He said (in Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. | extended would not have been made had the 194, 195, 6 L. ed. 69, 70): "The subject to which the power is next applied is to commerce 'among the several states.' . . Commerce among the states cannot stop at the external boundary line of each state, but may be introduced into the interior. "It is not intended to say that these words comprehend that commerce which is completely internal, which is carried on between man and man in a state, or between different parts of the same state, and which does not extend to or affect other states. Such a power would be inconvenient, and is certainly unnecessary. intention been to extend the power to every If carriers were separated by a clear line of division, so that one class were engaged exclusively in interstate and foreign commerce, and the other class were engaged exclusively in commerce within the states, it would not, of course, occur to any mind that this act had any reference whatever to the state carriers. But there is no such hard and fast line of division. Carriers often, and, where they are railroads, usual "Comprehensive as the word 'among' is, it may very properly be restricted to that commerce which concerns more states than one. The phrase is not one which would probably have been selected to indicate the completely interior traffic of a state, because it is not an apt phrase for that purpose; and the enumeration of the particular classes of commerce to which the power was to be extended would not have been made had the intention been to extend the power to every description. The enumeration presupposes something not enumerated; and that something, if we regard the language, or the subject of the sentence, must be the exclusively internal commerce of a state. The genius and character of the whole gov-ly are, as a matter of fact, engaged both in ernment seem to be, that its action is to be applied to all the external concerns of the nation, and to those internal concerns which affect the states generally; but not to those which are completely within a particular state, which do not affect other states, and with which it is not necessary to interfere for the purpose of executing some of the general powers of the government. The completely internal commerce of a state, then, may be considered as reserved to the state itself." interstate and foreign commerce, over which Congress has the control, and intrastate commerce, over which the states have the control. Applying the law under consideration to the conditions as they actually exist, it is said that its words are so general and sweeping as*to comprehend within its benefits not only the employees of the interstate carrier, engaged in the business of interstate carriage, but also the employees of the same carrier engaged in the business of intrastate carriage which it may and usualThese words of the Chief Justice have ly does conduct. Counsel illustrated their been regarded as delimiting accurately the argument by suggesting that if a carrier constitutional boundaries of the respective doing an interstate business on the Pacific powers over commerce of the nation and the slope also conducted a local trolley line states. They have been frequently repeated, wholly along the Atlantic seaboard within and, though differences have arisen in their a single state, an employee on the local application to the complicated affairs of trolley line would, by the terms of this act, mankind, never doubted, and universally ap- be entitled to its benefits. If such be the proved. It is not easy to believe that Con- necessary interpretation of the statute, gress intended to dispute their authority. plainly it exceeds the power of Congress, The reasoning which was thought worthy for Congress certainly has no right to regufor the interpretation of the Constitution late the purely internal commerce of a will not be misapplied if it be employed in state. Nor can the statute be saved by rethe interpretation of a law passed in pur-jecting that part of it which is unconstitusuance of the powers conferred by the Constitution. Why should it not be said of the law as it was said of the Constitution, that "the enumeration of the particular classes of commerce to which the power was to be tional, because its provisions are single and incapable of separation. The vicious part, if such exist, is so intermingled with that which is good that it cannot be eliminated without destroying the whole structure. 209. 