Court Opinion

ID: 9443658
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 19:26:44.112425+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:29:33.713899
License: Public Domain

PICKETT, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
The defendant in this case was engaged in the business of buying and selling livestock. The stockyards located at Hominy, Oldahoma, Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and Coffeyville, Kansas, were required to qualify under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, as amended, 7 U.S.C.A. § 181, et seq. Each was privately owned, and operated a public auction of livestock one day a week. Each stockyard furnished no services other than an agency for the sale of livestock the day of the sale. The defendant attended these auctions on different dates and purchased for himself livestock which he paid for in cash or its equivalent. He accepted delivery of the livestock at the place of purchase and later resold them. The defendant did not receive or furnish any services, and. was in no way connected with the operation of the stockyards. ‘
The Act defines a dealer as a person “engaged in the business of buying or selling in commerce livestock at a stockyard”. 7 U.S.C.A. § 201. A person in the business of buying or selling livestock for himself, having no connections with the stockyards other than as a buyer or seller, may appear to be within the letter of the statute defining a dealer. A thing may, however, be within the letter of the statute and still not within the statute because not within its spirit nor within the intention of the lawmakers. Markham v. Cabell, 326 U.S. 404, 409, 66 S.Ct. 193, 90 L.Ed. 165; Sor-rells v. United States, 287 U.S. 435, 446, 53 S.Ct. 210, 77 L.Ed. 413; Pickett v. United States, 216 U.S. 456, 461, 30 S.Ct. 265, 54 L.Ed. 566; Holy Trinity Church v. United States, 143 U.S. 457, 459, 12 S.Ct. 511, 36 L.Ed. 226; Darby-Lynde Co. v. Alexander, 10 Cir., 51 F.2d 56,1 certiorari denied 284 U.S. 666, 52 S.Ct. 40, 76 L.Ed. 564. In determining the' intent of Congress, we may look to the purpose of the Packers and Stockyards Act. The Act was not designed to protect those furnishing services for hire in the stockyards but to protect the public and those buying or selling *843through such agencies, against losses and unfair practices. What protection will be furnished to such persons or the public if this defendant, as a purchaser of livestock for himself, is required to register and furnish a bond? He has paid for the stock, owns it, and may dispose of it, as he sees fit. There is no one to whom he can be in default, and no one can benefit from his registration or recover from his bondsman. As a purchaser, he is one of a class that the Act was designed to protect.
A large portion of the livestock shipped to stockyards for sale is consigned to commission agents and other dealers doing business in the stockyards who have authority to represent livestock owners and shippers in the disposition of livestock. These agents and dealers act in a fiduciary capacity. They sell the livestock for these owners and shippers and account to them for the proceeds. These are the agencies and are the buyers or sellers that the Act refers to. It is these agencies that Congress intended to affect, when it defined “dealer ” as one engaged in buying or selling livestock at a stockyards. Stafford v. Wallace, 258 U.S. 495, 42 S.Ct. 397, 66 L. Ed. 735.
In United States v. Roberts & Oake, 7 Cir., 65 F.2d 630, the court considered the question of whether the Act applied to a packer which purchased livestock at a posted stockyards. Although reference was made to the fact that the defendant was a packer also regulated by the Act, the court reasoned that it would serve no useful purpose to require a packer which did no more than purchase livestock for itself to register as a dealer under the Act. It was there said, 65 F.2d at pages 631-632:
“The dealer is usually a commission man who acts as the agent of the seller. He collects the money from the buyer (the packer) and remits it to the shipper. To secure his prompt remittance, the Secretary may exact a bond. But why should the purchaser execute a bond ? He does not collect any money, nor is he entrusted with the handling of the livestock after arrival at the stockyard and before its sale. From the very nature of the business it is necessary that the buyer personally examine the livestock offered for sale by the dealer in order that he may determine its quality, price, etc., but that does not make him a dealer.” As a purchaser of livestock the packer was in no different position than the defendant.
To extend the requirements of this Act to all persons who buy or sell livestock at posted stockyards in sufficient quantities to constitute doing business, regardless of whether they have any connection with the stockyards or the disposition of livestock therein, except as a buyer or seller for themselves, appears to me to extend the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture to a class which was never intended to be covered by the Act and would accomplish no useful purpose. I would reverse the judgment.

. In the Darby-Lynde Co. v. Alexander case, we said 51 F.2d at page 58:
“It frequently happens that the true intention of a legislative body is not expressed by the language employed in a statute, when literally construed. In such cases, the intent of such legislative body can only be effectuated by a departure from a literal interpretation of the language employed. Where such intention is plainly discernible from the provisions of the statute when considered as a whole, the real purpose and intent of the legislative body will prevail over the literal import- of the words employed.”