About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York, Plaintiffs v. George Miln, The 102 (1837)

handle is hein.slavery/ussccases0107 and id is 1 raw text is: 102 SUPREME COURT. THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN, AND COMMONALTY OF THE CITY OF NEw YORK, PLAINTIFFS V. GEORGE MILN. .n February, 1824, the legislature of New 'ork passed an act concerning passen- gers in vessels arrivifig in the port of New York. By one of the provisions of the law, the master of every vessel arriving in New York from any foreign port, or from a port of any of the states of the United States, other than New York, is required, under certain penalties prescribed in thd law, within twenty-four hours after his arrival, to pake a report in writing, containing the names, ages, and last legal settlement of every person who shall have been on board the vessel commanded by him during the voyage; and if any of the passengers shall have gone on board any other vessel, or shall, during the voyage, have been landed at any place with a view to proceed to New Y(rk, the same shall be stated in the report. The corporation of the city of New York instituted an action of debt under this law against the master of the ship Emily, for the recovery of certain penalties imposed by this act; and the declaration alleged, that the Emily, of which William Thompson was the master, arrived in New York, in August, 1829, from a country out of the United States, and that one hundred passengers were brought in the ship, in the voyage, and that the master did not make the report required by the statute referred to. The defendant demurred to the declaration, atd the judges of the circuit court being divided in opinion on the following point, t was certified to the Supreme Court. That the act of the legislature of New York; mentioned in the plaintiff's declaration, assumes to regulate trade and cont- merce between the port of New York and foreign ports, and is unconstitutional and void. The Supreme Court directed it to be certified to the circuit court of New York, that so much of the section of tic act of the legislature of New York as applies to the breaches assigned in the de-.aration, does not assume to regulate commerce between the port of New York and foreign ports; and that so much of the said act is constitutional. The act of the legislature of New York is not a regulation of commerce, but of police; and, being so, it was passed in the exercise of a power which rightfully belonged to the state. The state of New York 'possessed the power to pass this law, before the adoption of the constitution of the United States. The law was intended to prevent the state being burthened with an influx of foreigners, and to prevent their becoming paupers, and who would be chargeable as such. The end and means here used, are within the competency of the states, since a portion of their powers were surrendered to the federal government. The case of Gibbons v. Ogden, 9) Wheaton, _03, and Brown v. The State of Mary- land, 12 Wheaton, 419, cited. The section of the act of the legislature of New York on which this action is brought, falls within the limits of the powers of state laws drawn by the Court in the case of Gibbons v. Ogden; and there is no aspect in which the powers exercised by it transcends these limits. There is not the least likeness between the case of Brown v. The State of Maryland, and the case before the Court. In the case of Brown v. The State of Maryland, this Court did indeed extend the power to regulate commerce, so as to protect the goods imported from a state tax,

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most