The Northern Pacific Railway Company et al. v. State of North Dakota on the Relation of Langer, Attorney General case in 1918 revolved around a dispute over freight rates set by the state's Public Service Commission and enforced by its Attorney General. The railway company argued that these rates were unreasonably low and violated their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to due process and equal protection, as well as interfering with interstate commerce regulations which they believed should be governed solely by federal law rather than individual states' laws. However, the Supreme Court ruled against them stating that it was within a state's power to regulate local aspects of rail service including intrastate rates so long as those rules did not interfere with interstate commerce or violate any other constitutional protections.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Northern Pacific Railway Company et al. v. State of North Dakota, argued that the state law requiring railroads to provide cars for grain shipments within 48 hours was not an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce and therefore should not be struck down as unconstitutional. The dissenters believed that this requirement was a necessary regulation to protect farmers from being taken advantage of by railroad companies who might otherwise delay or refuse service at their discretion. They also pointed out that there were no federal regulations covering this issue, so it fell under the purview of states' rights to regulate local businesses and industries as they saw fit. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority's interpretation of previous court decisions regarding similar issues, arguing instead that those cases supported upholding such state laws rather than striking them down.