Cooperation 191 



minimum of 15 cents at interior points ; and in 1908-1909, a 

 minimum of 12 cents. Similar efforts were made to main- 

 tain the price of cotton by the Southern Cotton Associa- 

 tion during its active existence. 



The Farmers' Union has 1600 warehouses hi the cotton 

 states in which a small fraction of the total cotton crop 

 is stored. These warehouses are usually organized as 

 separate corporations or in unincorporated form. They 

 are built so that the members can store their cotton until 

 the minimum price is reached. They are used also to 

 facilitate loans on the stored cotton as collateral, the ware- 

 house company being able to secure more favorable credit 

 terms than the individual members can obtain. The 

 union is now endeavoring to consolidate the various 

 warehouses in the states under central companies, which 

 act as agents for the local warehouses in marketing the 

 crop. The warehouses in Mississippi are brought to- 

 gether in a million-dollar corporation 1 and this has been 

 joined by the Tennessee warehouses. 



The Effect of the Farmers' Organization on the Price of 



Cotton 



The Farmers' Union has been severely criticized as an 

 organization which restricts competition and is in restraint 

 of trade, and, therefore, contrary to the "Sherman Anti- 

 trust Law." On this point the Commissioner of Corpora- 

 tion says : 2 



"Owing to the multitude of causes affecting prices of 



1 Testimony of T. J. Brooks, Report of the Committee on Interstate 

 Commerce, vol. 11, p. 2340. 

 a Ibid,, pp. 29-31. 



