by John Marshall Harlan

“ That the statute embraces every class, whether it be corporation, association, partnership, or person who may furnish a place or who may deal in transactions in such places, there can be, in our opinion, no sort of doubt; therefore we conclude that, so far as the class of persons to whom this law is made applicable, whether natural or artificial, this statute embraces the entire class, and is not subject to the objection that it singles out a part of a legal class upon which the license or stamp tax is imposed, and exempts others of the same class. ”

“ While it is the duty of the Federal courts, if their jurisdiction be lawfully invoked, to see to it that the constitutional rights of the citizen are not infringed by the state, or by its authorized agents, they should not strike down an enactment or regulation adopted by the state under its police power, unless it be clear that the declaration of public policy contained in the statute is plainly in violation of the Federal Constitution. Much may be done by a state under its police power which many may regard as an unwise exertion of governmental authority. ”

“ The words of the statute show that the keeping of a place where corporate stocks and bonds, as well as grains, provisions, and other commodities were bought and sold, but not paid for at the time, without a complete record of the transaction (including a minute of the time of delivery) in a book kept for that purpose, and without the purchaser receiving a printed or written memorandum of the sale, needed to be regulated, so as to protect the public against unfair or fraudulent practices that might result to the injury or inconvenience of the general public. ”