William O. Douglas

“ The advertising and mislabeling prohibitions in § 3 (b) of the Act [5] are plainly applicable to retail sales. Yet the prohibition of false invoices is contained in the same clause. If we held that Congress, in spite of its desire to protect consumers, withheld from them the benefits of reliable invoices, we would have to read the clauses of § 3 distributively, making only some of them applicable to retail sales. ”

“ The Act in § 4 also provides [2] that a fur product is misbranded (1) if it is 'falsely or deceptively labeled * * * or * * * identified,' (2) if there is not affixed a label setting forth substantially the same six items of information required for an 'invoice,' or (3) if the label designates the animal that produced the fur by some name other than that prescribed in the Fur Products Name Guide. ”

“ Then as a general catch-all 'any other person who is engaged in dealing commercially in fur products or furs' was added. In the second place, only by construing 'invoice' to include retail sales slips can the full protection of the Act be accorded consumers. We do not agree with the point stressed by respondent that the consumer's protection is to be found solely in the label on the fur product and that invoices are required only at each antecedent step of delivery or transfer to a person dealing commercially in either furs or fur products. ”

“ Commissioner, 313 U.S. 1, 9, 61 S.Ct. 789, 794, 85 L.Ed. 1149) , states that its purpose was to 'protect consumers and others against * * * false invoicing of fur products and furs.' 65 Stat. 175. So we have an avowed purpose to protect retail purchasers against improper 'invoicing.' We therefore should read § 2 (f) which contains the definition of 'invoice' hospitably with that end in view. Section 2 (f) is not unambiguous. Yet we do not have here the problem of a penal statute that deserves strict construction. ”

“ The Commission found that respondent had violated the 'invoice' provisions of the Act by failure to include in many of its retail sales slips of fur products, (a) its address, (b) whether the fur was bleached, dyed, or otherwise artificially colored, and (c) the correct name of the animal producing the fur. ”