104 SALMON GEAR LIMITATION 



reason that it could not operate in juturo because it undertook to preserve 

 such vested rights. ^^^ 



E. Collateral Considerations 



Often appearing in cases involving state regulations of various 

 occupational activities are certain concepts which for the most part 

 have not been discussed earlier in this report. While these are not 

 considered crucial to the foregoing analysis, they recur with such 

 frequency in this field of constitutional law that they must be sep- 

 arately discussed. Properly understood, they can be of considerable 

 assistance; misunderstood, their application can be quite harmful. 



1. Police Power 



The first of these is the concept of "police power." This has 

 been discussed earlier under the heading of "due process " and needs 

 little further elaboration. As there pointed out, if by that term it is 

 understood to refer to the fact that the legislature may enact all such 

 laws as it sees fit except as controlled or limited by the constitutional 

 limitations, clear analysis is facilitated. If, on the contrary, the police 

 power be considered something apart from constitutional law, dif- 

 ficulties are introduced, whether the police power as thus understood 

 be something less than the constitutional limits would allow or as 

 something more. 



The second and third concepts to be discussed here have that 

 same characteristic: If they are considered apart from constitutional 

 limitations and constitutional doctrines generally, they will lead to 

 undesirable results, either in unduly limiting legislative power or 

 unduly extending it. 



2. Right-privilege Dichotomy 



The second concept is that one's rights with reference to his 

 occupation can be determined by the simple device of deciding 

 whether, broadly speaking, his occupation is a "right" or a "privilege." 

 Once that determination is made, all other consequences would auto- 

 matically follow, for if it be labeled a "right" the legislature cannot 

 circumscribe it, and if it be labeled a "privilege" the legislature can 

 circumscribe it with all manner of control without limit. The ab- 

 surdity of the proposition should be self-evident, but unfortunately 

 for clarity in the development of constitutional law, it has not always 

 been so apparent in decided cases. 



The cases in which the application of this concept has been the 



138. 12 Wn. 2d at 472; 122 P. 2d at 464. 



