“ Taylor, and Wiggins Ferry Co. v. East St. Louis, affirmatively settle that a state may establish ferries over a navigable river, the boundary between two states, and license the same, and that doing so is not only not repugnant to the commerce clause of the Constitution of the United States, but is in consonance therewith, since the power as to ferries was reserved to the states, and not delegated to the national government. ”

“ As we conclude from the considerations previously expressed that the transportation of railroad cars-whether loaded ur unloaded-across the Mississippi river at the point in question was not the maintenance of a ferry in the proper sense of that term, and that such business was essentially interstate commerce, the only question remaining for decision is, Did the county have the power to require the obtaining of a license by the company as a prerequisite to the carrying on of such interstate commerce, and to impose the penalties sued for because a license had not been obtained? ”

“ The power to regulate that commerce, as well as commerce with foreign nations, vested in Congress, is the power to prescribe the rules by which it shall be governed,-that is, the conditions upon which it shall be conducted ”

“ A person having commenced to operate a ferry from the Ohio shore to the Kentucky side, in conflict with the exclusive right, his power to do so was resisted in the Kentucky courts on the ground that it was violative of the Kentucky ferry franchise. The courts of Kentucky held that it was in conflict with the Kentucky franchise for the person operating the ferry from the Ohio shore to conduct a ferry from the Kentucky side back to Ohio, and therefore restrained the ferry to that extent. ”

“ It is impossible to transport ordinary vehicles upon the boat, it is impracticable to transport foot passengers, except as they are conveyed to the boat in cars. The whole arrangement of boat and docks is for the ingress and egress of railroad cars, and not for the accommodation of anything else. The ferry is a part of a continuous through railroad line from places north and east of the city of New York, to places south and southwest of that city, and the trips of the boat are dependent upon the arrival of through railroad trains. ”

“ In that sense 'a ferry is a continuation of the highway from one side of the water over which it passes to the other, and is for transportation of passengers or of travelers with their teams and vehicles and such other property as they may carry or have with them.' New York v. ”

“ The same rights which she claims for herself she concedes to others.'
Further along in the opinion (p. 633, L. ed. p. 203) , the language which we have previously cited from the opinion of Mr. Chief Justice Marshall in Gibbons v. Ogden was quoted in part, as follows (italicized as in the reports) :
'The court said: 'They' (state inspection laws) 'form a portion of the immense mass of legislation which embraces everything within the territory of a state not surrendered to the general government; all which can be most advantageously exercised by the states themselves. ”

“ It proceeds at regular intervals, and, growing out of the local necessities and the public interest in its operation, is subject to local control, and at common law the exclusive franchise to operate a ferry within designated limits might be conferred upon a particular person or persons. ”