delivered the opinion of the .court.
These two cases were argued and will be disposed of together.
A motion to dismiss or affirm was filed in each case, on. the ground that each is ruled by the decision in
Marcus Brown Holding Co.
v.
Feldman,
The essential question presented for decision in the Marcus Brown Case was, and in these cases is, the constitutional validity of the Emergency Housing Laws of the State of New York,- approved by the Governor September 27, 1920, cc. 942 to 953, inclusive, Laws of New York, 1920.
By these acts a number of changes were made in the substantive law, and a number of amendments to remedial statutes of the State, for the purpose of securing to tenants in possession of houses or apartments, occupied for dwelling purposes, in described cities, the legal right 1o continue in possession ;until November 1, 1922,. by the payment; or securing the payment, of a reasonable rental, to be determined by the courts, and for the purpose also
In No.- 285 it is alleged: That a described apartment was leased to the defendant from October 1, 1918, to October 1, 1920, at the stipulated rental of $1,450 per annum, payable in equal monthly installments in advance; that while in possession under that lease, in May, 1920, the defendant executed a new lease for two years, beginning on the expiration of the former one on October 1, 1920, at a rental increased to $2,160, payable in equal monthly installments in advance; and that he' refuses to pay the installment due on October 1, 1920. Judgment for the one month’s rent is prayed for.
The defendant admits the execution of the leases, as. stated in the complaint, but avers' that the second one was signed under the coercion and duress of threats of eviction and that the rent stipulated for is “ unjust, unreasonable and oppressive.” He offers to pay the same. amount of rent-as was.paid for the preceding month and asserts the right to continue in possession under the emergency acts. A motion for judgment on the pleadings presented the question of the constitutionality of c. 944 of the Emergency Housing Laws and the state courts' all held the chapter a constitutional and valid exercise of the police power.
In No. 287 it is averred: That the defendant is a tenant holding over after expiration of his lease; that he refuses to surrender possession as he stipulated in his lease to do, and that he claims the right to retain possession under cc. 942 and 947 of the Emergency Housing Laws, which suspend the right óf action - to recover possession except under specified conditions, which are not applicable. A general demurrer to this complaint presented the question 'of the constitutionality of cc. 942 and 947- of the laws assailed- and the state-courts-all sustained them as- valid.
The warrant.for this legislative resort to the' police' power was the . conviction on the part of the state legislators that there existed in the larger cities of the State a ■social emergency, caused by an insufficient supply of dwelling houses and apartments, so grave tha¡t it constituted a serious menace to the health, morality, comfort, and even to the peace of a large part of the people of the State. That such an emergency, if it really existed, would sustain a resort, otherwise valid, to' the police power for the purpose of dealing with it cannot be doubted, for, unless relieved, the public welfare would suffer in respects which constitute the primary and undisputed, as well as the most usual, basis and justification for exercise of that power.
In the- énáctment of these laws the Legislature of New York did not depend bn the knowledge which its members had of the .existence of the crisis relied upon. In January, 1919, almost two years before the laws complained of.were enacted,, the Governor of the State appointed a “ Reconstruction Commission ” and about the same time the Legislature ' appointed- a -committee known as the “ Joint Legislative Committee1 on Housing,” to investigate and report upon housing conditions in the cities of the State, and a few months later the Mayor of New York appointed •a similar committee. The membership of these committees comprised many men and- women representative' of the best intelligence, character and public service in the State and Nation, their investigations were elaborate and thorough and in their reports, placed before the Legisla
If. this court were disposed, as it is not, to ignore the notorious fact that a grave social problem has arisen from the insufficient supply of dwellings in all large cities of this and other countries, resulting from the cessation of building activities incident to the war, nevertheless, these reports and the very great respect which courts must give to the legislative declaration that an emergency existed would be amply sufficient to sustain an appropriate resort to the police power for the purpose of dealing with it in the public interest.
The argument heard in these cases and further examination of the subject confirms us in the assumption made in the
Marcus Brown Case,
It is strenuously argued,"as it was in
Block
v.
