Volume 300 — United States Reports

Held: “To reach the conclusion that a deficiency determined by the Board of Tax Appeals may be re-examined and re-decided by the Judge of a District Court or a Referee in Bankruptcy is, on its face, inconsistent with the intent and purpose on the part of Congress shown that a review of the Board’s decision should be by such an appellate court.” Accordingly it rendered an opinion, disaffirmed the Referee’s action, and…

Held: issued the basic, order here challenged, which provides, among other things: “It is ordered, That effective, 7 o’clock A. M., December 11, 1935, the daily allowable gas production, computed on the basis set forth in House Bill No. 266, is as follows: East Panhandle Field.................. 181,174,000 cubic feet daily West Sweet Panhandle Field............ 608,552,000 cubic feet daily West Sour Panhandle…

Held: where the words are plain there is no room for construction. United States v. Wiltberger, 5 Wheat. 76 , 95-96; Hamilton v. Rathbone, 175 U. S. 414 , 419, 421; United States v. Hartwell, 6 Wall. 385 , 396; Crooks v. Harrelson, 282 U. S. 55 , 59-60. It is urged that the statute is highly penal in character and should therefore be construed strictly.

Held: andi relator here contends, that the limitation of imprisonment to six months is not affected by the provisions of § 24. A similar question was before this court in United States v. Goldman, 277 U. S. 229 , and was there decided contrary to the views of the court below.

Held: void. There are factual distinctions between the cited case and the instant one, but they do not affect the binding authority of the former. The law under consideration in the Foote case was purely an inspection measure. That here under review is characterized by the state court as one for regulation and inspection.

Held: however, that apart from any agreement the contractor was subject to a duty to exonerate the surety from' present liabilities. True, there was no purpose on the part of the contractor to divert the proceeds of the warrant from the uses of the contract. As to this the finding is explicit. Even so, a cause of action for exoneration does not include among its elements the presence of a wrongful purpose.

Held: though the particular taxpayer has enjoyed no addition to his economic worth. Compare Lynch v. Hornby, 247 U. S. 339 , 344, 346; United States v. Phellis, 257 U. S. 156 , 170, 171; Marr v. United States, 268 U. S. 536 , 540; Burnet v. Commonwealth Improvement Co., 287 U. S. 415 , 419, 420. “The income tax laws do not profess to embody perfect economic theory.

Held: for example, that the sale of motorcycles to a municipal corporation for use in its police service is not subject to federal taxation, because the maintenance of such a service is a governmental function. Indian Motocycle Co. v. United States, 283 U. S. 570 , 579.

West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 (1937), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States upholding the constitutionality of state minimum wage legislation. The court's decision overturned an earlier holding in Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923) and is generally regarded as having ended the Lochner era, a period in American legal history during which the Supreme Court tended to invalidate legislation aimed at regulating business. The case arose when hotel maid Elsie Parrish sued for the difference between her wages and the minimum wage set by the State of Washington.

Held: subject only to the discretion of the court. “4. The right to protect its interest in the property by bidding at such sale whenever held, and thus to assure having the mortgaged property devoted primarily to the satisfaction of the debt, either through receipt of the proceeds of a fair competitive sale or by taking the property itself. “5.

Held: in the Railway Clerks case, supra, that employees were free to organize and to make choice of their representatives without the “coercive interference” and “pressure” of a company union organized and maintained by the employer; and that the statute protected the freedom of choice of representatives, which was an essential of the statutory scheme, with a legal sanction which it was the duty of courts to enforce by…

Held: or was intended to hold, that a retraction of a witness’s false testimony negatives the commission of perjury; and in later cases the English courts have so intimated and have said that if it stood for such a proposition it probably would not be followed. 9 Several later English decisions squint in the opposite direction, and some of them come near to refute the respondent’s argument with respect to the English law.…