United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Oregon Washington R. & Nav. Co. v. Washington, 270 U.S. 87 (1926)

Oregon Washington Railroad &

Navigation Company v. Washington

No. 187

Argued January 28, 1926

Decided March 1, 1926

270 U.S. 87

Syllabus

1. The power of the states to quarantine against importation of farm produce likely to convey injurious insects from infested localities was suspended, insofar as concerns interstate commerce, by the Act of August 20, 1912, as amended March 4, 1917, investing the Secretary of Agriculture with full authority over the subject. P. 270 U. S. 96.

2. This Act of Congress cannot be construed as leaving the states at liberty to establish such quarantines in the absence of action by the Secretary of Agriculture. P. 270 U. S. 102.

3. A quarantine proclaimed by the Washington under Ls.1921, c. 105, against importation of alfalfa hay and alfalfa meal except in sealed containers coming from designated regions in other states found to harbor the alfalfa weevil is therefore inoperative. Pp. 270 U. S. 93, 270 U. S. 102.

128 Wash. 365 reversed.

Error to a judgment of the Supreme Court of Washington affirming a decree, in a suit instituted by the state, permanently enjoining the railroad company from transporting through the state consignments of alfalfa hay and meal from other designated states or parts thereof in disregard of a quarantine.

Page 270 U. S. 90