Hirsh,
It is.not necessary to discuss this contention at length, for so early as 1906, when the Tenement House Act of New York, enacted in 1901, was assailed-as an unconstitutional interference with the right of property in land,
In the opinion in Block v. Hirsh, supra, this court cites in support of this same conclusion, under the circumstances there disclosed, which are not to be distinguished from those presented in this case, the later’cases following: Strickley v. Highland Boy Gold Mining Co., 200
U. S. 527;
Welch
v.
Swasey,
These authorities show that from time to time for a generation; as occasion arose, this court has held that there is no such inherent difference in property in' land, from that in tangible and intangible personal property, as exempts it from the operation of the police power in appropriate cases, and in both the Marcus Brown and Block Cases, supra, it was held; in terms, that the existing circumstances clothed the letting of buildings for dwelling purposes with a public interest sufficient to justify restricting property rights in them to the extent provided for in the laws in, those cases objected to.
In the opinion in the
Marcus Brown Case
it is said, that the defendant-tenants, holding over after their lease
No. 285 is a suit against a tenant who, during the term of a lease, which he. avers was executed under the coercion and duress of. a threat of eviction, refuses to pay the amount of. rent stipulated therein, which he alleges is “ unjust, unreasonable and Oppressive.” He offers tó pay the same rent that he paid for the next preceding month. Such a case falls within the precise terms of c. 944 of the Emergency Housing Laws, providing that:
“ It shall be a defense to an action for.rent accruing under an agreement for premises in a city,”' etc., “ occupied for dwelling purposes that such rent is unjust and unreasonable and that the agreement under which the. same is sought, to be recovered is oppressive.”
Section 4 of this chapter provides that nothing therein contained shall prevent a plaintiff from pleading and proving in such action a fair and reasonable rent for the premises and recovering judgment therefor.
It is contended that the validity of this c. 944 was not directly presented in the Marcus Brown Case, and that the impairment of contracts clause of the Constitution was not considered or decided in that case as it must be in this one.
To this there are two answers, either of which is sufficient.
■ The first is that the defense sustained in this case, by the court below, was provided for by e. 136 of the Laws of New York in effect when the lease involved was exe
The second answer is that reference tó the report of the Marcus Brown Case shows that this constitutional objection was urged in the briefs and the cour|; says, in its opinion^:
“ The chief, objections To these .acts have been dealt with in Block v. Hirsh. In the présent casé more emr phasis is laid upon, .the impairment of the obligation of the contract of the lessees to surrender possession and of the new lease which was to have .gone intcj effect -upon. October 1, last year. But contracts are made subject to. this exercise of the power of the State when otherwise justified, as we have held this to be, Manigault v. Springs,199 U. S. 473 , 480. Louisville & Nashville R. R. Co. v. Mottley,219 U. S. 467 , 482. Chicago & Alton R. R. Co. v. Tranbarger,238 U. S. 67 , 76, 77. Union Dry Goods Co. v. Georgia Public Service Corporation,248 U. S. 372 , 375. Producers Transportation Co. v. Railroad Commission of California,251 U. S. 228 , 232.”
Palpably, as to this' constitutional objection to e. 944, the prior decision is ruling.
It is also urged that c.' 944 is invalid because the pro- - vision that, •“ It shall be a defense to an action' [by a landlord], that such rent [demanded] is unjust and unreasonable and .that the agreement under which the same is sought to be recovered 'is oppressive,” is too iridefiiiite a standard to satisfy the due, process of law clause, of the-Constitution.
The report of the
Marcus Brown Case
shows, that this contention was urged in briefs by the same counsel presenting it.here, and.it is apparent that the standard was impliedly approved as valid in that case, as it was Very
Several other contentions are pressed upon the attention of the court, chiefly with respect to the modifications of the remedial statues, but such as were not specifically dealt with in the Marcus Brown and Block Cases, impress us as quite unimportant. Given a constitutional substantive statute, enacted to give effect to a constitutional purpose, the States have a wide discretion as to the remedies which may be deemed necessary to achieve such a result and it is very clear that that discretion has not been exceeded in this instance by the State of New York.
• It results that the judgments of the state court must be affirmed.
Affirmed.