Bowman v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co.

Citations

• 125 U.S. 465
• 8 S. Ct. 689
• 31 L. Ed. 700
• 1888 U.S. LEXIS 1943

Syllabus

<p>The question whether, when Congress fails to provide a regulation by law as to any particular subject of commerce among the States it is conclusive of its -intention that that subject shall be free from positive regulation, or that, until Congress intervenes, it shall be left to be dealt with by the States, is one to be determined from the circumstances of each case as it arises.</p> <p>So far as the will of Congress respecting commerce among the States by means of railroads can be determined from its enactment of the provisions of law found in Bev.. Stat. § 5258, and Bev. Stat. c. 6, Title 48, §§ 4252-4289, they are indications of an intention that such transportation of commodities between the States shall be free except when restricted by Congress, or by a State with the express permission of Congress.</p> <p>A State cannot, for the purpose of protecting its people against the evils of intemperance, enact laws which regulate commerce between its people and those of other States of the Union, unless the consent of Congress, express or implied, is first obtained.</p> <p>Section 1553 of the Code of the State of Iowa, as amended by c. 143 of the acts of the 20th General Assembly in 1886, (forbidding common carriers to bring intoxicating liquors into the State from any other State or Territory, without being first furnished with a certificate, under the seal of the auditor of the county to which it is to be transported or consigned, certifying .that the consignee or person to whom it is to be transported or delivered is authorized to sell intoxicating liquors in the county,) although adopted without a purpose of affecting interstate commerce, but as a part of a general system designed to protect the health and morals of the people against the evils resulting from the unrestricted manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors within the State, is neither an inspection law, nor a quarantine law, but is essentially a regulation of commerce among the States, affecting i