If the definition of the word
"regulate" is to include the provision of means to carry on commerce,
then have Congress not only power to deepen harbors, clear out rivers,
dig canals, and make roads, but also to build ships, railroad cars, and
other vehicles, all of which are necessary to commerce. There is no
middle ground. If the power to regulate can be legitimately construed
into a power to create or facilitate, then not only the bays and
harbors, but the roads and canals and all the means of transporting
merchandise among the several States, are put at the disposition of
Congress. This power to regulate commerce was construed and exercised
immediately after the adoption of the Constitution, and has been
exercised to the present day, by prescribing general rules by which
commerce should be conducted. With foreign nations it has been regulated
by treaties defining the rights of citizens and subjects, as well as by
acts of Congress imposing duties and restrictions embracing vessels,
seamen, cargoes, and passengers. It has been regulated among the States
by acts of Congress relating to the coasting trade and the vessels
employed therein, and for the better security of passengers in vessels
propelled by steam, and by the removal of all restrictions upon internal
trade.
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