commerce

Commerce' is defined as 'all commerce which may lawfully be regulated by Congress.

+ 46 more definitions — see all 54 over time

The exchange of property, including the usual agencies of communication and transportation to effect the exchange, and extending to the means employed to move the property involved and the persons making the contract. 223 111. 590. The various agreements which have for their object facilitating the exchange of the products of the earth or the industry of man, with an intent to realize a profit. Pardessus, Dr. Com. note 1. Any reciprocal agreements between two persons, by which one delivers to the other a thing, which the latter accepts, and for which he pays a consideration. If the consideration be money, it is called a "sale;" if any other thing than money, it is called "exchange" or "barter." Domat, Dr. Pub. liv. 1, tit. 7, § 1, note 2. Congress has power, by the constitution, Indian tribes. 1 Kent, Comm. 431; Story, Const. § 1052 et seq. The sense in which the word "commerce" is used in the constitution seems not only to include traffic, but intercourse and, navigation ( Story, Const. § 1057; 9 Wheat. [U. S.] 190, 191, 215, 229; 12 Wheat. [U, S.] 419; 102 U. S. 691; 4 Biss. [U. S.] 156; 31 Iowa, 187), but only such intercourse as consists in trade or traffic (1 Stew. & P. [Ala.] 327).

DEPARTMENT OF. See Departments.

Intercourse by way of trade and traffic between different peoples or. states and the citizens or inhabitants thereof, including not only the purchase, sale, and exchange of commodities, but also the instrumentalities and agencies by which it is promoted and the means and appliances by which it is carried on, and the transportation of persons as well as of goods, both by land and by sea. Brennan v. Titusville, 153 U. S. 289, 14 Sup. Ct 829, 38 L. Ed. 719; Rallroad Co. v. Fuller, 17 Wall. 568, 21 I Ed. 710; Winder v. Caldwell, 14 How. 444, 14 Li. Ed. 487; Cooley v. Board of Warden 12 How. 299, 13 L. Ed. 996; Trade-Mark Cases, 100 U. S. 96, 25 L. Ed. 550; Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 1, 6 L. Ed. 23; Brown v. Maryland, 12 Wheat 448, 6 In Ed. 678; Bowman v. Railroad, 125 U. S. 465, 8 Sup. Ct. 689, 31 I Ed. 700; Leisy v. Hardin, 135 U. S. 100, 10 Sup. Ct 681, 34 In Ed. 128; Mobile County v. Kimball, 102 U. S. 691, 26 L. Ed. 238; Corfield v. Coryell, 6 Fed. Cas. 546; Fuller v. Railroad Co., 31 Iowa, 207 ; Passenger Cases, 7 How. 401, 12 L. Ed. 702; Robbins v. Shelby County Taxing Dist., 130 U. S. 489, 7 Sup. Ct. 592, 30 L. Ed. 694; Arnold v. Yanders, 56 Ohio St. 417, 47 N. E. 50, 60 Am. St. Rep. 753; Fry v. State, 63 Ind. 562, 30 Am. Rep. 238; Webb v. Dunn, 18 Fla. 724; Gilman v. Philadelphia, 5 WalL 724, 18 L. Ed. 96. Commerce is a term of the largest import. It comprehends intercourse for the purposes of trade in any and ali its forms, including the transportation, purchase, sale, and exchange of commodities between the citizens of our country and the citizens or subjects of other countries, and between the citizens of different states. The power to regulate it embraces nil the instruments by which such commerce may be conducted. Welton v. Missouri, 91 U. S. 275, 23 L. Eld. 347. Commerce is not limited to an exchange of commodities only, but includes, as well, intercourse with foreign nations and between the states; and includes the transportation of passengers. Steamboat Co. v. Livingston, 3 Cow. (N. Y.) 713 ; People v. Raymond, 34 Cal. 492. The words "commerce" and "trade" are synonymous, but not identical. They are often used interchangeably; but, strictly speaking, commerce relates to intercourse or dealings with foreign nations, states, or political communities, while trade denotes business intercourse or mutual traffic within the limits of a state or nation, or the buying, selling, and exchanging of articles between members of the same community. See Hooker v. Vandewater, 4 Denio (N; Y.) 353, 47 Am. Dec. 258; Jacob; Wharton.

