LEGAL ANALYSIS 87 



a private owner as to conserve the interest, not only of the pubhc, but of 

 the private owner as well. He is not deprived of his property by the act 

 in question/'^^ 



This case was approved and applied again to a private owner 

 of the clams and clam beds under a similar statute restricting the 

 time during which razor clams could be dug commercially. The 

 later case, Wiegardt v. Brennan,"^^ was decided in 1937. 



In a somewhat different setting but similarly dealing with a 

 claim based on ownership of property is a 1940 case dealing with an 

 act passed for a different purpose. In this case, State v. Sears,^^ the 

 court held constitutional a statute which prevented the owner of 

 property from selling it at any price he chose. The statute, passed 

 in 1939, was aimed at acts done with the purpose of injuring com- 

 petitors or destroying competition, such as preventing unfair trade 

 practices, outlawing "loss leaders" and sales at different prices for 

 the same items sold by the same operator at two different stores 

 within the community. By a 5-4 vote, the court upheld the statute, 

 saying: 



"We believe it has become firmly established that the police power 

 of the state extends not only to the preservation of the public health, 

 safety and morals, but also to the preservation and promotion of the public 

 welfare . . . We may or may not agree with the economic philosophy of 

 the unfair practices act, but it is no part of the duty of this court to 

 determine whether the policy embodied in a statute is wise or unwise. It is 

 primarily a legislative, and not a judicial, function to determine economic 

 policy. If it be declared legislative policy to curb unrestrained and harm- 

 ful competition, by measures which are not arbitrary or discriminatory, 

 it is not for us to say the rule is unwise. "^^ 



Similarly, contractual relationships have been constitutionally sub- 

 jected to substantial legislative restrictions. These instances for the 

 most part have involved statutory regulations of hours and wages. 

 The Washington case of Parrish v. West Coast Hotel Co."^"^ was the 

 case which, when it was decided by the United States Supreme 

 Court, ^^^ became the leading case for the proposition that the state 

 could constitutionally require a minimum wage scale for women. 

 Yet when the case had been decided by the Washington court, that 



95. Id. at 509: 172 Pac. at 565. 



96. 192 Wash. 529, 73 P. 2d 1330 { 1937). 



97. 4 Wn. 2d 200, 103 P. 2d 337 ( 1940). 



98. hi. at 204 and 207; 103 P. 2d at 340, 341. 



99. 185 Wash. 581, 55 P. 2d 1083 (1936). 



100. West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U. S. 379 ( 1937). discussed .s//pn/. nn. 25,27. 



