Ring Constr. Corp. v. Secretary of War

8 T.C. 1070, 1947 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 200
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMay 15, 1947
DocketDocket No. 12-R.
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 8 T.C. 1070 (Ring Constr. Corp. v. Secretary of War) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ring Constr. Corp. v. Secretary of War, 8 T.C. 1070, 1947 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 200 (tax 1947).

Opinion

OPINION.

Disney, Judge:

We should first consider the question of constitutionality of the Renegotiation Act, as propounded by the petitioner. It is, of course, to be presumed constitutional, and the burden is on the petitioner to demonstrate otherwise. Summarized, the reasons advanced for unconstitutionality are (a) that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, providing against taking of property without due process of law, protects the petitioner against impairments of its rights under a contract executed prior to passage of the Renegotiation Act, and that “recovery of excessive profits necessarily involves the impairment of the contract”; (b) that the statutory provisions giving the Tax Court of the United States “exclusive jurisdiction” to determine, finally and without review, the amount of any excessive profits violate the due process clause; (c) that no war or emergency conditions existed justifying any constitutional exercise of war powers in this matter, any need for speeding up the war effort having no application to contracts already let and any need to minimize profiteering, even assuming it to have any substantial application to contracts already let, having none to preexisting building construction or other contracts resulting from competitive bidding in accordance with statutory requirements, as to which there was no need for retro-activity sufficient to sustain the act, even if such contracts could otherwise be lawfully impaired; (d) Congress did not intend the Renegotiation Act to be applied retroactively; (e) the legislative history shows the act to be no revenue measure, and, even if a taxing act, it would still raise constitutional questions; and that, the contract providing that any increase in Federal taxes (other than income and undistributed profits) would be added to contract price, it would seem to follow that to construe the act retroactively applied as a Federal tax would violate the due process clause.

It should be noted at once that the petitioner concedes constitutionality of the act prospectively applied (eliminating from our consideration in this respect contract No. 1542); also (in line with United States v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 315 U. S. 289) that it is admitted that the war powers are broad enough to regulate war profiteering, “but that does not touch the question of the validity of the statute retroactively impairing the obligation of a private contract between the government of the United States and a citizen.” Again, the petitioner’s brief states: “Our position is that retroactively applied the statute is invalid against parties contracting with the government * * Since the petitioner impliedly, at least, considers that under such cases as Yakus v. United States, 321 U. S. 414, involving the Emergency Price Control Act, and Bowles v. Willingham, 321 U. S. 503, involving that act as to regulation of rents during the war emergency, contracts between citizens can constitutionally be impaired, and since we think it plain from those cases and others along the same line, together with Norman v. B. & O. R. Co., 294 U. S. 240, permitting impairment of the “gold clause” that the Congressional war powers permit constitutional impairment of contract between citizens, it becomes clear that the only real issue here presented is whether Congress may, under the war powers clause of the constitution, legislate retroactively on contracts between the Government and a citizen, notwithstanding the provisions of the Fifth Amendment giving right to due process in the taking of property. The respondent does not argue that a contractual right is not a property right. The petitioner urges (as against the gold clause cases) that in Perry v. United States, 249 U. S. 330, the sanctity of the gold clause was sustained as between government and citizen. The case, however, involved no application of the war powers of Congress, and offers no assistance here.

In Stein Brothers Manufacturing Co., 7 T. C. 863, we held that the Renegotiation Act is not unconstitutional for any of the reasons there advanced. We think that in general the same reasons are advanced here. The petitioner urges that our conclusion was wrong, and asks reconsideration of the question and that this case be differentiated on the facts. We have, we believe, given the question most careful and thorough reconsideration, as called for by the thorough and thoughtful briefing it has been given by both parties. We are nevertheless not convinced either of error in the Stein opinion or that unconstitutionality has been demonstrated in this. No particular differentiation in pertinent fact of the Stein case is pointed out by the petitioner. The facts on the constitutional question are largely the same as in the Stein case, since the evidence in that case on the point was by agreement incorporated into this, together with cross-examination of the same witnesses. The petitioner stresses strongly other evidence which it is urged shows that at the time of the execution of the principal contract here there was extensive competitive bidding in the. building construction industry and letting of contract here upon competitive bidding (one other bid being submitted on area C, though no other was submitted on area E). Since, however, the Stein case states: “All of the contracts here in question were obtained after competitive bids were submitted,” and since all of the contracts therein except one were executed and approved prior to April 28,1942, we are unable to discern any differentiation in essential fact in this respect between this and the Stein case. Moreover, the presence of competitive bidding in that case and our conclusion of constitutionality cover the argument of petitioner here that extensive competitive bidding in the building industry rendered unnecessary exercise of any war powers. Whether or not competitive bidding was prevalent in the industry involved in the Stein case, it was present in that case, and we declined to hold the act unconstitutional. Since only one other bid was offered here (as to the contracts prior to April 28,1942), there could not have been less competitive bidding in the Stein case.

The petitioner here, however, says that the opinion of the Circuit Court in Spaulding v. Douglas Aircraft Co., 154 Fed. (2d) 419, cited in the Stein case and by the respondent here, was dictum so far as retrospective application of the Renegotiation Act is concerned, the Spaulding opinion pointing out that there was no allegation of execution of contracts prior to enactment of the act; and, of course, the force of the argument must be realized. Nevertheless, the resume of the many cases involving constitutional exercise of war powers by Congress and the reasoning of that court on the general subject of war powers were considered sound by us, and are now so considered, as applied to contracts executed prior to April 28, 1942, in the Stein case and here. Considering therefore the extensive discussion of the applicable cases, both in the Stein case and the Spaulding v. Douglas Aircraft case, it seems unnecessary to name or again outline them. They have all been studied, reconsidered, and reanalyzed, together with others not there cited, yet we can not find reason in this case to hold otherwise than we did in the Stein case.

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Bluebook (online)
8 T.C. 1070, 1947 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 200, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ring-constr-corp-v-secretary-of-war-tax-1947.