Robert H. Jackson

“ Nor can a litigant insist that a commission may not take a second step in a rate-making process without retracing all previous ones. As put by the Chief Justice: 'The establishment of a rate for a regulated industry often involves two steps of different character, one of which may appropriately precede the other. The first is the adjustment of the general revenue level to the demands of a fair return. ”

“ The Court has held that administrative tribunals 'have power themselves to initiate inquiry, or, when their authority is invoked, to control the range of investigation in ascertaining what is to satisfy the requirements of the public interest in relation to the needs of vast regions and sometimes the whole nation in the enjoyment of facilities for transportation, communication and other essential public services.' Federal Communications Commission v. ”

“ Thereupon Jersey City filed a complaint in the District Court, asking that the Commission's order be enjoined 'in so far as such order permits the establishment of any local interstate fare in excess of nine cents for transportation on the downtown line.' It alleged that in authorizing downtown fares 'in excess of the nine cent fare' fixed in the order of June 8, the Commission had deprived Jersey City of its full day in court by refusing it opportunity to cross-examine witnesses and present counter-evidence. ”

“ The Commission's opinion considered the arguments of the Price Administrator against any increase, but said, 'It seems to us that an increase of 1 cent in respondent's downtown fare is unlikely to have any inflationary effect, and that the effect thereof upon the cost of living, while a factor to be given consideration, will be so slight, a maximum of about 12 cents a week and 52 cents a month per passenger, as to be negligible. ”

“ If Congress desires to grant its own agencies greater privileges of judicial review than have been allowed to private parties it is at liberty to do so, but it is not for the Court to set aside, without legislative command, its slow-wrought general principles which protect the finality and integrity of decisions by administrative tribunals.
As to the contention that the Stabilization Act gave the Administrator standing superior to that of other litigants to ask the courts to override the normal discretion of the Commission in granting or refusing rehearings, we have already spoken in Vinson v. ”

“ The Interstate Commerce Commission has responsibility for maintaining an adequate system of wartime transportation. It is without power to protect these essential transportation agencies from rising labor and material costs. ”

“ The effect of the District Court's order is to disallow not only the token and cash combination fare, but also the 9-cent fare which the Commission found just, reasonable and lawful, and to continue the 8-cent rate fixed in 1938 and held by the Commission to have become clearly inadequate to the rights and needs of the Company.
Each of the findings of fact by the Commission appears to be supported by substantial evidence. ”

“ Reasonable persons could no doubt differ as to whether it is probable that 90 per cent of the patrons will purchase tokens, whether the revenues of the lines will increase more than the operating costs, and as to various other features of the contest. But when this same railroad came to us complaining of such predicative findings we refused to review the weight of evidence and held that being supported by evidence the judgment of the Commission was final. ”

“ If upon the coming down of the order litigants might demand rehearings as a matter of law because some new circumstance has arisen, some new trend has been observed, or some new fact discovered, there would be little hope that the administrative process could ever be consummated in an order that would not be subject to reopening. ”

“ The authorities referred to above make it abundantly plain that had the railroad's petition for rehearing been denied we would have held it to be in the sound discretion of the Commission and not reviewable. The rule of administrative law should not change because the shoe is on the other foot. There is no sufficient reason for breaking down our decisional rules that protect the administrative process against tactics to delay finality, unless Congress has so ordered us, as to which we next inquire. ”

“ The use of an alternative-fare basis of 11 tokens for $1 or a cash fare of a dime for local interstate passengers on both the downtown and uptown lines is the only practicable method now available by which respondent can reasonably be expected to obtain the financial benefits contemplated by our findings and conclusions in the second report as necessary to insure adequate transportation service. ”

“ It considered the offer of proof made in the hearings and said: 'Considering the contents of the motion now before us, and the offers of additional evidence made at the recent further hearing, we have no reason to believe that, if the additional hearing sought were held, we would feel warranted in modifying our findings as made in the second report. As will later appear, the alternative, fare basis herein approved can not be expected to yield materially better revenue results to respondent than we anticipated at the time of the second report. ”

“ At the time of this petition, the order * ** had not yet become effective, but the Commission stood upon the record of 1928 and, without reopening the proceedings or taking further evidence, provided that its order should become effective on June 1, 1931.' This, it was held, 'was not within the permitted range of the Commission's discretion, but was a denial of right.' 284 U.S. 248, 261, 262, 52 S.Ct. ”