James F. Byrnes

“ There is nothing to show a further intention that the United States should relinquish its priority as to claims against defaulting and insolvent borrowers whose notes it takes up from the lending institution pursuant to the insurance contract. That is, the ultimate collection of bad loans was consigned to the United States rather than to the lending institutions, but the collecting power of the United States was neither abridged nor qualified. ”

“ We appreciate that the spectacle of large segments of our population constantly on the move has given rise to urgent demands upon the ingenuity of government. Both the brief of the Attorney General of California and that of the Chairman of the Select Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States as amicus curiae have sharpened this appreciation. The State asserts that the huge influx of migrants into California in recent years has resulted in problems of health, morals, and especially finance, the proportions of which are staggering. ”

“ Although the employer is free to obtain a credit against it by contributing to his state fund, it cannot be said that it is any the less a tax because the employer has failed, either through choice or lack of resources, to make such a contribution. Either the state or the federal government must provide the money to meet the requirements of relief to the unemployed. By his contributions to the state, an employer has diminished the demand upon the financial resources of the federal government. ”

“ The strike was conducted by seamen on board a vessel and away from home port. The question is whether this circumstance renders it an abuse of discretion for the Board to order the reinstatement of the strikers. We think that it does.
Ever since men have gone to sea, the relationship of master to seaman has been entirely different from that of employer to employee on land. The lives of passengers and crew as well as the safety of ship and cargo are entrusted to the master's care. Every one and every thing depend on him. He must command and the crew must obey. Authority cannot be divided. ”

“ Perhaps the most striking proof of the belief shared by Congress and the executive that the Indians were not entitled to compensation upon the abolition of an executive order reservation is the very absence of compensatory payments in such situations. ”

“ The words 'without good and sufficient cause' plainly refer to the failure to perform the services or to return the money advanced. Since the subsequent breach of the contract by the defendant, however capricious or reprehensible, does not establish a fraudulent intent at the initial stage of the transaction, the content which has been assigned to the phrase 'without good and sufficient cause' by the Georgia courts is immaterial. ”

“ And none is more certain than the prohibition against attempts on the part of any single State to isolate itself from difficulties common to all of them by restraining the transportation of persons and property across its borders. It is frequently the case that a State might gain a momentary respite from the pressure of events by the simple expedient of shutting its gates to the outside world. ”

“ The Circuit Court of Appeals, after indicating its belief that the power to appoint a receiver is a drastic one and that it should be sparingly employed, concluded that its use was not warranted by the circumstances of this case. Its reasoning was that the sole interest of the petitioner was its option either to confiscate the excess acreage or to have it sold at public auction. 'The People do not need a receiver to protect the option. If and when the time comes for the court to decree a sale of the land at public auction a master can be appointed to carry through the sale. ”

“ Unless the language of the statute is to be disregarded, one who has rejected the proffered service and pays money only in order to purchase immunity from violence is not a bona fide employer and is not paying the extorted money as wages. ”

“ In any event, a sweeping requirement of obedience throughout the course of a voyage is certainly not without basis in reason. The strategy of discipline is not simple. The maintenance of authority hinges upon a delicate complex of human factors, and Congress may very sensibly have concluded that a master whose orders are subject to the crew's veto in port cannot enforce them at sea. Moreover, it is by no means clear that a ship moored to a dock is 'safe' if the crew refuses to tend it, as the strikers did at Houston. ”

“ While it is true that total and permanent disability prior to the expiration of the insurance contract must be established, evidence as to petitioner's conduct and condition during the ensuing years is certainly relevant. It is a commonplace that one's state of mind is not always discernible in immediate events and appearances, and that its measurement must often await a slow unfolding. This difficulty of diagnosis and the essential charity of ordinary men may frequently combine to delay the frank recognition of a diseased mind. ”

“ The pay days must be spaced at intervals of two weeks or longer. If the pay period is set at two weeks and the employee is required to work overtime during the first week, he is given sufficient time off during the second week to keep his paycheck at a constant level. In our view this counter-proposal far exceeds in technicality the plan adopted by respondent. Moreover its operation is to provide a ceiling but not a floor for the wage. Since the pay is by the hour and there is no guaranty, in a pay period in which an employee works few hours, his wage may fall far below the level aimed at. ”

“ As a practical business matter, Chrysler is not standing on an abstract right to devise means of financing its sales simply because it is not ready today with arrangements for a financial corporation, and the war precludes them. ”

“ Recent years, and particularly the past decade, have been marked by a growing recognition that in an industrial society the task of providing assistance to the needy has ceased to be local in character. The duty to share the burden, if not wholly to assume it, has been recognized not only by State governments, but by the Federal government as well. The changed attitude is reflected in the Social Security laws under which the Federal and State governments cooperate for the care of the aged, the blind and dependent children. ”

“ That Act required that 'any person or persons entering into a formal contract with the United States for the construction of any public building, or the prosecution and completion of any public work, or for repairs upon any public building or public work, shall be required' to post a bond for the security of both the United States and the suppliers of labor and materials. It permitted the laborers and material men to enforce their claims by intervening in any suit by the United States on the bond. ”

“ But by his failure to contribute, the employer has increased this demand and sharpened the necessity for obtaining the revenues required to satisfy it. The effort by the United States to obtain the revenue by denying the credit must be regarded as the levying of a tax and not as the exaction of a penalty. ”

“ We do not mean that an offer to work or even the actual performance of some services necessarily entitles one to immunity under the exception. A jury might of course find that such an offer or performance was no more than a sham to disguise an actual intention to extort and to blackmail. ”

“ We can see no justification for an iron rule that a discharge of a striker by his employer for some particular, unlawful conduct in furtherance of a strike is sufficient to bar his reinstatement as a matter of law. Fansteel teaches that there are extremes of conduct which leave no discretion to the Board. ”

“ Private persons in general are reluctant to extend credit when they know that in the event of the borrower's insolvency the claims of the United States will receive priority, and this circumstance is particularly undesirable in times of economic stress. In the first place, whatever may be the merits of the contention, it should be addressed to Congress and not to this Court. ”

“ Obviously, it was an essential feature of the consent decree against Chrysler that the prohibition of affiliation with the finance company should result in this great competitive disadvantage only long enough to enable the Government to press its claim against General Motors to successful conclusion with all reasonable speed. ”

“ The character of what the drivers or owners did and intended to do pay money to avoid a beating-was not altered by the willingness of the payee to accept as wages for services rendered what he in fact intentionally exacted from the driver or owner as the purchase price of immunity from assault, and what he intended so to exact whether the proffered services were accepted or not. It is no answer to say that the guilt of a defendant is personal and cannot be made to depend upon the acts and intention of another. ”