of the trade what it may; and this intercourse includes all the means by which it can be carried on, whether by the free navigation of the waters of the several states, or by a passage over land through the states, when such passage becomes necessary to the commercial intercourse between the states.

142. Commerce among the several states means commerce which concerns more states than one. It does not comprehend any commerce which is purely internal, between man and man in a single state, or between different parts of the same state, and not extending to or affecting other states. At the same time commerce among the states does not stop at the external boundary line of each state, but may be introduced into the interior. The word among means intermingled with.

143. The power to regulate commerce may be variously applied, as, for example, by laws for the regulation of the coasting trade and fisheries, and wrecks of the sea, and for the punishment of crimes upon stranded vessels; for the government of seamen on board of American ships, and the imposition of embargoes; for the construction of light-houses and buoys, the removal of obstructions to navigation in rivers, bays, lakes, and harbors; the imposition of duties upon articles of importation; the designation of particular ports of entry and delivery, and for

conferring privileges upon ships built and owned in the United States.

144. While it has been held that the power to regulate commerce is exclusive, so that the states cannot legislate upon the same subject, it has been equally held that they may enact police regulations, although such regulations operate on the agents and subjects of commerce, restricted only by this limitation, that in the event of collision, the law of the state must yield to that of Congress. Thus the states may pass license laws restricting the sale of spirituous liquors imported either from foreign countries or the other states of the Union; and inspection and quarantine laws which delay the landing of ships and cargoes, and also laws for the removal or destruction of unsound and infectious articles which have been imported, and laws regulating pilots and to protect their fisheries. Because the right of Congress to regulate commerce necessarily contemplates limitations and exceptions in favor of the states, in cases affecting the morals, health, or safety of the community.

145. The states may pass laws, too, requiring the master of every vessel arriving in one of their ports to make a report, in writing, respecting his passengers, and to give a bond indemnifying the authorities of the port from all expenses and charges which may

be incurred in the maintenance of all such passengers who are not citizens of the United States; and also requiring him, on the order of such authorities, to remove to the place of his last settlement,. any passenger, being a citizen of the United States, who should be likely to become chargeable on the public. Such laws are deemed police regulations, and not regulations of commerce, and are passed with a view to prevent the citizens of a state from being oppressed by the support of multitudes of poor persons, who come from foreign countries without possessing the means of supporting themselves.

146. But the states cannot pass laws imposing a tax upon passengers, either foreigners or citizens, coming into their ports, either in foreign vessels or vessels of the United States, from foreign nations or the other states of the Union: such laws are unconstitutional and void, being, in their nature, regulations of commerce: and the commerce of the United States includes an intercourse of persons as well as the importation of merchandise. The states, therefore, cannot tax the one any more than the other. Nor can they require an importer to take out a license and pay therefor before selling a package of imported goods. But they may impose a tax on brokers dealing in foreign exchange, and also a tax on legacies payable to aliens. And after the introduction of imported goods or imported liquors into a state, and the

original packages are broken up for use or retail by the importer, or by a purchaser from him, even though still in the original packages, then they become subject to the laws of the state, and may be taxed for state purposes, and the sale regulated by state laws.

147. The power of Congress to regulate commerce extends to the Indian tribes, no matter whether they live within or without the boundaries of particular states. In the exercise of this power Congress may prohibit all intercourse with them, except under a license. The Indian tribes are not regarded as foreign nations in the sense of the Constitution, and as such entitled to sue in the courts of the United States; but as domestic dependent nations.

Naturalization and Bankruptcy.

148. The next power intrusted to Congress is, to establish a uniform rule of naturalization; and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States.

149. Naturalization is the investing of foreigners with the privileges of native citizens. The rule for doing this should be uniform, because the citizens of one state are entitled to all the rights of citizenship in every other state. Hence, if the several states. could adopt dissimilar rules, it would follow that any one state could render nugatory the rules of all the

rest. For by naturalizing aliens upon easy conditions, it would enable them to pass into the other states and enjoy all the rights of citizenship, in spite of their policy and laws. It was to guard against an anomaly like this that the power was confided to Congress of establishing a uniform rule of naturalization throughout the United States, and this power must necessarily be exclusive.

150. The rule actually established by Congress requires a previous residence of five years before an alien can become a citizen of the United States. The steps he must take, in order to be clothed with this character, are few and simple. He must first declare, on oath or affirmation, before a state or United States court, his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce all allegiance to the government of which he is at the time a subject. This declaration must be made at least two years before his application for admission as a citizen. When this latter application is made he must declare, on oath or affirmation, that he will support the Constitution of the United States, and that he doth renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince or state; and in case he shall have borne any hereditary title, or have been of any of the orders of nobility in the kingdom or state from which he came, he must make an express renunciation of such title or order of nobility.