(b) The provisions of this Act, and all orders thereunder, shall terminate on July 1, 1943, unless extended by Act of Congress; except that as to offenses committed, or rights or liabilities incurred, prior to the said date, the provisions of this Act and such orders shall be treated as still remaining in force for the purpose of sustaining any proper suit, action, or prosecution with respect to any such right, liability, or offense.

(c) There is hereby created a board, to be known as the Board of Inflation Control (hereinafter referred to as the "Board") which shall be composed of five members, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The term of said members shall continue during the period while this Act is in force, except as otherwise provided by law. Each member of the Board shall devote his entire time to the duties thereof, and shall receive a salary of $10,000 a year. Three members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. The President shall designate one member as Chairman. The President may appoint as one or more members of said Board any member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, any Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, any Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, and any Assistant Secretary of Commerce; and, if directed by the President, any such appointee may retain his office without salary or obligation while serving as a member of the Board, and shall automatically resume the duties and salary of said office on the termination of his duties as a member of the Board. The Board shall appoint a Price Administrator, who shall receive a salary of $10,000 a year and shall be the executive officer of the Board. The Board is authorized to employ and fix the compensation of such attorneys, special experts, examiners, clerks, and other employees as it may from time to time find necessary for the proper performance of its duties and as may be from time to time appropriated for by the Congress. All of the expenses of the Board, including all necessary expenses for transportation incurred by the members or by their employees under their orders in making any investigation or upon official business in any other place than in the city of Washington, shall be allowed and paid on the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor, approved by the Board. The principal office of the Board shall be in the city of Washington, but it may meet and exercise any or all of its powers at any place. The Board may, by one or more of its members or by such examiners as it may designate, prosecute any inquiry and conduct any hearing necessary to its duties.

POWER TO FIX PRICES

SEC. 2. (a) Whenever the President finds that the price of any commodity is or threatens to be in excess of its price on July 29, 1941, or in excess of the general level of commodity prices in the United States, and that the price of such commodity will tend to increase the general level of prices, he may issue a proclamation authorizing the Board to assume jurisdiction thereof. Thereupon the Board shall have authority by order

(1) to fix the maximum price or prices at which such commodity, and other commodities of which the commodity named in such proclamation is determined by the Board to be a principal constituent (hereinafter called "its products"), may be sold by producers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, or other persons, or on primary or secondary markets;

(2) to fix margins between the prices at which such commodity or its products may be bought and sold by any manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, or other class of persons;

(3) to fix commissions which may be charged in connection with the sale of any such commodity or its products, and charges which may be made for the processing, handling, and storage thereof.

(b) In fixing a maximum price, margin, or charge, the Board shall endeavor to fix a price, margin, or charge which will make the price of such commodity and its products comparable with the general existing price level for all other commodities, particularly competitive commodities; and give consideration to all relevant factors of geographical location, transportation cost, cost of manufacture, production, processing, and distribution, with due regard to the purposes of this Act. The Board shall have ower to prescribe such classifications in prices, margins, and charges as may be justified by differences in conditions or by previously existing differentials in the trade. It shall have power to change from time to time the prices, margins, and charges fixed by it with respect to any commodity and shall make such changes whenever, in its opinion, a material increase in cost of production has occurred with respect to such commodity.

(c) Any order of the Board fixing a maximum price, margin, or charge with respect to any commodity shall supersede the provisions of any contract which provides for a higher price, margin, or charge with respect to such commodity insofar as such provisions relate to transactions and deliveries occurring after the date of the Board's order, or occurring after such subsequent date as the Board's order may fix.

ARGICULTURAL COMMODITIES

SEC. 3. (a) No maximum price shall be established for any agricultural commodity below (1) the parity price or comparable price for such commodity as determined and published by the Secretary of Agriculture, or (2) below the market price prevailing for such commodity on July 29, 1941.

(b) For the purposes of this Act, parity prices for agricultural commodities shall be those prices which are determined and published by the Secretary of Agriculture as authorized by law.

