Fixed is the term to all the race of earth, And such the hard condition of our birth.

Both days the fixes have been goodit is best that we should go north and west.

CHAPTER XIX An Awkward Fix Mr. Selincourt was not the man to let the grass grow under his feet when he had any sort of project in hand.

Fixed is the order in which the cards shall fall, eight at a time.

Fixed is the bearded lance, unwelcome guest, Where'er he flies; with him it sinks beneath, With him it mounts; sure guide to every foe.

Obviously two questions were presented for adjudication: The first, which by courtesy might be termed legal, was whether the fixing of prices by statute was a prerogative which a state legislature might constitutionally exercise at all; the second, which was purely political, was whether, admitting that, in the abstract, such a power could be exercised by the state, Illinois had, in this particular case, behaved reasonably.

This statute is a consolidation of all previous laws, and it begins by recognizing the principle that the fixing of wages is a mistake and all such laws are repealed so far as they relate to terms of hiring and wages.

So the judges decided that, from time immemorial, the fixing of prices in certain trades and occupations had been a legislative function, which they supposed might be classified as a branch of the Police Power, but they declared that with this expression of opinion their jurisdiction ended.