Note 79 — Chapter II · The Power of Congress to Establish Postoffices

“It might be easily shown, for instance, that the power over the mails is limited to the transmission of intelligence, and that Congress cannot, consistently with the nature and object of the power, extend it to the ordinary objects of transportation, without a manifest violation of the Constitution, and the assumption of a principle which would give the government control over the general transportation of the country, both by land and water.” Speech of John C. Calhoun. 12 Debates of Congress, 1142. See also 18 American Law Review, 218.