(c) The provisions of section 2 of this Act shall not be construed to authorize any action contrary to the provision and purposes of this section.

OFFENSES

SEC. 4. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to sell or deliver, or to buy or receive, any commodity at a price higher than that fixed by an order of the Board, to sell or deliver any commodity at a price which will yield such person a greater margin than that fixed therefor by order of the Board, or to pay or collect a greater commission or other charge with respect to a commodity than that fixed by order of the Board, or to offer or agree to do any of the foregoing.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any officer or employee of the Government to disclose, otherwise than in the course of official duty, any information obtained under this Act, or to use any such information for personal benefit.

TITLE II-ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT

OBTAINING INFORMATION

SEC. 201. (a) The Board may make such studies and investigations, and obtain or require the furnishing of such information under oath or affirmation or otherwise, as it deems necessary or proper to assist it in prescribing any order under this Act, and in the administration and enforcement of this Act, and orders thereunder. For such purposes the Board may administer oaths and affirmations, may require by subpena or otherwise the attendance aud testimony of witnesses and the production of documents at any designated place, may require persons to permit the inspection and copying of documents and the inspection of inventories, and may, by regulation or order, require the making and keeping of records and other documents and the making of reports. No person shall be excused from complying with any requirement under this section because of his privilege against self-incrimination, but the immunity provisions of the Compulsory Testimony Act of February 11, 1893 (U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 49, sec. 46), shall apply with respect to any individual who specifically claims such privilege.

(b) Neither the Board nor any member or employee of the Board shall publish or disclose any information obtained under this Act that the Board deems confidential unless the Board determines that the withholding thereof is contrary to the interest of the national defense and security.

PROCEDURE

SEC. 202. (a) No order shall be issued by the Board except after a public hearing at which any interested person may appear and present evidence and argument; except that upon the application of the Price Administrator the Board may issue a temporary order, effective for not more than sixty days, but no temporary order shall be extended beyond such sixty days. Whenever the Board proposes to make a permanent order, it shall fix a date for a public hearing, and, at least ten days prior to the date of the hearing, shall publish in the Federal Register a notice of such hearing. Such notice shall state the action which the Board proposes to take, and the terms of any temporary order issued, together with a concise statement of the facts upon which the proposal is based and the reasons therefor. A reasonable opportunity shall

be given to all persons desiring to be heard to present evidence, or, if the subject has already been covered by testimony, statements in writing. A complete record of the proceedings shall be kept, and no order shall be entered until five days after the close of the hearings. Every order of the Board shall be accompanied by a statement of the facts and reasons upon which it is based. (b) At any time after any order has been issued by the Board, any person subject to the provisions thereof may file a protest specifically setting forth objections to such order, which objections may be based on conditions existing at the time the order was issued, or which are alleged to have developed subsequent thereto. Within a reasonable time after the filing of any such protest, but in no event more than sixty days after such filing, the Board shall hold a hearing, of which notice shall be given and which shall be conducted in the same manner provided by subsection (a) of this section. The Board may prescribe regulations to prevent unreasonable repetition and duplication of the filing of protests. The Board shall issue an order amending its former order against which a protest has been filed, or shall issue an order refusing to make any modification therein, within one hundred and twenty days after the filing of the protest, and the action of the Board shall be accompanied by a statement of the facts and reasons upon which its decision is based.

(c) In any proceedings under this Act, the Price Administrator may present such evidence as the Board sees fit to admit into the record, including publications of any Government department and any evidence developed by the Board under section 201 of this Act.

