State of Louisiana v. State of Texas

• Decision Date: 15 January 1900
• Docket Number: O,No. 6,6
• Citation: 20 S.Ct. 251,176 U.S. 1,44 L.Ed. 347
• Parties: STATE OF LOUISIANA v. STATE OF TEXAS et al. riginal
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

176 U.S. 1

20 S.Ct. 251

44 L.Ed. 347

STATE OF LOUISIANA

v STATE OF TEXAS et al.

No. 6, Original.

Submitted October 24, 1899.

Decided January 15, 1900.

The state of Louisiana by her governor applied to this court for leave to file a bill of complaint against the state of Texas, her governor, and her health officer. Argument was had on objections to granting leave, but, it appearing to the court the better course in this instance, leave was granted and the bill filed, whereupon defendants demurred, and the cause was submitted on the oral argument already had and printed briefs.

The bill alleged: 'That the city of New Orleans, one of the great commercial cities of this Republic, and the second export city of this continent, containing about 275,000 inhabitants, many of whom are largely engaged in interstate commerce with the inhabitants of the state of Texas, is situated within the territory of your orator; that said city contains nearly one fourth of all the inhabitants of your orator, and the assessed values of her property are more than one half the assessed values of the whole state, and she contributes by taxes and licenses more than five eighths of your orator's revenue.

'That two lines of railroad, the Southern Pacific and the Texas & Pacific, run directly from the city of New Orleans through the states of Louisiana and Texas, and into the states and territories of the United States and of Mexico, beyond the state of Texas, with the inhabitants of which states and territories the citizens of New Orleans are also engaged in interstate and foreign commerce, such commerce largely following the lines of said railroads and their many connections.

'That the state of Texas, by her Revised Civil Statutes, adopted at the regular session of the Twenty-fourth Legislature, held in the year 1895, being Title XCII. thereof, has granted to her governor and her health officer extensive powers over the establishment and maintenance of quarantines against infectious or contagious diseases, with authority to make rules and regulations for the detention of vessels, persons, and property coming into the state from places infected, or deemed to be infected, with such diseases.

'That Joseph D. Sayers, a citizen of the state of Texas, is now, and has been for some time past, governor of said state.

'That William F. Blunt, a citizen of the state of Texas, is now, and has been for some time past, the state health officer of the state of Texas.

'That the ports of said state, situated on the Gulf coast, are engaged in commerce with the ports of Mexico, Central and South America, and Cuba, known to be permanently infected with yellow fever; said commerce being largely competitive with similar commerce coming to the port of New Orleans,

'That on the 1st day of March, 1899, Joseph D. Sayers, governor of the state of Texas, under the provisions of the said laws, issued his proclamation establishing quarantine on the Gulf coast and Rio Grande border against all places, persons, or things coming from places infected by yellow fever, etc., a copy of which proclamation is hereto annexed and made part of this bill and marked Exhibit 'A.'

'That the rules and regulations established in said quarantine proclamation permit trade and commerce between such infected ports and the state of Texas, and provide for the fumigation and reasonable detention of ships and cargoes from infected ports.

'That on or about the 31st day of August, 1899, a case of yellow fever was officially declared to exist in the city of New Orleans, in a part of the city several miles away from the commercial part thereof, and from that time to this several other sporadic cases have been reported in similar parts of the city.

