56 COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



favor of its validity, until its violation of the Constitution is proved 

 beyond all reasonable doubt. Ogden v. Saunders, 12 Wheat. 213, 

 270.' ' Durfee, C. J., in State v. The District of Narragansett, 16 

 R. I. 424, 440. 



Therefore it is incumbent upon the respondents to satisfy this court 

 beyond all reasonable doubt that the act in question is unconstitu- 

 tional in the particulars complained of. 



Another consideration of great importance is the necessity of ascer- 

 taining whether the act in question comes within the police power of 

 the state. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are held to be 

 among the inalienable rights with which all men are endowed by their 

 Creator, and that to secure these rights, governments are instituted 

 among men. It is therefore evident that the object of society is to 

 live, increase, and flourish. It is therefore interested in the preser- 

 vation of itself and of its members. " Self-preservation has been 

 termed the first law of nature. It is of the most ancient origin: It 

 antedates all constitutions and statutes made by man. It is the law 

 under which we live, move, and have our being: it is a law govern- 

 ing all persons, natural and artificial. High and low, rich and poor, 

 wise and foolish, old and young, are subject to its inexorable sway. 

 Obedience to it is rewarded, while disobedience to it is inevitably 

 punished. Out of its observance arises the doctrine of the survival 

 of the fittest. It is an attribute of all corporations, from the State 

 itself down to the least of its creatures. Upon it depends the police 

 power of the State, which, in its broadest acceptation, means the 

 general power of a government to preserve and promote public 

 welfare by prohibiting all things hurtful to the comfort, safety, and 

 welfare of society, and by establishing such rules as may be conducive 

 of public benefit." Ponte v. Marconi, 27 R. I. 6. 



"Frequently when questions of conflict between national and 

 State authority are made, and also when it is claimed that government 

 has exceeded its just powers in dealing with the property and con- 

 trolling the actions of individuals, it becomes necessary to consider 

 the extent and pass upon the proper bounds of another State power, 