REVIEW

SEC. 203. (a) Any person who has filel a protest with the Board under subsection (a) or subsection (b) of section 202 of this Act, and who is aggrieved by the denial or partial denial of his/protest, may within thirty days after such denial file a complaint with the emergency court of appeals created pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, praying that the order protested be set aside in whole or in part. A copy of such complaint shall forthwith be served on the Board, which shall certify and file with such a court a complete transcript of the proceedings in connection with the protest. Upon the filing of such transcript the court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to affirm or set aside such order, in whole or in part, or to remand the proceeding: Provided, That the order may be modified or rescinded by the Board at any time notwithstanding the pendency of such complaint. No objection to any order, and no evidence in support of any objection thereto, shall be considered by the court, unless such objection shall have been set forth by complainant in the protest or such evidence shall be contained in the transcript. If application is made to the court by either party for leave to introduce additional evidence which was either offered to the Board and not admitted, or which could not reasonably have been offered to the Board, and the court determines that such evidence is material, the court shall order the evidence to be presented to the Board. The Board shall promptly receive the same, and such other evidence as it deems necessary or proper, and thereupon it shall certify and file with the court a transcript thereof, and any modification made in the Board's order as a result thereof, except that on request by the Board, any such additional evidence may be presented directly to the court.

(b) No such order shall be set aside, in whole or in part, unless the complainant establishes to the satisfaction of the court that the order is not in accordance with law, or is arbitrary or capricious. The effectiveness of a judgment of the court setting aside, in whole or in part, any such order shall be postponed until the expiration of thirty days from the entry thereof, except that if a petition for a writ of certiorari is filed with the Supreme Court under subsection (d) within such thirty days, the effectiveness of such judgment shall be postponed until an order of the Supreme Court denying such petition becomes final, or until other final disposition of the case by the Supreme Court.

(c) There is hereby created a court of the United States to be known as the emergency court of appeals, which shall consist of three or more judges to be designated by the Chief Justice of the United States from judges of United States district courts and courts of appeals. The Chief Justice of the United States shall designate one of such judges as chief judge of the emergency court of appeals, and may, from time to time, designate additional judges for such court and revoke previous designations. The chief judge may, from time to time, divide the court into divisions of three or more members, and any such division may render; judgment as the judgment of the court. The court shall have the powers of a district court with respect to the jurisdiction conferred on it by this Act, except that it shall exercise its powers and prescribe rules governing its

procedure in such manner as to expedite the determination of cases of which it has jurisdiction under this Act. The court shall have a seal, hold sessions at such places as it may specify, and appoint a clerk and such other employees as it deems necessary or proper.

(d) Within thirty days after entry of a judgment, interlocutory or final, by the emergency court of appeals, a petition for a writ of certiorari may be filed in the Supreme Court of the United States, and thereupon the judgment shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court in the same manner as a judgment of a circuit court of appeals as provided in section 240 of the Judicial Code, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 28, sec. 347). The Supreme Court shall expedite the disposition of all causes filed therein pursuant to this subsection. The emergency court of appeals, and the Supreme Court upon review of judgments of the emergency court of appeals, shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine the validity of any order issued by the Board, and of the provisions of this Act authorizing such order. Except as provided in this section, no court, Federal, State, or Territorial, shall have power to consider such validity, or to stay, restrain, enjoin, or set aside, in whole or in part, any such provision of this Act, or any provision of any such order.

ENFORCEMENT

SEC. 204. (a) Whenever in the judgment of the Board any person has engaged or is about to engage in any acts which constitute or will constitute a violation of this Act, or of any order thereunder, it may make application to the appropriate court for an order enjoining such acts, or for an order enforcing compliance with this Act or such order, and, upon a proper showing, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order shall be granted without bond. (b) Any person who willfully violates any provision of this Act or any order issued thereunder, and any person who willfully falsifies in any material respect a document or report required to be kept or filed thereunder, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both. Whenever the Board has reason to believe that any person is liable to punishment under this subsection, it may certify the facts to the Attorney General, who may, in his discretion, cause appropriate proceedings to be brought.

