THE ECONOMIC PROTEST 213 



taught that the essential aim of cooperative com- 

 modity marketing is merely to give those who pro- 

 duce the products some voice in securing a fair price 

 instead of providing means of monopolizing the 

 supply of the product and controlling the price by 

 trust methods. 



Dr. Benjamin M. Anderson makes a wise observa- 

 tion on this point when he says: "Cooperative 

 marketing is to be commended when it accomplishes 

 technical improvements in the marketing process, 

 but condemned when its purpose is the control of 

 prices through speculation and holding." 5 The 

 experience of the Farmers' Raisin Growers' Associa- 

 tion demonstrates the peril of monopolistic tend- 

 encies in cooperative marketing. This organization 

 undertook to dispose of an over-supply of raisins at 

 an arbitrarily fixed price. The consumers of raisins 

 refused to accept the surplus at an excessive price. 

 The organization failed with liabilities of $18,000,- 

 000. The raisin growers of California profited by 

 this bitter experience. They reorganized on a real 

 cooperative basis in 1923. In the official organ, 

 The Association Grower, issue of March, 1923, the 

 statement is made that "the future returns of the 

 farmer can be increased either by savings in the cost 

 of production or savings in the cost of distribution." 

 This would indicate that the raisin growers had 

 recognized the fundamental justification for co- 



5 See Economic Bulletin of the Chase National Bank, Vol. Ill, 

 No. 3 (August 10, 1923). 



