16 SELLING LUMBER 



Acts to regulate commerce, or any part or parts thereof, ex- 

 cept as hereinafter provided." 



Sec. 2. That the Act entitled "An Act to create a 

 Federal Trade Commission, to define its powers and duties, 

 and for other purposes," approved September 26th, 1914, is 

 hereby further amended by the addition of the following sec- 

 tions : 



Sec. 12. That ores and deposits of precious and useful 

 metals, minerals which are a source of heat, light, or power, 

 and timber, together with the immediate products of said ores, 

 deposits, minerals, and timber through which same first be- 

 come available for beneficial utilization, are hereby defined 

 for the purposes of Sections 12 and 13 of this Act as 

 national resources, and their efficient utilization in the in- 

 dustries, arts, and sciences is hereby declared to be in the 

 public interest. 



Sec. 13. Contracts and agreements among persons, as- 

 sociations, or -corporations engaged in developing national 

 resources as articles of commerce among the several states 

 shall be lawful when such contracts and agreements tend to 

 utilize and conserve the national resources,, protect human 

 life, lessen accidents, and further the public interest; Pro- 

 vided, That such contracts and agreements shall have been 

 filed with the commission at least sixty days in advance of 

 the date of their effect, and shall have been accompanied 

 by a statement of the situation resulting in the contract or 

 agreement and the purposes to be accomplished thereby ; all 

 such contracts, agreements, and statements filed with the 

 commission shall be public records, accessible during ordinary 

 business hours ; Provided further, That whenever the com- 

 mission shall have reason to believe, either because of its 

 own investigations or because of complaint made to it by 

 any person, that any such contract or agreement does not 

 in fact tend to utilize and conserve the national resources, 

 protect human life, lessen accidents, or further the public 

 interest, it shall issue and serve upon the parties thereto a 

 notice to show cause why the contract or agreement should 

 not be declared as outside the provisions of Sections 12 and 

 13 of this Act. If upon such hearing the commission shall 

 be of the opinion that the contract or agreement in ques- 



