LEGAL PHASES OF COOPEEATIVE ASSOCIATION'S. 47 



the Secretary of Agriculture is then required to file a certified copy 

 of the order issued by him, together with certified copies of all records 

 in the matter, in the District Court of the United States in the ju- 

 dicial district in which such associaiion has its principal place of 

 business. The Department of Justice has charge under the act of the 

 enforcement of such order. The District Court of the United States 

 is given jurisdiction to affirm, modify, or set aside the order or to 

 enter such other decree as it may deem equitable. 



FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. 



UNFAIR COMPETITION. 



The act ^^ of September 26, 1914, created the Federal Trade Commis- 

 sion. The act states that unfair methods of competition in commerce 

 are unlawful and provides that " the commission is empowered and 

 directed to prevent persons, partnerships, or corporations, except 

 banks and common carriers subject to the acts to regulate commerce, 

 from using unfair metliods of competition in commerce." 



The tenia " commerce "' as defined in the act means commerce, in- 

 terstate or foreign, or in any Territory of the United States or the 

 District of Columbia. The term " unfair competition " is not defined 

 in the statute. At common law unfair competition consisted in the 

 pahning off by one vendor or manufacturer of his goods as those of 

 imother.*° The term " unfair competition " as used in the act un- 

 doubtedly means all that it imports at common law and, in fact, it 

 apparently has a broader significance and scope than it had at com- 

 mon law. 



The act provides that the commission after a hearing may issue an 

 order requiring the person, firm, or corporation involved to cease 

 and desist from unfair competition. In the event the order is not 

 obeyed, the commission may apply to the Circuit Court of Appeals 

 of the United States within any circuit where the method of compe- 

 tition in question was used, or where such person, firm, or corpora- 

 tion resides, for the enforcement of its order. Any party against 

 whom an order is issued may appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeals, 

 from which court an appeal lies to the Supreme Court of the United 

 States. 



A few illustrations will shed light on the scope of the work of the 

 commission. In 1919 the commission issued an order against Ar- 

 mour & Co. and the Farmers' Cooperative Fertilizer Co. It ap- 

 peared that the Farmers' Cooperative Fertilizer Co. was a subsid- 

 iary of Armour & Co., and that it was not an organization of f arm- 



89 38 Stat. 717. 



*f> Howe Scale Co. v. Wyckoflf, 198 U. S. 118. 