(c) The district courts shall have jurisdiction of violations of this Act and of orders thereunder, and, concurrently with State and Territorial courts, of all civil proceedings to enforce any liability or duty created by, or to enjoin any violation of, this Act or any order thereunder. Such civil proceedings and any criminal proceedings may be brought in any district in which any act or transaction constituting the violation occurred. Any such civil proceedings may also be brought in the district in which the defendant resides or transacts business, and process in such cases may be served in any district wherein the defendant resides or transacts business or wherever the defendant may be found. No costs shall be assessed against the United States Government in any proceeding under

this Act.

(d) No person shall be held liable for damages or penalties in any Federal, State, or Territorial court, on any grounds for or in respect of anything done or omitted to be done in good faith pursuant to any provision of this Act or any order thereunder, notwithstanding that subsequently such provision or order may be modified, rescinded, or determined to be invalid. The Board may intervene in any suit or action wherein a party relies for ground of relief or defense upon this Act or any order thereunder.

TITLE III-MISCELLANEOUS

QUARTERLY REPORT

SEC. 301. The Board from time to time, but not less frequently than once every ninety days, shall transmit to the Congress a report of operations under this Act If the Senate or the House of Representatives is not in session, such reports shall be transmitted to the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives, as the case may be.

STABILIZATION OF WAGES

SEC. 302. Since it is impossible to stabilize prices if wages are constantly rising, it shall be the policy of those departments of the Government dealing with the wages of labor (including the Department of Labor and its various bureaus, the Office of Production Management, the National Labor Relations Board, and

65913-41-2

the National Defense Mediation Board) to work toward a stabilization of the general level of wages, in such a manner that so long as this Act is in effect increases thereof shall be approximately in proportion to the increase in the general level of prices at the time, as compared to the general level of wages and prices which existed on July 29, 1941; or in proportion to the increase in prices in the industry paying the wages, if such increase is greater than the increase in the general level of prices.

SEC. 303. As used in this Act

DEFINITIONS

(a) The term "sale" includes sales, dispositions, exchanges, leases, and other transfers, and contracts and offers to do any of the foregoing. The terms "sell," "selling," "seller," "buy," and "buyer," shall be construed accordingly.

(b) The term "price" means the consideration demanded or received in connection with the sale of a commodity.

(c) The term "commodity" means commodities, articles, products, and materials. (d) The term "person" includes an individual, corporation, partnership, association, or any other organized group of persons, or legal successor or representative of the foregoing, and includes the United States or any agency thereof, or any other government, or any of its political subdivisions, or any agency of any of the foregoing: Provided, That no punishment by fine or imprisonment provided by this Act shall apply to the United States, or to any such government, political subdivision, or agency.

(e) The term "documents" includes records, books, accounts, correspondence. memoranda, and other documents, and drafts and copies of any of the foregoing. (f) The term "district court" means any district court of the United States and the United States court for any Territory.

SEPARABILITY

SEC. 304. If any provision of this Act or the application of such provision to any person or circumstances shall be held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act and the applicability of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

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SHORT TITLE

SEC. 305. This Act may be cited as the "Emergency Price Control Act of 1941." Senator GLASS (presiding). I have requested Mr. Leon Henderson to appear before the committee as our first witness.

Senator TAFT. I do not want to interrupt, but before Mr. Hendersons begins, would it not be possible to agree on a general plan of procedure for the hearings? There are a number of witnesses that I would like to suggest, and I know there are a lot of people who have written in to me that I think probably would like to have an opportunity to be heard. I would think that it might be well now to agree on the program of hearings, about how long they will last and when they should be closed.

Senator GLASS (presiding). My own feeling is that we ought to hear only those groups who are affected by the bill, and not every person who wants to be heard.

Senator TAFT. I quite agree with you on that. I think the time ought to be limited. But the suggestion that I would make is that if we continue through this week and next week there are four or five economists, men mostly from schools or business administration who have made studies of prices and studies of price-fixing methods, that I would like to suggest be called before the committee. It seemed to me that in the House hearings that I went through we had only the Government representatives and people that were-well, either cranks or people with an ax to grind in the particular situation.

Senator GLASS (presiding). I do not think that we ought to hear cranks or people with an ax to grind.