by John Marshall Harlan

“ In our opinion, there is nothing in the legislation in question which suggests that it was enacted with the purpose to regulate interstate commerce, or with any other purpose than to prescribe a rule of civil duty for all who, on the Sabbath day, are within the territorial jurisdiction of the state. It is none the less a civil regulation because the day on which the running of freight trains is rohibited is kept by many under a sense of religious duty. ”

“ The repugnancy of the law of Delaware to the constitution is placed entirely on its repugnancy to the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states,-a power which has not been so exercised as to affect the question. ”

“ A statute of Alabama made it unlawful for an engineer on a railroad train in that state to operate an engine upon the main line of the road used for the transportation of passengers or freight, without first undergoing an examination and obtaining a license from a state board of examiners. The point was made that the statute, in its application to engineers on interstate trains, was a regulation of commerce among the states, and repugnant to the constitution. ”

“ Justice Field in Ex parte Newman, 9 Cal. 502, 520, 529, when, referring to a statute of California relating to the Sabbath day, he said: 'Its requirement is a cessation of labor. In its enactment, the legislature has given the sanction of law to a rule of conduct which the entire civilized world recognizes as essential to the physical and moral well-being of society. Upon no subject is there such a concurrence of opinion, among philosophers, moralists, and statesmen of all nations, as on the necessity of periodical cessation of labor. ”

“ Of course, if the inspection, quarantine, or health laws of a state, passed under its reserved power to provide for the health, comfort, and safety of its people, comes into conflict with an act of congress, passed under its power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, such local regulations, to the extent of the conflict, must give way, in order that the supreme law of the land-an act of congress passed in pursuance of the constitution-may have unobstructed operation. ”

“ Leisure is no less essential than labor to the well-being of man. Short intervals of leisure at stated periods reduce wear and tear, promote health, favor cleanliness, encourage social intercourse, afford opportunity for introspection and retrospection, and tend in a high degree to expand the thoughts and sympathies of people, enlarge their information, and elevate their morals. They learn how to be, and come to realize that being is quite as important as doing. ”

“ Richards, 2 Ohio St. 387, 392, Judge Thurman, delivering the unanimous judgment of the supreme court of Ohio, said: 'We are, then, to regard the statute under consideration as a mere municipal or police regulation, whose validity is neither strengthened nor weakened by the fact that the day of rest it enjoins is the Sabbath day. Wisdom requires that men should refrain from labor at least one day in seven, and the advantages of having the day of rest fixed, and so fixed as to happen at regularly recurring intervals, are too obvious to be overlooked. ”

“ Intercours and trade between the states by means of railroads passing through several states, is a matter national in its character, and admitting of uniform regulation. The power of congress to regulate it is exclusive, and under the constitution it is free and untrammeled except as congress otherwise provides. ”

“ Courts are not concerned with the mere beliefs and sentiments of legislators, or with the motives which influence them in enacting laws which are within legislative competency. That which is properly made a civil duty by statute is none the less so because it is also a real or supposed religious obligation ”

“ Indeed, it is a principle fully recognized by decisions of state and federal courts that wherever there is any business in which, either from the products created or the instrumentalities used, there is danger to life or property, it is not only within the power of the states, but it is among their plain duties, to make provision against accidents likely to follow in such business, so that the dangers attending it may be guarded against so far as practicable.' Referring to some observations made in Smith v. ”

“ If any freight train shall be run on any railroad in this state on the Sabbath day (known as Sunday) , the superintendent of transportation of such railroad company, or the officer having charge of the business of that department of the railroad, shall be liable for indictment for a misdemeanor in each county through which such train shall pass, and, on conviction, shall be for each offense punished as prescribed in section 4310 of this Code. ”

“ We do not think that the act empowering the Black Bird Creek Marsh Company to place a dam across the creek can, under all the circumstances of the case, be considered as repugnant to the power to regulate commerce in its dormant state, or as being in conflict with any law passed on the subject.' Notwithstanding that case has been sometimes criticized, its authority has never been questioned in this court. ”

“ The public welfare is promoted, without wrong or injury to the company. The statute was doubtless deemed to be called for by the interests of the community to be affected by it, and rests upon a solid foundation of reason and justice. ”

“ No discrimination is made between local and interstate freights, and no attempt is made to control the rates that may be charged. It is only required that the rates shall be fixed, made public, and honestly adhered to. ”

“ Ct. 28, which involved the validity of a state enactment which, for the protection of the traveling public, declared any one disqualified from serving on r ilroad lines within the state who had color blindness and defective vision, and which statute was equally applicable to domestic and interstate railroad trains, the court said: 'It is conceded that the power of congress to regulate interstate commerce is plenary; that, as incident to it, congress may legislate as to the qualifications, duties, and liabilities of employees and others on railway trains engaged in that commerce ”