802. said, p. 514: "It is always an exceedingly grave and delicate duty to decide upon the constitutionality of an act of the Congress of the United States. The presumption, as has frequently been said, is in favor of the validity of the act, and it is only when the question is free from any reasonable doubt that the court should hold an act of the lawmaking power of the nation to be in violation of that fundamental instrument upon which all the powers of the government rest." Mr. Justice White in Buttfield v. Stranahan, 192 U. S. 470, 48 L. ed. 525, 24 Sup. Ct. Rep. 349, said, p. 492: "In examining the statute in order to determine its constitutionality, we must be guided by the well-settled rule that every intendment is in favor of its validity. * It must be presumed to be constitutional unless its repugnancy to the Constitution clearly appears.” Mr. Chief Justice Waite in Sinking Fund Cases, 99 U. S. 700, 25 L. ed. 496, said, p. 713: "It is our duty, when required in the regu an act of Congress void if not within the legislative power of the United States; but this declaration should never be made except in a clear case. Every possible pre Which interpretation, then, should be adopted? That which regards the law as prescribing the liability of the carrier only to those employees who are engaged in the work of interstate and foreign commerce, or that which extends the benefits of the law | also to those employees engaged in work which has no relation whatever to such commerce? In answering this question it must not be forgotten that, if the latter interpretation be adopted, in the opinion of the whole court the act is beyond the constitutional power of Congress. That is a consideration of vast importance, because the court has never exercised the mighty power of declaring the acts of a co-ordinate branch of the government void except where there is no possible and sensible construction of the act which is consistent with the fundamental organic law. The presumption that other branches of the government will restrain themselves within the scope of their authority, and the respect which is due to them and their acts, admits of no other at-lar course of judicial proceedings, to declare titude from this court. This is more than a canon of interpretation, it is a rule of conduct resting upon considerations of pub'lic policy, and, in the exercise of the delicate function of condemning the acts of co-sumption is in favor of the validity of a ordinate and equal branches of the government, under the same obligation to respect the Constitution as ourselves, has been observed from the beginning. I regard the rule as so vital and fundamental in this and all other parts of the case that I select almost at random some expressions of it by different justices of this court. When the power to declare an act of Congress void was still undecided, Mr. Justice Chase said in Hylton v. United States, 3 Dall. 171, 1 L. ed. 556, p. 175: "If the court have such power, I am free to declare that I will never exercise it, but in a very clear case." Mr. Justice Strong said in Legal Tender Cases, 12 Wall. 457, 20 L. ed. 287, p. 531: "It is incumbent, therefore, upon those who affirm the unconstitutionality of an act of Congress, to show clearly that it is in violation of the provision of the Constitution. It is not sufficient for them that they succeed in raising a doubt." In Trade-Mark Cases, 100 U. S. 82, 25 L. ed. 550, Mr. Justice Miller said, p. 96: "When this court is called on, in the course of the administration of the law, to consider whether an act of Congress, or any other department of the government, is within the constitutional authority of that department, a due respect for a co-ordinate branch of the government requires that we shall decide that it has transcended its powers only when that is so plain that we cannot avoid the duty." In Nicol v. Ames, 173 U. S. 509, 43 L. ed. 786, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 522, Mr. Justice Peckham' statute, and this continues until the contrary is shown beyond a rational doubt. One branch of the government cannot encroach on the domain of another without danger. The safety of our institutions depends in no small degree on a strict observance of this salutary rule." Mr. Justice Story, in United States v. Coombs, 12 Pet. 72, 9 L. ed. 1004, said, page 76: "If the section admits of two interpretations, one of which brings it within and the other presses it beyond the constitutional authority of Congress, it will become our duty to adopt the former construction; because a presumption never ought to be indulged that Congress meant to exercise or usurp any unconstitutional authority, unless that conclusion is forced upon the court by language altogether unambiguous.” Citations of this character might be multiplied, but to no good purpose. There is no doubt that the rule exists, there is no doubt that it is wise, and promotes the mutual respect between the different branches of the government which is so essential to the wel fare of all, and that it requires us, if it is within our power, to give to the words of the statute before us a meaning which will confine its provisions to subjects within the control of Congress. If two interpretations are possible our plain duty is to adopt that which sustains the statute as a lawful exercise of authority, and not that which condemns it as a usurpation. The argument which supports a construc 513 512 for such taxes. McGahey v. Virginia, 135 U. S. 662, 34 L. ed. 304, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 972. The argument was then made that as the statute providing for the receivability of the coupons for "all taxes, debts, dues, and demands on the state" was in part beyond the constitutional power of the legislature, the contract evidenced by that statute was entirely void. The court, speaking by Mr. Justice Brewer, answered this argument by saying, p. 112: "It ignores the difference between the statute and