United States v. Patterson

55 F. 605, 1893 U.S. App. LEXIS 2591
CourtU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts
DecidedFebruary 28, 1893
DocketNo. 1,215
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 55 F. 605 (United States v. Patterson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Patterson, 55 F. 605, 1893 U.S. App. LEXIS 2591 (circtdma 1893).

Opinion

PUTNAM, Circuit Judge.

I do not think there is any constitutional question in this case upon any view of this statute, or upon the face of the indictment. The right of free commerce granted by the constitution (Crandall v. Nevada, 6 Wall. 35, and the Case of State Freight Tax, 15 Wall. 232) permits broad legislation; and in no' sense is this statute as broad as the Revised Statutes (section 5508) on the principle of construction applied to the latter in U. S. v. Waddell, 112 U. S. 76, 5 Sup. Ct. Rep. 35. See Logan v. U. S., 144 U. S. 263, 12 Sup. Ct. Rep. 617. There may be practical difficulties in applying the statute in such way as to prevent conflicts with state jurisdictions, hut these can only arise on the development of the facts at the trial of a particular case, and even then the court will have the guidance of the supreme court in Re Coy, 127 U. S. 731, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1263; Cross v. North Carolina, 132 U. S. 131, 10 Snp. Ct. Rep. 47; and In re Green, 134 U. S. 377, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 586. Those cases show that there need not necessarily be a conflict of jurisdiction.

This statute is not one of the class where it is always sufficient to declare in the words of the enactment, as it does not set out all the elements of a crime. A contract or combination in restraint of trade may be not only not illegal, but praiseworthy; as, where parties attempt to engross the market by furnishing the best goods, or the cheapest. So that ordinarily a case cannot be made under the statute unless the means are shown to be illegal, and therefore it is ordinarily necessary to declare the means by which it is intended to engross or monopolize the market. And by the well-settled rules of pleading it is not sufficient to allege the means in general language, but, if it is claimed that the means used are illegal, enough must be set out to enable the court to see that they are so, and to enable the defense to properly prepare to meet the charge made against it.

I regard the rule laid down by the supreme court in U. S. v. Hess, 124 U. S. 483, 8 Sup. Ct. Rep. 571, as applying to this case; and I [639]*639think the case of U. S. v. Simmonds, 96 U$. S. 360, is easily distinguished. If it is not, the later case will, of course, control. In reference to the suggestion of the counsel for the United States, as to cases at common law alleging conspiracy to prevent a man from pursuing his trade, it is sufficient to say that to conspire to prevent á man from pursuing a trade which lie is entitled to pursue is in itself illegal. But the case at bar is not at common law, and the proceedings under this statute are peculiar to the statute. I think the rules laid down in U. S. v. Hess distinguish this indictment on this point from all the cases and principles of law relied on by the United States. The allegations of what was done in pursuance of the alleged conspiracy are under this particular statute irrelevant, and cannot be laid hold of to enlarge the necessary allegations of the indictment, and are of no avail. I think it was so conceded at the argument. If not, (here is no question about the law. The foregoing considerations dispose of counts 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, and 17.

That the means are alleged with "reasonable precision” in the remaining counts, appears from, the practical application of the rides of pleading appropriate to this case made in U. S. v. Waddell, 112 U. S. 76, 5 Sup. Ct. Rep. 35. Some of the allegations in each count may be insufficient, but these are only surplusage.

Counts .14 and 18 seem sufficient under the second section of the ata tute, as will appear from what; I have to say hereafter. The remaining’ counts, 4, 5, 9, and 16, are laid under the first section. Counts 4 and S allege an intent to hinder and prevent all persons and corporations, except the corporation controlled by the defendants, from engaging in the trade and commerce described in the indictment, while counts 5 and 10 only allege a purpose to destroy the competition of the four corporations named, without setting or. t any purpose of engrossing or monopolizing the business as a whole, or any like purpose.

The court does not feel at all embarrassed by the use of the words "trade or commerce.” The word "commerce” is undoubtedly, in its usual sense, a larger word than “trade,” in its usual sense. Sometimes "commerce” is used to embrace less than "trade,” and sometimes "trade” is used to embrace as much as “commerce.” They are, in 'the judgment of the court, in this statute synonymous. The court is well aware of the general rule which has been several times (twice certainly) laid down by the supreme court of the United States, that in construing a statute every word must have its effect, and the consequent presumption that the statute does not use two different words for the same purpose; but this rule has its limitations, and it is a constant practice for the legislature to use synonyms. A word is used which it is thought does not perhaps quite convey the idea which, the legislature Intends, and it takes another word, which perhaps has to some a little different meaning, without intending to more than make strong the purpose of the expression in the statute.

In the legislation of congress analogous to this under consideration there is a marked case of the use of synonyms. Rev. St. § 5438, [640]*640uses the words “false, fictitious, or fraudulent;” then the words “any false bill, receipt, voucher;” then the words “agreement, combination, or conspiracy;” then the words “charge, possession, custody, or control,” mainly synonyms; while section 5-140 uses simply the word “conspire.” There would be no question that the word “conspire,” in section 5110, means all that the three corresponding synonyms, “agreement, combination, or conspiracy,” mean in section '5138. Bather as a matter of curiosity than because they particularly impress my mind, I have taken off some other instances. The Massachusetts statute cited in U. S. v. Britton, 107 U. S. 670, 2 Sup. Ct. Rep. 512, uses the words “secular labor, business, or employment.” The words “false, forged, and counterfeited” are used over and over again in U. S. v. Howell, 11 Wall. 436, 437; “peddler and hawker” are in constant use in criminal law; “drinking house or tippling house” is of frequent use in the statutes; so are “goods and chattels.” These are all referred to in Bishop on Statutory Crimes as synonymous. There is also the very special case where the criminal statute contained the words “ram, ewe, sheep, and lamb;” and it was held in Reg. v. McCulley, 2 Moody, Cr. Cas. 31, that the word “sheep” covered the two preceding words, and they might he rejected as surplusage. Sutherland on Statutory Construction says that words which are meaningless have sometimes been rejected as redundant or surplusage. Go in this statute I think the words “trade or commerce” mean substantially the same thing. But the use of the word “trade” nevertheless is significant. In my judgment, it was probably used because it was a part of the coxamon-law expression, “in restraint of trade,” as has been carefully pointed out by the counsel for the defense.

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Bluebook (online)
55 F. 605, 1893 U.S. App. LEXIS 2591, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-patterson-circtdma-1893.