THE FARM BLOC, 1920-23 327 



creating a monopoly and restraining commerce. Commission merchants, 

 yard dealers, and those engaged in stockyard services were required to 

 establish reasonable rates. The Secretary of Agriculture was empowered 

 to enforce this act, subject to court appeal and a heavy fine for its 

 violation. 18 



The reaction to this measure was pretty much what would have been 

 expected. Those who wanted more stringent controls said that it would 

 not bring down prices because it was "vague in the extreme" and totally 

 inadequate to cope with the problem that it was intended to solve. One 

 packer pointed out that the measure would have little effect on prices, 

 because it was not the meat packers that depressed their prices, but the 

 inefficient system of marketing under which the farmers operated. 19 



The act was enforced with a certain degree of success, but not without 

 some resistance. Late in 1921 the Chicago livestock interests unsuccessfully 

 tried to restrain its enforcement. 20 In 1923 two cooperative firms filed 

 suit with the Packers and Stockyards Administration, charging that mem- 

 bers of the Kansas City Livestock Exchange discriminated against them 

 because of their refusal to sell or purchase livestock from them. In 1924 

 after some bitter controversy, the Secretary of Agriculture signed an 

 order notifying fifty-six commission firms and thirty traders to cease 

 discriminating against at least one cooperative firm. This supports the 

 observations of two authorities who said that the cooperatives, with few 

 exceptions, were well treated by the packers and the stockyards but not 

 by the private commission firms and livestock exchanges. 21 



Other actions of the Packers Administration reveal the character of the 

 work it performed. It helped to end the practice of discrimination by 

 private firms against traders and buyers who bought and sold livestock 

 of the cooperatives. It helped the cooperatives find open competitive mar- 

 kets. Hearings were also conducted at Omaha, Sioux City, and Kansas 

 City, where the books of many private commission firms were investigated 



1 8. The Packers' Consent Decree (71 Congress, 3 session, Senate Document 324, 

 serial 9347, Washington, 1931), pp. 21-26. 



19. "Uncle Sam to Control the Packers," Literary Digest, LXX (July 2, 1921), 

 p. 1 6. 



20. The New International Year Boo\, 1921, p. 23. 



21. Edwin G. Nourse and Joseph G. Knapp, The Co-Operative Marketing of 

 Livestock (Washington, 1931), pp. 150, 158. 



