by John Marshall Harlan

“ They are the first to see the importance of such means of internal communication, and are more deeply concerned than others in their wise management. Illinois is more immediately affected by the bridges over the Chicago river and its branches than any other state, and is more directly concerned for the prosperity of the city of Chicago, for the convenience and comfort of its inhabitants, and the growth of its commerce. ”

“ Uniformity in the regulations by which he is to be governed from one end to the other of his route is a necessity in his business; and, to secure it, congress, which is untrammeled by state lines, has been invested with the exclusive legislative power of determining what such regulations shall be. If this statute can be enforced against those engaged in interstate commerce, it may be as well against those engaged in foreign ”

“ But the contention is that to require railroad companies, even those organized under the laws of Ohio, to stop their trains or any of them carrying interstate passengers at a particular place or places in the state for a reasonable time, so directly affects commerce among the states as to bring the statute, whether congress has acted or not on the same subject, into conflict with the grant in the constitution of power to regulate such commerce. ”

“ The trains running eastwardly on the same day through West Cleveland were a limited express train having one baggage and express car, and three sleepers, from Chicago to New York; a train having one baggage and express car, three passenger coaches, and two sleepers, from Chicago to New York; a train having one mail car, two baggage and express cars, and seven passenger coaches, from Chicago to Buffalo; and a train having three mail cars and one sleeper, from Chicago to New York. ”

“ Certainly, the state of Ohio did not endow the plaintiff in error with the rights of a corporation for the purpose simply of subserving the convenience of passengers traveling through the state between points outside of its territory. 'The question is no longer an open one,' this court said in Cherokee Nation v. Southern Kan. Ry. Co., 135 U.S. 641, 657, 10 Sup. Ct. 965, 'as to whether a railroad is a public highway, established primarily for the convenience of the people, and to subserve public ends, and therefore subject to governmental control and regulation. ”

“ Imaginary cases are put for the purpose of showing what might be done by the state that would seriously interfere with or discriminate against interstate commerce, if the statute in question be upheld as consistent with the constitution of the United States. ”

“ The defendant, who was sued for damages on account of an alleged violation of that statute, was the master and owner of a steamboat enrolled and licensed under the laws of the United States for the coasting trade, and plying as a regular packet for the transportation of freight and passengers between New Orleans, La., and Vicksburg, Miss., touching at the intermediate landings both within and without Louisiana, as occasion required. ”

“ But a statute of the state, which unnecessarily interferes with the speedy and uninterrupted carriage of the mails of the United States, cannot be considered as a reasonable police regulation.' The statute before us does not require the defendant company to turn any of its trains from their direct interstate route. Besides, it is clear that the particular question now presented was not involved in Illinois Cent. R. Co. v. Illinois ”

“ In order to develop their greatest utility in that regard, it is often essential that such structures as dams, booms, piers, etc., should be used, which are substantial obstructions to general navigation, and more or less so to rafts and barges. ”