ment. Such notice shall specify a time not less than ten (10) days after the date thereof and the place at which the objections to any terms and conditions of such agreement will be heard by the board. If after such hearing the board finds that such an agreement has been fairly entered into without fraud and that the terms and conditions thereof are fair, equitable and in the public interest and that the proportion of the normal fluid milk supply of the market covered by such agreement is more than sixty (60) percent of the normal fluid milk distributed and consumed in such marketing area and that such agreement is approved by not fewer than ten (10) percent in number, and sixty (60) percent, in amount of milk handled, by the distributors in the area affected, the board may approve the same and such agreement as to prices, practices, terms, and conditions shall become effective and binding as to all producers and licensees in such market until modified or amended by the board upon hearing. (2) For any local milk committee in any marketing area, constituted and approved by the board as provided by this act and consisting both of producers and distribtuors, to adopt for such marketing area or for individual distribtuors therein uniform schedule of prices to producers for milk supplied to licensees in such market, and rules and regulations governing the method of determining the proportion of the product of the entire dairy herd of a producer which shall be accepted and paid for pursuant to such price or prices, or establishing reasonable trade practices affecting the relation between licensees or producers and between licensees and producers. The action of such local milk committee shall be submitted to the board in the form of written recommendations. Upon receipt of any such written recommendations, the board shall give notice as prescribed in paragraph (1) of this section to all applicants or licensees in the market affected thereby and by publication of suitable notice in a newspaper of general circulation to all producers and afford a hearing, as provided in said paragraph (1). Upon such hearing, the board may approve or modify such recommendation and thereupon such schedule of prices and rules and regulations as so approved or modified shall become effective and binding as to all producers and licensees in said marketing area. When any price schedule to producers, rules, or regulations as to fair practices are adopted or approved by the board, pursuant to the provisions of this section, any price to be paid or charged and any rule or regulation mentioned in this section shall apply to all licensees and producers affected thereby doing business in such marketing area to which the same relates, whether parties to the agreement whereby the same shall have been fixed or adopted, or not. Section 15-1706 provides that it is unlawful for any milk dealer doing business in the area or any producer-cooperative to purchase milk from producers except according to the rules and regulations of the board or for less than the producer prices fixed or approved by the board for the marketing area. It is made unlawful to sell or deliver milk to any unlicensed dealer or to any dealer for consumption except for at least the prices approved or fixed by the board. Violation of the act or any lawful rule or order of the board carries a fine of fifty dollars and each day's violation and each violation from a separate independent business location constitutes a separate offense. 19 The board also has power to enforce the act or any rule or order by injunction, mandamus, or any appropriate remedy in any court of record having jurisdiction of the subject matter.20 Section 15-1708 provides that the board may decline to grant a license or condition or limit the granting of a license or may suspend or revoke a license when satisfied that the schedule of prices to be paid by the applicant is not reasonable or that an applicant or licensee has either directly or indirectly deviated or attempted to deviate from his schedule, without complying with the provisions of the act, or from any prices established by the board.21 Section 15-1705 also provides for appeal from any order or decision of the board to the circuit or superior court of any county in which the subject matter of the hearing is situated and the board can call upon the attorney general or prosecuting attorney to act. LOUISIANA Gen. Stat. Ann. (Dart. 1939) Section 3262.1 provides that the regulation of the production, manufacture, and sale of milk, milk products, and all substitutes for milk, shall be, and the same is, hereby placed under the supervision of the Louisiana milk commission as hereinafter created (sec. 3262.2, infra), which said commission shall have the power and authority to make, 19 The exemption made by this section held not to be unconstitutional as unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious. Gibbs v. Milk Control Board, supra. This sec tion does not deprive one charged with violating the act of a jury trial, nor are the penalties so excessive as to amount to a deprivation of property without due process of law. Albert v. Milk Control Board, supra. 20 The board is entitled to seek injunctive relief. Albert v. Milk Control Board, supra. 20 Dealer selling milk for human consumption under label "Pete's Pure Pasteurized Cat and Dog Milk" was found guilty of evasion "by indirection" and the board was entitled to injunctive relief. Milk Control Board v. Phend, 104 Ind. App. 207, 9 N. E. (2d) 121 (1937). 21 This section held constitutional. Albert v. Milk Control Board, supra. publish, and enforce all regulations necessary to secure to the public a pure, clean, wholesome, and sanitary milk supply, and to promote and encourage the production and manufacture of milk and milk products throughout the State, including the right to make such regulations as will protect the production of milk in the quality and price of milk to be sold by them to distributors, pasteurizers, and other wholesalers, and to provide such means for the protection of said producers in the collection of the amounts due and to become due them from such distributors, wholesalers, or pasteurizers of milk, or milk products as may be deemed advisable. Section 3262.2 provides that the Louisiana milk commission shall be composed of three designated State officials and tour members to be appointed by the governor. Section 3262.3 provides that the said commission is authorized and empowered to make all necessary