Veeder v. United States

• Decision Date: 09 March 1918
• Docket Number: 2591.
• Citation: 252 F. 414
• Parties: VEEDER v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

252 F. 414

VEEDER v. UNITED STATES.

No. 2591.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

March 9, 1918

Elwood G. Godman and John J. Healy, both of Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff in error.

Charles F. Clyne and Joseph B. Fleming, both of Chicago, Ill., for the United States.

Before BAKER, KOHLSAAT, and EVANS, Circuit Judges.

BAKER Circuit Judge.

This writ of error challenges the sufficiency of the affidavit and deposition on which a search warrant was issued under title 11 of the act of June 15, 1917 (40 Stat. 228, c. 30).

By the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution the people declared the limit beyond which Congress may not go in authorizing search warrants, namely:

'The rights of the people to be secure in their persons, houses papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'

This limitation was clearly observed in the act in question.

Section 2 defines the property and papers that may be seized as follows:

(1) 'When the property was stolen or embezzled in violation of a law of the United States.' (2) 'When the property was used as the means of committing a felony; in which case it may be taken on a warrant from any house or other place in which it is concealed, or from the possession of the person by whom it was used in the commission of the offense, or from any person in whose possession it may be.'

(3) 'When the property or any papers is possessed, controlled or used in violation of section 22 of this title.'

Section 22, so referred to, reads thus:

'Whoever, in aid of any foreign government, shall knowingly and willfully have possession of or control over any property or papers designed or intended for use or which is used as the means of violating any penal statute, or any of the rights or obligations of the United States under any treaty or the law of nations, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.'

Sections 3 and 5 prescribe the character of application that must be made for search warrant:

Section 3: 'A search warrant cannot be issued but upon probable cause, supported by affidavit, naming or describing the person and particularly describing the property and the place to be searched.'

Section 5: 'The affidavits or depositions must set forth the facts tending to establish the grounds of the application or probable cause for believing that they exist.'

McIsaac, an examiner in the service of the Federal Trade Commission, made an affidavit:

'That he has good reason to believe, and does verily believe, that in and upon certain premises within said district and division, to wit, in suite 1200 in the building at 76 West Monroe street, in the city of Chicago, known as the Ft. Dearborn Bank Building, said suite being the offices occupied by one Henry Veeder, there has been and now is located and concealed certain property, to wit, books of account, minute books, letterpress copy books, ledgers, journals, cash books, day books, memorandum books, bank books, check books, receipt books and other documents, which other documents are more particularly enumerated, described and indexed by words, letters and figures, as follows, to wit: (Then follows a list of references to letter files, and document files, comprising about 2,000 items) which said property has been used as a means of committing certain felonies; that is to say, the felony on the part of Swift & Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Illinois, of storing, acquiring and holding for the purpose of limiting the supply thereof to the public, and affecting the market price thereof in commerce, among the several states, of certain articles suitable for human food, to wit, meats, canned vegetables, canned fruit, canned fish, poultry, cheese, butter, eggs and oleomargarine; the felony on the part of said corporation of willfully making false entries and statements of fact in certain reports pertaining to the ownership and control of subsidiary corporations by said corporation, which the Federal Trade Commission required it to make under subdivision (B) of section 6 of the act approved September 26, 1914, entitled An act to create a Federal Trade Commission, to define its powers and duties, and for other purposes; the felony on the part of said corporation of willfully making false entries in divers accounts, records, and memoranda kept by said corporation of all facts and transactions appertaining to the business of said corporation, it being a corporation subject to said act of Congress; the felony on the part of said corporation of willfully neglecting and failing to make or causing to be made full, true, and correct entries in said accounts, records, and memoranda of all facts and transactions appertaining to the business of said corporation; and the felony of engaging in a conspiracy with Armour & Company, Morris & Company, Wilson & Company, Inc., Cudahy & Company, and with divers other corporations, and divers individuals and partnerships to defraud the United States through and by means of collusive bidding upon contracts to be let to the lowest bidder to furnish to the United States large quantities of meats, hides, leather, canned goods, and other commodities for the use of the military and naval forces of the United States.'

As illustrative of the wide scope of the list included in the affidavit and covered by the search warrant, the following items are noted:

Anthony, D.M., for memorial papers see In Memoriam file . . . A-37

Accidents Swift & Company . . . A-26

Attorney's Lien . . . A-135

British income tax . . . A-231

Cases, Ref. to pending and disposed of cases . . . A-58

Chicago Daily Law Bulletin . . . A-98

Chicago Law Institute . . . A-114

Law Books . . . A-80

Lost Bonds . . . A-103

Purchase of-- Southeastern Reporter, Northwestern Reporter, Southwestern Reporter . . . A-190

Smoke violation, Chicago . . . A-52

Wide tire ordinance, Chicago . . . A-34

Adamson Law . . . 644

Estate of Samuel W. Allerton . . . 401

Cook County Employes' Benevolent Ass'n . . . 590

Deep waterway, Ill . . . 42

Estate of Theodore Newcomber . . . 613

Inheritance tax laws of various states . . . 658

Kenwood Evangelical Church . . . 367

Lake Forest University . . . 146

Office keys . . . 400

U.S Supreme Court . . . 275

West Point Academy . . . 638

West Skokie drainage district . . . 146

McIsaac's deposition is as follows:

'Q. State, if you know, whether there are certain papers and documents there in the office of Mr. Veeder, relating to Swift & Company.

'A. Yes, sir; there are.

'Q. Just state, if you will, what those papers and documents are.

'A. There are a large number of papers.

'Q. Also state the occasion of your going and seeing them there.

'A. I made a partial examination of the papers of Henry Veeder, and he has a large quantity of files, among the papers showing that they have been used in the commission of various felonies, one of them being in connection with the alteration of the books of Swift & Company, and other companies; some of them concerning violations of law that would make them guilty at this time of hoarding not only beef, but of storing food products with the ultimate purpose of enhancing the prices thereof.

'Q. What food?

'A. Canned goods, canned fish. poultry, cheese, butter, eggs, all kinds of canned vegetables, and other foods. There are also papers there which show the false entry or various false entries, made in books, account books, and papers required under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

'Q. Books of...