

“ By every sound rule of constitutional and common law, a power excepted or reserved by a grantor, 'always is with him and always was,' and whatever is a part of it, is the thing reserved, which must remain with the grantor. ”

“ There can be no mode in which the power to regulate internal police could be more appropriately exercised. New York, from her particular situation, is, perhaps, more than any other city in the Union, exposed to the evil of thousands of foreign emigrants arriving there, and the consequent danger of her citizens being subjected to a heavy charge in the maintenance of those who are poor. It is the duty of the state to protect its citizens from this evil; they have endeavored to do so, by passing, amongst other things, the section of the law in question. ”

“ Necessary is but another word for discretionary, when there is a desire to assume power; let it once be admitted, as a constitutional apology for the assumption by a state, of any portion of a granted power, or by congress, of any portion of a reserved power, the same reasoning will authorize the assumption of the entire power. ”

“ The power of congress is, and must be, subordinate to that of the states, whenever commerce reaches that point at which the vessel, the cargo, the crew, or the passengers on board, become subject to the police laws of a state; the importer must submit to inspection, health and quarantine laws, and can land nothing contrary to their provisions. ”

“ On the same principle by which a state may prevent the introduction of infected persons or goods, and articles dangerous to the persons or property of its citizens, it may exclude paupers who will add to the burdens of taxation, or convicts who will corrupt the morals of the people, threatening them with more evils than gunpowder or disease. ”

“ On the same principle, convicts from abroad may be forced into the states without limitation; so, of paupers from other states, if once put in a vessel with a coasting license; so that all police regulations on these subjects by states must be held unconstitutional. One of two consequences must follow. There can be no poor-laws applicable to foreigners; they must be admitted into the state, and be supported by a tax on its citizens, or congress must take the subject into their own hands, as a means of carrying into execution their power to regulate commerce. ”

“ In applying these plain deductions from the provisions of the constitution, as expounded by this court, to the present case, it comes within none of the prohibitions. The law in question encroaches on no power of congress, it imposes no tax for any purpose; it is a measure necessary for the protection of the people of a state against taxation for the support of paupers from abroad, or from other states, which congress have no power to impose by direct assessment, or as a consequence of their power over commerce. ”

“ Inspection laws, quarantine laws, health laws of every description, as well as laws for regulating the internal commerce of a state, and those which respect turnpike-roads, ferries, &c., are component parts of this mass.
Now, if the act in question be tried by reference to the delineation of power laid down in the preceding quotations, it seems to us, that we are necessarily brought to the conclusion, that it falls within its limits. There is no aspect in which it can be viewed, in which it transcends them. ”

“ In consenting to a declaration of independence, the convention of Pennsylvania added this proviso: that 'the forming the government, and regulating the internal police of the colony, be always reserved to the people of the colony.' [3] In the 3d article of confederation, the states guaranty to each other their freedom, &c., and against all attacks on their sovereignty and trade; in the treaty of alliance with France, the latter guaranties to the states their sovereignty 'in matters of commerce,' absolute and unlimited. ”

“ If one power can be incorporated into, and amalgamated with, another distinct power, or if substantive and distinct powers, which are vested in one legislative body, can be infused, by construction, into another legislature, as the means of carrying into execution some other power, the consequences are obvious. ”

“ The state asserts as a right of self-protection, the exclusion of foreigners who are attempted to be forced upon them, under the power of the laws for the regulation of commerce, which the defendant contends, protects all passengers from foreign countries, till they are landed, and puts it out of the power of a state to prevent it. ”

“ The right to punish, or to prevent crime, does in no degree depend upon the citizenship of the party who is obnoxious to the law. The alien who shall just have set his foot upon the soil of the state, is just as subject to the operation of the law, as one who is a native citizen. ”

“ But neither vessels nor goods are protected from the operation of those laws and regulations of internal police, over whichch the states have a acknowledged power, unaffected by any grant or prohibition which impairs its plenitude; the consequence of which is, congress have no jurisdiction of the subject-matter, can pass no laws for its regulation, nor make any exemption from their provisions. ”