Court Opinion

ID: 9516530
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 23:44:32.312537+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:40:29.508230
License: Public Domain

VAN VALKENBURGH, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
I am unable to conclude from the testimony at this rehearing that the Secretary of Agriculture gave to the determination of this matter the personal consideration which is his duty under the provisions of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 7 U.S.C.A. § 181 et seq.,.as construed by the Supreme Court. It is not an impersonal obligation. The proceeding has a quality resembling that of a judicial proceeding, in which the one who decides shall be bound to reach his conclusion “uninfluenced by extraneous considerations which in other fields might have play in determining purely executive action”. The proceeding is not one of ordinary administration, but looks to legislative action, in which the Secretary is the, agent of Congress in the fixing of rates for market agencies. So that, as said by the Supreme Court, the authority conferred by the Act is not given to the Department of Agriculture, as a department in the administrative sense, but to the Secretary himself as the legislative agent of the Congress. That duty “undoubtedly may be an onerous one, byt the performance of it in a substantial manner is inseparable from the exercise of the important authority conferred.” Morgan v. United States, 298 U.S. 468, 482, 56 S.Ct. 906, 912, 80 L.Ed. 1288.
There can be no doubt that, at the time of original trial in this court, it was the theory of the government, as expressed by its counsel, that the authority conferred by section 310 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 7 U.S.C.A. § 211, is given to the Department of Agriculture as a department in the administrative sense. This is apparent from the language of the motion to strike paragraph IV, among other parts of complainants’ bill, “for the reason that the allegations contained in said portions of said petition are impertinent, redundant, incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial to. any issue which may properly be raised in this suit”. This position was maintained on appeal before the Supreme Court, as appears from the argument of appellees, reported in 298 U.S. at pages 469, 471, 56 S.Ct. at page 907. Counsel expressly referred to the language of this court to the effect “that the theory of these allegations is supported by nothing in the Act and that a construction of the Act inconsistent with that theory would destroy it altogether as a measure capable of practical administration”. Counsel added in that presentation that to permit parties affected by “administrative decisions” thus to challenge orders, as signed upon insufficient deliberation, “might well lead to the paralysis of administrative tribunals”. (Italics supplied). Obviously no distinction was made between departmental proceedings in an administrative sense, and those of a quasi judicial character.
It is impossible, in my judgment, to read the testimony of the Secretary without recognizing that he carried into the final determination reached this conception of the proceeding as one belonging to his department in an administrative sense. The examinations he made were casual and perfunctory^in the extreme. He says his final determination represented his reactions to the findings of the men in the Bureau of Animal Industry. He accepted these findings because he regarded his subordinates as in a better position than himself to make the decision. In his view “the phrase ‘Secretary of Agriculture’ is perhaps used in connections with regard to laws of this sort in the broad sense as well as in the narrow sense”.
While undoubtedly the Secretary may have such assistants to analyze and appraise evidence for his convenience and advice, this does not and should not mean that such appraisal may amount to final valuation, where the responsibility of decision is expressly addressed to the Secretary alone, sitting in a quasi judicial capacity. And this means a moral as well as a legal responsibility, where large interests, as here, are critically affected.
The findings accepted by the Secretary emphasize the importance and necessity of this market. If it is to be maintained, those who conduct it must receive a fair and reasonable return upon their services. This is true apart from a consideration of the question of confiscation as such. For this reason the conscientious judgment of the Secretary himself apart from his administrative character is demanded as a duty.
Of course the Secretary takes official responsibility when he signs any administrative order prepared by his department, but *385that is not the quality of responsibility demanded in a proceeding of this nature.
If it be true, as contended, that the act cannot be administered except upon the superficial basis here disclosed, then legislation should be made to meet that situation. Necessarily I have made but brief reference to record contents in stating these conclusions. In my judgment the recitals of the Secretary as a whole confirm these views.
Being of opinion that the proceedings in this case differed in no substantial respect from those ordinarily involved in departmental administration, and that a serious condition in the life of this market has resulted from the purely casual and mechanical treatment it has received, I must respectfully dissent from the views expressed by my associates.