the contract, and confuses the two entirely distinct matters of construction and validity. The statute precedes the contract. Its scope and meaning must be determined before any question will arise as to the validity of the contract which it authorizes. It is elemen tion of the statute which would include | able at and after maturity for all taxes, within its provisions intrastate commerce debts, dues, and demands due the state." is readily stated. It is said that "every There was at the time of the passage of the common carrier” engaged in territorial, for- refunding act a provision of the Constitueign, or interstate trade, is made “liable to tion of Virginia requiring all school taxes to any of its employees for all dam- be paid in cash, and it had been held by this ages which may result from the negligence court that the constitutional provision disof any of its officers, agents, or employees, abled the Virginia legislature from providor by reason of any defect" in its instruing that the coupons should be receivable mentalities, and that, as there is no qualification of or exception to the generality of the language descriptive of the employees or instrumentalities, it must be deemed to include those engaged and used solely in intrastate commerce, and even in manufacture, as well as those engaged and used in other commerce. But I venture to think that this argument rests upon too narrow ground. It contemplates merely the words of the statute; it shuts out the light which the Constitution sheds upon them; it overlooks the significance of the enumeration of the kinds of commerce clearly within the national control and the omission of the commerce beyond that control,-an enumeration and omission which characterizes, colors, and restrains every word of the statute, and it neglects the presump-tary law that every statute is to be read in tions in favor of the validity of the law and of the obedience of Congress to the commands of the Constitution, which cannot with propriety be disregarded by this court. Taking into account these missing aids to construction, it becomes quite easy, quite reasonable, and, in my opinion, quite necessary, to construe the act as conferring its benefits only upon employees engaged in some fashion in the commerce which is enumerated in it and is undoubtedly under the control of Congress. Even without these guides for discovering the intent of Congress, which the uniform practice of the court compels us to use, it is natural to suppose that, when territorial, interstate, and foreign carriers only are mentioned and every such carrier is declared to be liable "to any of its employees," only its employees in such commerce are intended. With those guides the conclusion appears to me irresistible, for they show that if the words, "any of its employees," in the context where they are used, are capable of meaning all of the employees upon any kind of work, yet their generality should be restrained so as to include only those who are subject to the power of the lawmaking body. The case of McCullough v. Virginia, 172*U. 8. 102, 43 L. ed. 382, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 134, is precisely in point here. An act of the general assembly of the state of Virginia provided for refunding the state debt by the issue of coupon bonds for two thirds of the total amount of that debt. It was enacted that the coupons should "be receiv the light of the Constitution. However broad and general its language, it cannot be interpreted as extending beyond those matters which it was within the constitutional power of the legislature to reach. It is the same rule which obtains in the interpretation of any private contract between individuals. That, whatever may be its words, is always to be construed in the light of the statute; of the law then in force; of the circumstances and conditions of the parties. So, although general language was introduced into the statute of 1871, it is not to be read as reaching to matters in respect to which the legislature had no constitutional power, but only as to those matters within its control. And if there were, as it seems there were, certain special taxes and dues *which, under the existing provisions of the state Constitution, could not be affected by legislative action, the statute is to be read as though it in terms excluded them from its operation." The language quoted was not obiter. The case turned upon the construction of the statute and reversed the construction by the highest court of the state of its own statute, as well as its judgment that the statute thus construed was inconsistent with the state Constitution, because "all taxes" included taxes beyond the power of the legislature. I am unable to reconcile the judgment in that case with the conclusion which is reached by the court in this. The reasoning which, in that case, led the court to construe a statute providing that the coupons should be receivable for 10 *515 "all taxes" to mean only for such taxes as the legislature had the constitutional power to declare payable in such a manner, is equally potent to lead the court, in the case at bar, to construe a statute providing for the liability of the interstate and foreign carrier to "any of its employees" to