William O. Douglas

“ Neither body should repeat in this day the mistake made by the courts of law when equity was struggling for recognition as an ameliorating system of justice; neither can rightly be regarded by the other as an alien intruder, to be tolerated if must be, but never to be encouraged or aided by the other in the attainment of the common aim.' The Administrator does not carry the sole burden of the war against inflation. ”

“ Court and agency are the means adopted to attain the prescribed end, and so far as their duties are defined by the words of the statute, those words should be construed so as to attain that end through co-ordinated action. ”

“ Misunderstanding of the regulation, confusion on the part of employees not trained in such problems of interpretation and administration, the complexity of the problem, and the fallibility of humans all combined to produce numerous errors. ”

“ There is no substantial controversy over the facts. Petitioner operates a large department store in Washington, D.C. and did a business of about $20,000,000 in 1942. There are 107 departments in the store and each sells a separate line of merchandise. In the fall of 1942 the Administrator started an investigation to determine whether petitioner was complying with the Act and the regulation. The investigation was a 'spot check', confined to seven departments. In each of the seven departments violations were disclosed. ”

“ Sec. 4 (a) of the Act makes it unlawful for a person to sell or deliver any commodity in violation of specified orders or regulations of the Administrator. A regulation issued under § 2 of the Act and effective in May, 1942 (7 Fed.Reg. 3153) provided that no person should sell or deliver any commodity at a price higher than the authorized maximum price (§ 1499.1) as fixed or determined by the regulation. [1] Since maximum prices were fixed with reference to earlier base periods, the regulation also provided for the preservation and examination of existing records. ”

“ Such statement shall be kept up to date by such person by filing on the first day of every succeeding month a statement of his maximum price for any cost-of-living commodity newly offered for sale during the previous month, together with an appropriate description or identification of the commodity.'↑ H.R. 5479, 77th Cong., 1st Sess.↑ 'Upon a showing that such person has engaged or is about to engage in any such act or practice, a permanent or temporary injunction or decree or restraining order shall be granted without bond.' Investment Company Act of 1940, 54 Stat. ”