Court Opinion

ID: 9443402
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 19:19:22.690581+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:29:28.629868
License: Public Domain

On Rehearing.
MURRAH, Circuit Judge.
In our former opinion filed February 29, 1952, the majority of the court held that the letter of October 18, 1946, referred to in the stipulated facts, was an order under Section 2(e) of the Emergency Price Control Act, the validity, force, and effect of which were not subject to attack in the trial court.
Appellee has, throughout the hearings in this court, strenuously insisted that even if the letter was a 2(e) order, this was not an action for its enforcement. It has contended that nowhere in the trial of this case was the letter treated as a 2(e) order; that only belatedly in this court and as a last resort to avoid the dilemma in which appellant found itself did it take the position that the letter was an order and that this was an action for its enforcement. It was suggested that the letter was not sufficiently pleaded or reflected in the stipulation to form the basis of an order on which an enforcement proceedings could be predicated. A consideration of these contentions, and our contrariety of views on the legal effect of the pleadings, prompted us to grant rehearing.
On rehearing, the parties stipulated that the letter and all subsequent correspondence between the parties should be made a part of the record and considered so far as relevant and material by us in determining whether as a matter of law the letter was a 2(e) order. Upon consideration of the letter and the relevant correspondence now before us, we adhere to the view that the letter was a 2(e) order, and if properly pleaded, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits or correctness thereof.
The more difficult question is whether the action was one to enforce compliance with the order. Upon that question the parties are in sharp conflict and the court is not in entire accord, but in the view we now take of the matter it is not necessary for us to resolve that question. By their stipulation the parties have agreed that the letter shall be made a part of the record and considered by us in reaching our conclusions. Making the letter a part of the record in effect makes it a part of the complaint as though it were attached thereto. We will accordingly treat the stipulation of the parties as effecting an amendment of the complaint, and the letter a part thereof. So considered, the amended complaint, as of the date of this opinion, constitutes an action for the enforcement of the order, determining that appellees were not entitled to these subsidy payments, and this action to enforce shall be deemed to have been commenced as of the date of the mandate of this court.
Since there can be no dispute concerning the interpretation or applicability of *782the order, see Fleming v. Dashiel, 9 Cir., 161 F.2d 612, the judgment is reversed and the cause remanded with directions to enter judgment for appellant as prayed for, and against appellee on its cross-complaint, provided however, that if Stanolind, or its successor, makes application under Section 204(e) of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended July 30, 1947, 61 Stat. 619, 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 924(e), to apply to the district court for leave to file in the Emergency Court of Appeals a complaint against the R.F.C., attacking the validity of the order, the judgment shall be stayed pending disposition of the proceedings in the Emergency Court of Appeals.