In the case of Collins v. New Hampshire in 1897, the U.S Supreme Court upheld a state law that regulated and taxed itinerant vendors selling goods such as photographs. The plaintiff, Mr. Collins, was an out-of-state vendor who argued that this law violated his constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and Commerce Clause because it discriminated against non-residents like him by imposing taxes on their business operations within New Hampshire while exempting resident businesses from similar taxation. However, the court ruled against him stating that states have broad powers to regulate commerce within their borders for public welfare reasons including protecting local industries or preventing frauds which could be more prevalent with transient merchants than permanent ones. Therefore, they concluded that these laws did not violate any constitutional provisions but were valid exercises of state power.

In the dissenting opinion for Collins v. New Hampshire, 1897, it was argued that the state's regulation of barbers' working hours violated their right to contract freely under the Fourteenth Amendment. The justice contended that such a law interfered with personal liberty and property rights without due process of law. He believed that if a state could limit how many hours one can work in certain professions, then they could potentially do so for all occupations - an overreach he deemed unconstitutional. This perspective emphasized individual liberties and economic freedom as paramount constitutional protections against arbitrary government interference or control.