Harlan F. Stone

“ We have then regulations of the War Department made pursuant to powers delegated by Congress and which prohibit the Army's contracting officers from waiving competitive bidding merely because prices are fixed by the states. I am unable to see why they are not valid regulations. Congress has said that competitive bidding 'shall' be required except where it is 'impracticable to secure competition'. ”

“ A thing is 'impracticable' to do when it is infeasible or incapable of being done. The contract which the Quartermaster made with Penn Dairies is conclusive of the fact that it was not 'impracticable' to obtain the milk through competitive bidding. A regulation which interprets 'impracticable' so as not to preclude competitive bidding because of state price-fixing stays well within the scope of the rule making power. These War Department regulations accordingly 'have the force of law'. ”