mean only to any of its employees for whom Congress has the constitutional power to make such a provision. In that case there were taxes within the legislative control, and taxes without the legislative control of the Virginia assembly; in this case there are employees within the legislative control and employees without the legislative control of Congress; in that case the statute provided for "all taxes;" in this case the statute provides for "any employees;" in that case, examining the statute "in the light of the Constitution," this court declared that "however broad and general its language, it can- | not be interpreted as extending beyond those matters which it is within the constitutional power of the legislature to reach," and if it appears that there were taxes beyond the control of the legislature, that the statute should be read "as though it in terms excluded them from its operation;" I am unable to imagine any reason why, examining the statute in this case with the aid of the same light, the court should not make the same declaration of its meaning. Moreover, it should be remembered that a circumstance leading in the same direction is present in the case at bar which was absent in that case, for, to repeat what has already been said, here the general words are used in a context which suggests, if it does not require, the less extended meaning. It should be observed that the McCullough Case was simply a case of construction. The court made no judicial amendment of the statute or exception from its provisions of any subject which came with in them according to their proper meaning, ascertained with the aid of the light of the constitutional limits of the legislative power. Mr. Justice Brewer pointed out the distinction between the construction of the statute and its validity, saying: "The statute precedes the contract. Its scope and meaning must be determined before any question will arise as to the validity of the contract which it authorizes." Thus the case is distinguished from some others, much relied upon in the argument, which establish the proposition that a single statutory provision is void if it is expressed in general words so used as to manifest clearly the intention to include within those words subjects beyond the constitutional power of the lawmaking body. The courts have no power to read into such a provision an exception for the purpose of saving that which is left from condemnation. A law which cannot endure the test of the Constitution without judicial amendment must perish. United States v. Reese, 92 U. S. 214, 23 L. ed. 563; Trade-Mark Cases, 100 U. S. 82, 25 L. ed. 550; United States v. Harris, 106 U. S. 629, 27 L. ed. 290, Sup. Ct. Rep. 601; Baldwin v. Franks, 120 U. S. 678, 30 L. ed. 766, 7 Sup. Ct. Rep. 656, 763; United States v. Ju Toy, 198 U. S. 253, 49 L. ed. 1040, 25 Sup. Ct. Rep. 644. See Illinois C. R. Co. v. McKendree, 203 U. S. 514, 51 L. ed. 298, 27 Sup. Ct. Rep. 153. But the rule derived from these cases is by no means decisive of the inquiry whether this statute must be construed as seeking to accomplish objects beyond the power of Congress. It can be made decisive only by begging the very question to be determined, and, in the words of Mr. Justice Brewer, confusing "the two entirely distinct matters of construction and validity." It merely expresses the judicial duty which arises after the question of construction is determined. A critical examination of the cases shows that in each of them, in the opinion of the court, the language of the statute admitted of no possible interpretation, except that Congress intended to deal, by a single and inseparable provision, with subjects without as well as subjects within its control. As was said in one of them (United States v. Reese, 92 U. S. 220, 23 L. ed. 565), there was "no room for construction unless it be as to the effect of the Constitution." It would be unprofit able to dwell upon all these decisions, and I content myself with the analysis of one, and that the one deemed by counsel who rely upon it as the most important and conclusive. In "The Trade-Mark Cases" it ap peared that, in an act entitled, "An Act to Revise, Consolidate, and Amend the Statutes Relating to Patents and Copyrights" [16 Stat. at L. 198, chap. 230], provision was made for the registration of trademarks in the Patent Office. Some years later an act was passed providing for the punishment by fine and imprisonment of any person making fraudulent use of or counterfeiting trademarks thus registered. The cases were indictments under this later act, and the question for decision was its constitutionality. The act was supported first upon the ground that it was authorized by that part of the Constitution which confers upon Congress the authority "to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." The court, after saying "that it is a reasonable inference that this part of the statute also was, in the opinion of Congress, an exereise of the power found in that clause of the *518 *517 Constitution," and that "it was mainly, if not wholly, to this clause that the advocates of the law looked for its support," held that this clause was not a sufficient source of authority for the act. The act was