Ftc v. Claire Furnace Co., 274 U.S. 160 (1927)

Federal Trade Commission v. Claire Furnace Company

No. 1

Argued December 6, 1923
Reargued November 24, 1925
Decided April 18, 1927
274 U.S. 160

APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Syllabus

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. 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. 174.

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. 174.

52 App.D.C. 202, 285 Fed. 936 reversed.

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.