The Commerce Clause as a Restriction on State Taxation

In the discussion of a topic of this nature, my purpose is to restrict and not to enlarge the field of available evidence. The immense powers granted to Congress under the commerce clause are too well known, and the magnitude of their extension by the definition of the word "commerce" cannot be comprehended in a restricted dissertation such as this. Thus, the topic itself sets limits to our.range. It concerns itself with the existence of two powers, the paramount congressional control over commerce and the state's powers to tax.

Both are inclined to encroach upon the prerogatives of the other, and it is with an attempt to define that point where the line has been and should be drawn by the courts that this essay is written.