EMERGENCY STATUTES

Occupying a midway station between legislation which deals with foreign
affairs and purely domestic legislation is what may be termed "emergency
statutes." These are largely the outgrowth of the two World Wars. Thus
on December 16, 1950, President Truman issued a proclamation declaring
"the existence of a national emergency," and by so doing "activated"
more than sixty statutes or parts thereof which by their terms apply to
or during "a condition of emergency" or "in time of war or national
emergency," etc. Most of these specifically leave it to the President to
determine the question of emergency, and the White House assumption
seems to be that they all do so. Many of the provisions thus activated
delegate powers of greater or less importance to the President himself
or remove statutory restrictions thereon.[78]


PUNISHMENT OF VIOLATIONS

If Congress so provides, violations of valid administrative regulations
may be punished as crimes.[79] But the penalties must be provided in the
statute itself; additional punishment cannot be imposed by
administrative action.[80] In an early case, the Court held that a
section prescribing penalties for any violation of a statute did not
warrant a prosecution for wilful disobedience of regulations authorized
by, and lawfully issued pursuant to, the act.[81] Without disavowing
this general proposition, the Court, in 1944, upheld a suspension order
issued by the OPA whereby a dealer in fuel oil who had violated
rationing regulations was forbidden to receive or deal on that