Evening star., 1942-11-09
Law Placing Penalty
On 0ver-Quota Wheat
Held Constitutional
Supreme Court Rejects
Ohio Farmers Challenge
Of l941 Legislation
BY the Associated Press.

! lie Oupl ellle COuII Ielu Gull
stitutional today legislation i'm
posing a 49-cent-per-bushel PEN
atty on wheat produced and sold
in excess of Agricultural Adjust
ment Administration quotas.
Justice Jackson delivered the
opinion on a challenge of the 1941
legislation by a group of Montgom-
cry County (Ohio) farmers. The
litigation was considered of far
reaching importance by the Roose-
welt administration.
The legislation, passed by Con-
gress May g. 1941, increased the
penalty on the excess over AAA
quotas from Is to 49 cents per bushel
and prevented the sale or use on
the farm of any wheat produced
until the penalty had been paid.
Amendment to 1888 Act.
This legislation was an amend
ment to the 1888 Agricultural Ad-
justment Act which authorized the
Secretary of Agriculture to fix
quotas restricting the marketing of
basic farm products.
The penalty provided by the
amendment" Justice Jackson said,
"can be postponed or avoided only
by storing the farm marketing ex-
cess according to regulations pro-
mulgated by the secretary or by
delivering it to him without COM
pensation, and the penalty is in
Cured and becomes due on thresh-
ing.
Thus the penalty was contingent
upon an act which appellee the
wheat farmer committed not be-
fore but after the enactment of
the statute. and had he chosen to
cut his excess and cure it or feed
it as hay, or to reap and feed it
with the head and straw together,
no pentlay would have been de-
manded. Such manner of consump-
ton is not uncommon.
"Only when he threshed and
thereby made it a part of the bulk
of wheat overhanging the market
did he become subject to penalty"
Fahy Is Heard.
It was contended by the wheat
farmers that the amendment, by at
tempting to regulate the amount Of
wheat grown by a farmer for his
own use as food, feed or seed, was
unconstitutional because this wheat
had no direct effect on interstate
commerce.
Solicitor General Charles Fahy
asserted, however, that the total
supply of wheat was the amount
available for all uses and the
amount consumed on the farm is not
economically separable" He said
this method of enforcement was
adopted to facilitate administration
of the wheat program.
Roscoe G. Filburn, in whose name
the suit was brought, contended
also that it was unconstitutional to
increase the penalty for overproduc-
ton when the crop was almost
ready for harvesting and only five
days before referendum was held
at which wheat farmers approved
the quotas.
Accuses Wickard.
He also accused Secretary of Agri-
culture Wickard of having "en-
couraged farmers to exceed their
acreage quotas" because of the war,
before Congress voted the increased
penalties.
Mr.. Filburn contended that under
the legislation in effect when he
planted his crop in the fall of 1910
he could market the wheat produced
by paying the penalty of IS cents
per bushel on the excess.
Secretary Wickard appealed to the
Supreme Court from ruling by a
three-judge Federal court at Dayton,
Ohio, holding invalid the increased
penalty and enjoining collection of
more than Is cents per bushel
penalty.
In other decisions and orders the
court ruled that the Wage-Hour Act
applies to employees of a company
engaged in drilling operations In the
Panhandle oil field of Texas.
Refused to review a decision that
the Federal District Court for
Nevada lacks jurisdiction to hear q
suit brought by California against
a resident OF Nevada, John Howard
Bruce Of Reno, to collect an income
tax on split Of the proceeds from
. $150,000 Irish Sweepstakes ticket
held by Mr.. Bruce while he lived in
California.