Becker v. Philco Corporation/Dissent Douglas

Mr. Justice DOUGLAS, dissenting.

I agree with THE CHIEF JUSTICE that this is an important case which warrants the attention of the Court. It puts into focus several important issues, among them an aspect of the modern corporation which has become vital in the Federal Government's procurement program. Professor Galbraith has referred to it in his recent book The New Industrial State:

'Increasingly it will be recognized that the mature     corporation, as it develops, becomes part of the larger      administrative complex associated with the state. In time the     line between the two will disappear. Men will look back in     amusement at the pretense that once caused people to refer to      General Dynamics and North American Aviation and A. T. & T.      as private business.

'Though this recognition will not be universally welcomed, it     will be healthy. There is always a presumption in social     matters in favor of reality as opposed to myth. The autonomy     of the technostructure is, to repeat yet again, a functional      necessity of the industrial system. But the goals this     autonomy serves allow some range of choice. If the mature     corporation is recognized to be part of the penumbra of the      state, it will be more strongly in the service of social      goals. It cannot plead its inherently private character or     its subordination to the market as cover for the pursuit of      different goals of particular interest to itself. The public     agency has an unquestioned tendency to pursue goals that      reflect its own interest and convenience and to adapt social      objective thereto. But it cannot plead this as a superior     right. There may well be danger in this association of public and economic power. But it is less     if it is recognized.' Id., at 393-394.

I think the time has come for us to explore this problem; and the setting of the present case shows how pressing the problem is.