'That as soon as said first case was reported the said William F. Blunt, health officer of the state of Texas, claiming to act under the provisions of article 4324 of the Revised Civil Statutes, under the pretense of establishing a quarantine, placed an embargo on all interstate commerce between the city of New Orleans and the state of Texas, absolutely prohibiting all common carriers entering the state of Texas from bringing into the state any freight or passengers, or even the mails of the United States, coming from the city of New Orleans; and to enforce these orders he immediately placed, and now maintains, armed guards, acting under the authority of the state of Texas, on all the lines of travel from the state of Louisiana into the state of Texas, with instructions to enforce the embargo declared by him vi et armis, which instructions these armed guards are carrying out to the letter; that about six days later he modified his order so as to permit the government of the United States to carry and deliver the mails, and also modified his order so as to permit persons and their baggage to enter the state of Texas, after ten days' detention at the quarantine detention camps established by him, and after fumigation of their baggage; but that he now maintains, and announces his intention to maintain indefinitely, his absolute prohibition of all interstate commerce between the city of New Orleans and the state of Texas; that he has refused to permit the introduction of sulphuric acid in iron drums, unpacked hardware, machinery, and other articles coming from localities in the city of New Orleans far removed from the places where the sporadic cases of fever have occurred, and which by their nature are concededly incapable of conveying infection; that he had established no system of classification or inspection of the articles of interstate commerce coming from the city of New Orleans, to determine whether they are or may be infected, or whether they are capable, or not, of conveying infection, no period of detention for such articles, no place or method of disinfection thereof; his only method being absolute and unconditional prohibition of such interstate commerce; that it is a notorious fact, and well known to said Blunt, that all of the interstate commerce between New Orleans and Texas is carried on by railroads, and none by water communication between the port of New Orleans and the Texas ports, and that the effect of his orders is to destroy all such commerce, to take away the trade of the merchants and business men of the city of New Orleans, and to transfer that trade to rival business cities in the state of Texas.

'That while Joseph D. Sayers, governor of the state of Texas, has issued no formal proclamation of quarantine, as provided by law, to wit, article 4324 of the Revised Civil Statutes, defining the rules and regulations of such quarantine so declared by said Blunt, your orator charges that the rules and regulations established by said Blunt have the full force of law until modified or changed by the proclamation of the governor, and that the governor knows all these facts, and approves and adopts the same, and permits these rules and regulations to stand and to be executed in full force and effect as established by said Blunt.

'Now, your orator recognizes the right and power of the state of Texas and the public officials thereof, to take prudent and reasonable measures to protect the people of said state from infection, to establish quarantine and reasonable inspection laws, but your orator denies that said state, or its officials acting under its laws, under the cover of exercising its police powers, can prohibit or so burden interstate commerce as to make such commerce impossible.

'Your orator avers that it is a recognized and acknowledged fact by all the sanitarians and health officials of the various states exposed to infection by yellow fever, and by the health officials of the United States, and by all scientific students of infection and sanitation, that commerce can be conducted between infected and noninfected points, with small inconvenience and without any danger of infection, by classifying the articles of commerce, and by pursuing certain well-recognized rules and precautions with reference to the articles and vehicles of commerce.

'That after the yellow fever outbreak of 1897 a quarantine convention was held in Mobile, Ala., and, on the advice of that convention, a conference of the health officials of Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, and the United States Marine Hospital Service met at Atlanta, Ga., and formulated such regulations, which were adopted by the boards of health of all said states, and, as subsequently revised, are now in full force and effect between the said states; that additional experience having been gained by the reappearance of yellow fever in the fall of 1898, a revising conference was held in the city of New Orleans on February 9, 1899, at which conference the Atlanta regulations were in some respects modified. A copy of the said regulations, original and as modified, are hereto annexed, and made part of this bill, and marked Exhibit 'B.'

'Your orator avers that said William F. Blunt, or his predecessor in office, was health officer of the state of Texas at the time these conferences were held, that he and his predecessor in office refused or neglected to attend them in person or by representative, and he has continually refused to adopt the Atlanta regulations, or any of them, or any regulations similar to them, and insists, as his predecessor in office insisted, upon being a law to himself, and upon using no means of dealing with yellow fever infection in the city of New Orleans, or elsewhere in the state of Louisiana, real or imaginary, except an absolute embargo upon interstate commerce, to be established at his pleasure and to last as long as he chooses to maintain it.

'That in pursuance of this policy, in the year 1897, his predecessor in office established a similar embargo on interstate commerce between New Orleans and other points in Louisiana, supposed by him to be infected, and the state of Texas, on the 10th day of September;...