Source: https://www.legalcrystal.com/case/94775/ftc-vs-claire-furnace-co
Timestamp: 2016-10-21 20:26:23
Document Index: 445535307

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 6', '§ 9', '§ 10', '§ 6', '§ 9', '§ 10', '§ 6', '§ 6']

Ftc Vs Claire Furnace Co - Citation 94775 - Court Judgment | LegalCrystal
Save as PDF Add a Tag Add a Note Semantics Visualize Ftc Vs. Claire Furnace Co. - Court Judgment	LegalCrystal Citationlegalcrystal.com/94775CourtUS Supreme CourtDecided OnApr-18-1927Case Number274 U.S. 160AppellantFtcRespondentClaire Furnace Co.Excerpt:.....(1927)
1. an order of the federal trade commission requiring a corporation to submit report concerning its business, under § 6 of the federal trade commission act is enforceable by the commission only by requesting the attorney general to institute mandamus proceedings under § 9, or by supplying him with the facts necessary to enforce the forfeiture of $100 per day prescribed by § 10 for continued failure to file such reports after.....Judgment:
1. An order of the Federal Trade Commission requiring a corporation to submit report concerning its business, under § 6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act is enforceable by the Commission only by requesting the Attorney General to institute mandamus proceedings under § 9, or by supplying him with the facts necessary to enforce the forfeiture of $100 per day prescribed by § 10 for continued failure to file such reports after notice. P.
274 U. S. 170
2. As the validity of such orders may be fully contested in such mandamus or forfeiture proceedings, if instituted in the exercise of his discretion by the Attorney General, these offer an adequate legal remedy to corporations resisting the orders as unconstitutional, and therefore a bill in equity to enjoin the Commission from taking steps to enforce such orders will not lie. P.
3. In view of the purpose of the statute that questions of constitutionality involved in such order of the Commission should be passed upon by the Attorney General before undertaking their enforcement by judicial proceedings instituted by him, a suit brought by corporations affected against the Commission to determine such questions should not be entertained even with consent of the parties. P.
Appeal from a decree of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia which affirmed a decree of the Supreme Court of the District, enjoining the Federal Trade Commission and its members from attempting to enforce orders made on the complainant corporations, commanding them to furnish monthly reports showing in detail the output, costs, prices, etc., in their business.
This was a bill in equity, brought in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia on behalf of 22 companies of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland in the coal, steel, and related industries to enjoin the Federal Trade Commission from enforcing or attempting to enforce orders issued by that Commission against the complainant companies
that the Federal Trade Commission, by virtue of § 6, paragraphs (a) and (b), of the Federal Trade Commission Act, proceed to the collection and publication of such information with respect to such basic industries as the said appropriation and other funds at its command will permit. And be it further "
that such action be started as soon as possible with respect to the coal industry and the steel industry, including in the latter closely related industries such as the iron ore, coke, and pig iron industries."
Purporting to proceed under this resolution, the Commission served separate notices upon the 22 appellees and many other corporations, engaged in mining, manufacturing, buying, and selling coal, coke, ore, iron and steel products, etc., which directed them to furnish monthly reports in the form prescribed showing output of every kind, itemized cost of production, sale prices, contract prices, capacity, buying orders, depreciation, general administration and selling expenses, income, general balance sheet, etc. Elaborate questionnaires, accompanying these orders, asked for answers revealing the intimate details of every department of the business, both intrastate and interstate. A summary of these printed in the margin sufficiently indicates their contents.
The concluding paragraph of the notice declared:
It accordingly held the answer insufficient, and, as defendants declined to amend, granted the injunction as prayed. The court of appeals affirmed this action. 52 App.D.C. 202, 285 F. 936. The cause, here by appeal, has been twice argued.
The action of the Commission here challenged must be justified, if at all, under the paragraphs of §§ 6 and 9. Act of September 26, 1914, copied below, and the only
There was nothing which the Commission could have done to secure enforcement of the challenged orders except
We think that the consent of the parties was not enough to justify the court in considering the fundamental question that has been twice argued before us. It was intended by Congress in providing this method of enforcing the orders of the Trade Commission to impose upon the Attorney General the duty of examining the scope and propriety of the orders, and of sifting out of the mass of inquiries issued what in his judgment was pertinent and lawful before asking the court to adjudge forfeitures for failure to give the great amount of information required or to issue a mandamus against those whom the orders affected and who refused to comply. The wide scope and variety of the questions, answers to which are asked in these orders, show the wisdom of requiring the chief law officer of the government to exercise a sound discretion in designating the inquiries to enforce which he shall feel justified in invoking the action of the court. In a case like this, the exercise of this discretion will greatly relieve the court, and may save it much unnecessary labor and discussion. The purpose of Congress in this requirement is plain, and we do not think that the court below should have dispensed with such assistance. Until the Attorney General acts, the defendants cannot suffer, and, when he does act, they can promptly answer and have full opportunity to contest the legality of any prejudicial proceeding against them. That right being adequate, they were not in a position to ask relief by injunction. The bill should have been dismissed for want of equity.
This appeal was taken four years ago. Nearly seven years have passed since the cause began -- June 12, 1920. Able counsel have argued it twice before us, but none suggested that the trial court erred in failing to dismiss the bill because there was an adequate remedy at law. Under well settled doctrine, such a defense may be waived by failure promptly to advance it.
229 U. S. 484
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