Show Collective Marketing ark ting THE TEE HE bill to enable farmers planters ranchmen dairymen or to combine combino for collective e L marketing and sale of their own products without 1 violating vie vio hating lating the antitrust laws is intended no doubt by Conj Con- Con j Gross ross to remedy the victimization of the producer of Z foodstuffs by tho the middleman or the tho commission merchant mer- mer chant and incidentally to save the consumer money by eliminating an extra charge The bill has ha passed the House and has been sent cant to tot t the e Senate and the very large arge majority by which it passed 1 tho the lower owel house indicates es that it is regarded as a e. relief relief re rc- re- re 1 lief ef measure for at least a portion of the high costs of living It is s an indi indication of a mod modifying ying of former radical views with reference to frust trust legislation which in this and other respects has bas proven pro to have been somewhat extreme Trusts and ana combines in restraint of trade monopolies to control the price of products of the soil or of commodities essential for household use are vicious thid should be prohibited But any association of prod prod producers pro- pro d cers banded together to protect themselves against the encroachments of other aggregations whose object M is IS to plunder both producer and consumer should have the tho protection not the opposition of the law Care must be exercised to see eo that the producers' producers asso as- as so in the exercise of their rights to join t together gether T t tp market and sell their products do not addict themselVes themselves them them- selves to the thc evil of profiteering which their collectivity i ity ty y is is designed to prevent ent but the tho bill se seems ms to have havo guarded against any such contingency b by providing that the tho producers producers' ers ers' associations must not pay moro mono than Height ight dight per cent dividend annually on capital stock and avery member must have e one vote irrespective of his invested ested capital Another safeguard to tho the public is provided in that the government through is secretary o of f agriculture is t to exercise control over the associations associations ions to see that they do not drift into combinations in W restraint r of trade to stop any tendency to profiteer and to sue in federal courts to enforce its orders It will fill fill- filla a long felt want of the ilie farmers and is worthy of a aLair Lair fair trial |