rules and regulations for the carrying out of the purposes of the act, and to promulgate the same by issuance, from time to time, of necessary regulations which shall be mailed to all producers of milk and all others engaged in production, sale, or manufacture of milk or milk products, and any violation of such regulations shall be a misdemeanor and shall be punished by fine or imprisonment or both as provided by section 3262.8 (infra). Sections 3262.4 and 3262.5 provides that the commission shall have power to appoint an experienced dairy inspector and such trained assistants as are necessary to carry out the provisions of the act. Also that such inspector, assistants, and the commission shall have full power to investigate and inspect all places handling milk or milk products, and the prevention of such access shall be a violation of this act. Section 3262.8. Any person who shall violate any provisions of this act, or any of the rules and regulations adopted by the Louisiana milk commission under the provisions of this act, shall be punished upon conviction, by a fine of no less than ten dollars, nor more than two hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the parish jail for no less than ten days nor more than six months, or by both, such fines and imprisonment at the discretion of the court. MAINE L. 1935, c. 13 (p. 210), as amended, L. 1939, c. 138 Section 2 provides that the Governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall appoint a milk control board of 5 members, 2 210235°-40-vol. 2-31 producers, a dealer, a producer dealer, and the commissioner of agriculture. Section 3 provides that the board has power to supervise, regulate, and control the distribution and sale of milk for consumption in the State (sec. 4), but not in any market except upon written application of a producers', dealers', or producer-dealers' association supplying a substantial proportion of milk consumed in such market or if the community is not of sufficient size to support such association, the board may act on petition of individual producers, dealers, or producerdealers supplying a substantial proportion of the milk in the community. Section 5 provides that the board shall hold meetings and is vested with power to establish and change after investigation and public hearing, minimum wholesale and retail prices to be charged for milk distributed for sale within the State for fluid consumption, wherever produced, including the following classes: 1. By producer to consumer, dealer, or producer-dealer. 2. By dealer or producer-dealer to stores either for consumption on the premises or resale to consumers. 3. By dealer or producer-dealer to consumer. 4. By stores to consumer. 5. By wholesaler to retailer. 6. By any person not included in the foregoing classifications to another person for commercial purposes. No price shall be established for any one or more of said classes unless at the same time a price shall be established for all of said classes in any market. Prices so fixed shall be just and reasonable, taking into consideration the insuring of an adequate supply of pure and wholesome milk and conditions affecting the milk industry, including a reasonable return to the producer, producer-dealer, and dealer. Upon fixing said minimum prices in any market which shall apply to the various grades and classes of milk and which may vary in the several markets and localities of the State, the board shall furnish all dealers and producer-dealers registered in said market with a schedule of such prices, and shall publish a schedule thereof in appropriate newspapers in said market, and such publication shall constitute an official order with respect to minimum prices and thereafter no dealer, producer-dealer, wholesaler, store, or other person handling milk in such market for commercial purposes shall buy or sell milk for prices less than the scheduled minimum applicable to the particular transaction. No method or device shall be lawful whereby milk is bought or sold at prices less than the scheduled minimum applicable to the transaction, whether by any discount, rebate, free service, advertising allowance, combination price for milk with any other commodity, or for any other consideration. Section 6 as amended by chapter 138, section 3, of Laws, 1939, provides that the board may suspend, revoke, or withhold any license for the violation of any of the provisions of this act or of any order, rule, or regulation made hereunder, or conviction of violating any other law or regulation of the State relating to the production, distribution, and sale of milk. This section provides further that no order of the board suspending, revoking, or withholding a license or refusing to renew an existing license shall be effective until 10 days after the same has been issued and a copy thereof mailed to the holder of or applicant for such license. Within said period of 10 days any party believing himself aggrieved by the order of the board may appeal to the superior court in the county wherein the holder of or applicant for such license resides, in term time or in vacation. Such court shall affirm or reverse the order of the board, or any modification thereof by the board. Section 8 provides that whoever violates any of the provisions of this act or of any rule or order of the board shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100, or by imprisonment for not more than 11 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. MASSACHUSETTS Ann. Laws (Supp., 1939), c. 94 (L. 1934, c. 376, amended L. 1937, c. 428, L. 1939, c. 302)* Milk Control Section 48E provides for a milk control board in the department of agriculture consisting of three persons appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the council. Section 48F provides that the board, subject to the approval of the Governor and council, may appoint an administrator who may be a member of the board. Section 48G provides that the board shall administer the act and have power to designate and maintain market production zones, to enforce all orders, rules, and regulations relating thereto, and to supervise and regulate the milk industry. "This act expires June 30, 1943. The court stated (dictum) that the Milk Control Act of this State [L. 1934, c. 376, L. 1937, c. 428] is of the same general class as was held constitutional in Nebbia v. New York, 291 U. S. 502, 54 Sup. Ct. 505, 78 L. Ed. 940, Milk Control Board v. Gasselins' Dairy, Inc., 1938 Adv. Sh. 1470, 16 N. E. (2d) 641 (1938). |