Federal Jurisdiction and the Compensation Acts

The Federal Government is a government, theoretically at least of limited powers. Its jurisdiction is that specifically conferred upon it by the Federal Constitution, and within that jurisdiction its authority is paramount to that of the states. Under the provisions of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Accordingly, there exists as to every state a certain field wherein, even within its own bounds, state legislation must yield to Federal legislation.