206
Opinion of the Court
the farmers of the state are unable to earn a living income. Nebbia v. New York, [291 U. S. 502 (1934)] . . . Let such an exception be admitted, and all that a state will have to do in times of stress and strain is to say that its farmers and merchants and workmen must be protected against competition from without, lest they go upon the poor relief lists or perish altogether. To give entrance to that excuse would be to invite a speedy end of our national solidarity. The Constitution was framed under the dominion of a political philosophy less parochial in range. It was framed upon the theory that the peoples of the several states must sink or swim together, and that in the long run prosperity and salvation are in union and not division." Baldwin v. G. A. F. Seelig, Inc., 294 U. S., at 522-523.21
In a later case, also involving the welfare of Massachusetts dairy farmers,22 Justice Jackson described the same overriding interest in the free flow of commerce across state lines:
"Our system, fostered by the Commerce Clause, is that every farmer and every craftsman shall be encouraged
21 "This distinction between the power of the State to shelter its people from menaces to their health or safety and from fraud, even when those dangers emanate from interstate commerce, and its lack of power to retard, burden or constrict the flow of such commerce for their economic advantage, is one deeply rooted in both our history and our law." H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond, 336 U. S. 525, 533 (1949); see also Bacchus Imports, Ltd. v. Dias, 468 U. S., at 272-273.
22 A surprisingly large number of our Commerce Clause cases arose out of attempts to protect local dairy farmers. Schollenberger v. Pennsylvania, 171 U. S. 1 (1898); Baldwin v. G. A. F. Seelig, Inc., 294 U. S. 511 (1935); H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond, 336 U. S., at 539; Dean Milk Co. v. Madison, 340 U. S. 349, 354 (1951); Polar Ice Cream & Creamery Co. v. Andrews, 375 U. S. 361 (1964); Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. Cottrell, 424 U. S. 366 (1976). The reasons for the political effectiveness of milk producers are explored in G. Miller, The Industrial Organization of Political Production: A Case Study, 149 J. Institutional & Theoretical Economics 769 (1993).
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