— Commerce with foreign nations. Commerce between citizens of the United States and citizens or subjects of foreign governments; commerce which, either immediately or at some stage of its progress, is extraterritorial. U. S. v. Holliday, 3 Wall. 409, 18 In Ed. 182 ; Veazie v. Moor, 14 How. 573, 14 L. EM. 545; Lord v. Steamship Co... 102 U. S. 544, 26 L. Ed. 224. The same as "foreign commerce," which see infra.

— Commerce with Indian tribes. Commerce with individuals belonging to such tribes, in the nature of buying, selling, and exchanging commodities, without reference to the locality where carried on, though it be within the limits of a state. U. S. v. Holliday, 3 Wall. 407, 18 L. Ed. 182 j U. S. v. Cisna, 25 Fed. Cas. 424.

— Domestic commerce. Commerce carried on wholly within the limits of the United States, as distinguished from foreign commerce. Also, commerce carried on within the limits of a single state, as distinguished from interstate commerce. Louisville 6 N. R Co. v. Tennessee R. R. Com'n (C. Ct) 19 Fed. 701.

— Foreign commerce. Commerce or trade between the United States and foreign countries. Co.m. v. Housatonic R. Co., 148 Mass. 264, 9 N. B. 547; Foster v. New Orleans, 94 U. S. 246, 24 L. Ed. 122. The term is sometimes applied to commerce between ports of two sister states not lying on the same coast, e. p., New York and San Francisco.

— Internal commerce. Such as is carried on between individuals within the same state, or between different parts of the same state. Lehigh Val. R. Co., v. Pennsylvania, 145 U. S. 192, 12 Sup. Ct. 806, 36 L. Ed. 672; Steamboat Co., v. Livingston, 3 Cow. (N. Y.) 713. Now more commonly called "intrastate" commerce.

— International commerce. Commerce between states or nations entirely foreign to each other. Louisville & N. R. Co. v. Tennessee R. It, Com'n (C. Ct) 19 Fed. 701.

— Interstate commerce. Such as is carried on between different states of the Union or between points lying in different states. See Interstate Commerce

— Intrastate commerce. Such as is begun, carried on, and completed wholly within the limits of a single state. Contrasted with "interstate commerce," (g. v.)

In a strict sense, traffic in merchandise; in a general sense, an interchange of goods, or property of any kind, between nations or individuals, either by barter, or by purchase and sale; intercourse between nations; intercourse with foreign nations, including navigation.

The various agreements which have for their object facilitating the exchange of the products of the earth or the industry of man, with an intent to realize a profit. Pard. Droit Com. n. 1. A general term including the specific contracts of sale and exchange. The intercourse of nations in each other's produce and manufactures, in which the superfluities of one are given for those of another, and then re-exchanged with other nations for mutual wants. Wharton. Commerce is the interchange or mutual change of goods, productions, or property of any kind between nations or individuals. Transportation is the means by which commerce is carried on. 45 Iowa, 338. Commerce is a term of the largest import. It comprehends intercourse for the purposes of trade in any and all its forms, including the transportation, purchase, sale, and exchange of commodities between the citizens of our country and the citizens or subjects of other countries, and between the citizens of different states. The power to regulate it embraces all the instruments by which such commerce may be conducted. 91 U. S. 275. Commerce is not limited to an exchange of commodities only, but includes, as well, intercourse with foreign nations and between the states; and includes the transportation of passengers. 3 Cow. 713; 34 Cal. 492. The words "commerce" and "trade" are synonymous, but not identical. They are often used interchangeably; but, strictly speaking, commerce relates to intercourse or dealings with foreign nations, states, or political communities, while trade denotes business intercourse or mutual traffic within the limits of a state or nation, or the buying, selling, and exchanging of articles between members of the same community.

[Lat. comm^cium, from con, together, and mercari, to trade, from m^rx, merchandise.] In a strict sense, traffic in merchandise.

In a general sense, an interchange or mutual change of goods, wares, productions or property of any kind, between nations or individuals, either by barter, or by purchase and sale. Webster. Commerce is made by Webster and others the synonyme of trade, and divided into foreign and inland. A distinction, however, is frequently made between commerce and trade properly so called: the former term being used to denote intercourse with foreign nations; the latter, intercourse between citizens or subjects of the same nation. Wharton's Lex. Holthouse, The term commerce, as used in the constitution of the United States, (Art. I. Sect.