Source: http://supreme.nolo.com/us/248/158/case.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 23:59:12+00:00

Document:
In this case, the State of Minnesota sued the plaintiff in error, an extensive dealer in oils, to recover fees which were charged for the inspection of oils and gasoline between February 1, 1913, and April 25, 1915. The judgment of the state supreme court affirming that of the trial court in favor of the state is before us for review on writ of error.
"An Act relating to the inspection of petroleum products, the appointment of chief inspector of oils and deputy inspectors, manner of inspection, establishing fees for inspection and salaries of inspectors, prohibiting the sale of adulterated oils, and providing penalties for violation thereof,"
and the title of the chapter in which the original act is embodied in the general statutes of the state is "Inspection of Oils." Gen.Stats. of Minnesota, 1913, c. 20.
Section 3622 provides that no person shall sell or offer for sale in the state illuminating oil which has not been inspected as provided for by the act, or which will ignite at a temperature below 120� Fahrenheit. A method is prescribed for making this "fire test" and for determining the gravity of such oils, and the results must be stenciled on each container of oil.
Section 3625 deals with gasoline, and requires that it shall be subject to the same inspection and control as is prescribed for illuminating oils, "except that the inspectors are not required to test it other than to ascertain its gravity."
All containers of gasoline must be labeled conspicuously with the word "Gasoline," the gravity must be stenciled thereon, and it is made unlawful to sell or offer it for sale until inspected and approved. Provision is also made (§ 3626) for the inspection of gasoline "receptacles" to keep them "free from water and all other foreign substances," and the sale of "adulterated" gasoline is prohibited (§ 3627). Obviously this is, in form, a not unusual type of inspection law.
"That the testing of gasoline in the manner provided by the statute . . . indicates to the public the degree of safety of such gasoline, and has a fair relation to the quality and value thereof. That such inspection protects the community, as applied to sales of gasoline in Minnesota, from frauds and impositions, and advises, informs, and warns the public of the volatile character of said gasoline and the relative degree of care to be exercised in handling, storing, and using the same."
Second, that, to the extent that the act applies to gasoline, it is not a valid exercise of the police powers of the state because it does not serve to protect or safeguard the health, morals, or convenience of the public, and therefore offends against the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution by depriving the plaintiff in error of its property without due process of law to the extent of the fees which it in terms exacts.
welfare or to protect the public from frauds and imposition when dealing in articles of general use, as to which Congress has not made any conflicting regulation, and a fee reasonably sufficient to pay the cost of such inspection may constitutionally be charged, even though the property may be moving in interstate commerce when inspected. Patapsco Guano Co. v. North Carolina Board of Agriculture, 171 U. S. 345, 171 U. S. 357-358, 171 U. S. 361; New Mexico v. Denver & Rio Grande R. Co., 203 U. S. 38; Asbell v. Kansas, 209 U. S. 251; Patterson v. Kentucky, 97 U. S. 501, 97 U. S. 504; Savage v. Jones, 225 U. S. 501, 225 U. S. 525.
Specifically, state laws providing for the inspection of oils and gasoline have several times been recognized as valid by this Court. Patterson v. Kentucky, 97 U. S. 501; Red "C" Oil Mfg. Co. v. Board of Agriculture of North Carolina, 222 U. S. 380; Waters-Pierce Oil Co. v. Deselms, 212 U. S. 159.
But if such inspection charge should be obviously and largely in excess of the cost of inspection, the act will be declared void because constituting in its operation an obstruction to and burden upon that commerce among the states the exclusive regulation of which is committed to Congress by the Constitution. Postal Telegraph-Cable Co. v. Taylor, 192 U. S. 64; Foote & Co. v. Maryland, 232 U. S. 494, 232 U. S. 504, 232 U. S. 508.
calculation as to the difference between cost and collection; nor will they declare the fees to be excessive unless it is made clearly to appear that they are obviously and largely beyond what is needed to pay for the inspection services rendered."
Foote & Co. v. Maryland, 232 U. S. 494, 232 U. S. 505; Western Union Telegraph Co. v. New Hope, 187 U. S. 419.
fee on oil and gasoline in tank cars was reduced by the legislature from 10 to 7 cents and in 1917 from 7 to 5 cents. It was obviously impossible for the state legislature to determine accurately in advance either what the receipts from or the cost of inspection would be, and having regard to the period of rapid increase in the use of gasoline through which the country was passing in the years under consideration and to the action of the legislature in reducing the fee, we cannot consent to impute to that body a purpose other than to conform to the requirements of the Constitution when enacting this legislation.
The conclusion thus arrived at sustains the validity of the state law as an inspection measure, and renders it unnecessary to consider the much argued question as to whether or not the oil and gasoline in question were in interstate transit when inspected. As an inspection law, under the decisions cited, the act is validly applicable alike whether the property was in intra- or in interstate commerce when inspected.
Neither is it necessary to consider whether the evidence sustains the contention that the inspection of gasoline provided for by the act was of a character such that it did not serve to promote the public safety or to protect the community against fraud and imposition. The finding of fact by the trial court, approved by the supreme court of the state, is accepted as conclusive by this Court. Northern Pacific Ry. Co. v. North Dakota, 236 U. S. 585, 236 U. S. 593.

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