supported, second, upon the ground that the commerce clause of the Constitution supplied the requisite authority to Congress. But there was not a word in the act from which it could be inferred that Congress intended to exercise the power conferred by the commerce clause. The court, by Mr. Justice Miller, after pointing out that commerce within a state was beyond the control of Congress, said: "When, therefore, Congress undertakes to enact a law which can only be valid as a regulation of commerce, it is reasonable to expect to find on the face of the law, or from its essential nature, that it is a regulation of commerce with foreign nations, or among the several states, or with the Indian tribes." Words could not be more happily chosen than these, to describe what the statute in the case at bar is on its face and from its essential nature. The Justice then proceeds to say: "If not so limited, it is in excess of the power of Congress. If its main purpose be to establish a regulation applicable to all trade, to commerce at all points, especially if it is apparent that it is designed to govern the commerce wholly between citizens of the same state, it is obviously the exercise of a power not confided to Congress." No words could be more happily chosen than these, to describe exactly what the statute in the case at bar is not. The court, then, taking the view, upon which there cannot be two opinions, that the act intended to establish a universal system of trademark legislation applicable to all commerce, held the statute void, saying: "It is not within the judicial province to give to the words used by Congress a narrower meaning than they are manifestly intended to bear, in order that crimes may be punished which are not described in language that brings them within the constitutional power of that body." The reasoning relied upon in this case to overthrow the statute, if applied to the statute before us, tends to support it. I do not wish to be understood as saying that the group of cases I am now discussing does not furnish instances where the court has declined to limit the meaning of words in order to save the act. I only say that, in these cases, it could not be done without violating the obvious intent of Congress, as ascertained by the necessary meaning of the language it employed; in other words, that in these cases only one interpretation was possible, and there was "no room for construction." They cannot be understood as deciding that general words may not, in view of the context where they are found, and, with the aid of the light of the Constitution, be restrained in their meaning, with the purpose and effect of giving them such a construction that the act may be sustained as a legitimate exercise of the legislative power. If they should be so understood they would be in flat conflict with the McCullough Case, and with the spirit of the interpretation that prevailed in United States v. Palmer, 3 Wheat. 610, 4 L. ed. 471, and Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U. S. 457, 36 L. ed. 226, 12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 511. In the former case it was held that an act which punished certain offenses committed by "any person or persons" upon the high seas should not be construed as including persons who might commit such offenses on board a vessel belonging to the subjects of a foreign state; Marshall, Ch. J., saying: "The words of the section are in terms of unlimited extent. The words 'any person or persons' are broad enough to comprehend every human being. But general words must not only be limited to cases within the jurisdiction of the state, but also to those objects to which the legislature intended to apply them." In the lat ter case it was held that an act that forbade all persons from assisting the migration into the United States of "any alien or aliens, any foreigner or foreigners," under contract "to perform labor or services of any kind," did not include a minister of religion, though such a person was within the letter of the statute. These cases show that we may with propriety give to the words "any of its employees" the narrower meaning, and, because such meaning saves the act from condemnation, it is, I believe, our imperative duty to adopt it. No words need to be read into the act. It is required only that the words already there shall be applied to that commerce which Congress referred to; namely, territorial, foreign, and interstate. Thus read, the whole statute is saved and no part of it is destroyed. The natural meaning of the words of the statute considered together, each word receiving significance from those with which ite is allied, the respect which is due to Congress, the belief which I hold that it would* not intentionally overstep the clearly defined limits of its authority, and the principles of construction heretofore acted upon by this court, lead my mind to the settled conviction that the statute can be interpreted, and ought to be interpreted, as affording the remedy therein prescribed only to the employees of foreign, interstate, and territorial carriers, who are themselves engaged in some capacity in such commerce in some of its manifold aspects. If this meaning be attributed to the words of the |