President Monroe, in a message to the House of Representatives of the
4th of May, 1822, containing his objections to a bill entitled "An act
for the preservation and repair of the Cumberland road," declares:
Commerce between independent powers or communities is universally
regulated by duties and imposts. It was so regulated by the States
before the adoption of this Constitution, equally in respect to each
other and to foreign powers. The goods and vessels employed in the trade
are the only subjects of regulation. It can act on none other. A power,
then, to impose such duties and imposts in regard to foreign nations
and to prevent any on the trade between the States was the only power
granted.
If we recur to the causes which produced the adoption of this
Constitution, we shall find that injuries resulting from the regulation
of trade by the States respectively and the advantages anticipated from
the transfer of the power to Congress were among those which had the
most weight. Instead of acting as a nation in regard to foreign powers,
the States individually had commenced a system of restraint on each
other whereby the interests of foreign powers were promoted at their
expense.
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