MARKET METHODS AND PROBLEMS 561 



warehousing investigations, studies are being made of such subjects 

 as insurance rates on cotton in storage and the results, including better 

 arrangements for financing, to be derived from conserving cotton in 

 storage houses; the construction of different types of warehouses; 

 and the relation of present methods and practices of compressing 

 cotton to warehousing. Special attention will be given to co-operative 

 storage companies with a view to aiding such organizations when 

 advisable. Investigations will be made to determine the relation of 

 warehouse facilities to the financing of the cotton crop and the interest 

 rates on money loaned on cotton, as well as the relation of the various 

 methods and practices of compressing cotton to storage capacity, 

 insurance rates, and economy in handling and transportation. 



178. MARKET ORGANIZATION ON A NATIONAL SCALE 1 

 BY DAVID LUBIN 



The Landwirtschaftsrat of Germany begins with the township 

 organization. Every farmer who owns land has a portion of his tax 

 assessment set aside for the support of the Landwirtschafstrat. This 

 gives him the right to vote for a chamber of agriculture in his town- 

 ship. The township organization elects its representative to the 

 county organization. The county organization elects the members to 

 the state organization, and the members of the 24 state organizations 

 of the German Empire elect their national Landwirtschaftsrat, con- 

 sisting of 72 members. 



To begin with, the 72 members of the Landwirtschaftsrat have 

 their seat in Berlin. They, in substance, have the right of initiative 

 and referendum touching all laws that directly or indirectly concern 

 agriculture. The imperial laws of Germany direct that the Reichstag 

 must submit these laws to the Landwirtschaftsrat for its opinion. 



But this is by no means all or the most important of its functions. 

 The township, county, state, and national organization is, in sub- 

 stance, a semi-official information bureau for the purpose of the 

 scientific marketing of agricultural products. 



The membership of this organization consists of several million 

 units. Its semi-official status gives it the power to swing the dis- 

 tributive end of German agriculture, and thus renders trusts in food 

 products in Germany an absolute impossibility. This is an invaluable 

 service not merely to the farmers but likewise to the consumers of 

 Germany as well. 



1 Adapted from a hearing before the State Department, June 21, 1915. 



