Speech #470064130

It is no longer open to dispute. no longer a subjectmatter of speculation i it has been withdrawn from that field. and the people of the United States have put in their Constitution a meaning which we are obliged to accept. and which the courts of this country are obliged to accept. That amendment. in unmistakable terms. excludes from the class of citizens the artificial beings called corporations. I will read it: All persons born or naturalized In the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof. ore citizens of the United States. and of the State wherein they reside. That is the constitutional definition of the meaning of the word citizens." Corporations cannot be born. they are creatures merely of the legislative will. They cannot be naturalized. they can take no oath of allegiance. they can renounce no fealty to any foreign power. I proceed further to read from the amendments to fix with absolute certainty. beyond the possibility of controversy. the fact that corporations cannot be included within the class of citizens: No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. nor shall any State deprive any person of life. liberty. orproperty. without due process of law. nor deny to any person within its jrisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The whole section taken together shows that the people in inserting this article in the Constitution were referring to natural persons. persons who owed allegiance. persons entitled to the protection of the Government. and persons who are capable of serving it.