Porter

In this suit the Administrator seeks to recover damages for a violation of the *708 Price Control Act. 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 901 et seq. The question for decision is whether the trial court erred in directing a verdict for the defendants.

The Administrator claimed that the latter sold a quantity of beans, comprising 3,099 sacks of 100 pounds each, at a price 10 cents per cwt in excess of the ceiling fixed by regulation. The fact of the sale was stipulated, and it was agreed, also, that the commodity sold had been stored as Lot No. 417 in the warehouse of the Southern Pacific Milling Company at Greenfield, California, to be cleaned for the owners. The dispute concerned the grade of the beans, whether, as contended by the Administrator, they were U. S. No. 1 small white beans, or whether, as insisted by appellees, they were U. S. choice handpicked. If of the latter grade the selling price was not above ceiling.

To prove the grade the Administrator offered in evidence an inspection certificate issued by an official of the United States Department of Agriculture. This certificate identified the beans as Lot No. 417 stored in the warehouse named above, and under the head of…