78 BULLETIN 547, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



6 of this amendment has an important bearing on farmers' organiza- 

 tions because it exempts from the operation of the United States 

 antitrust laws certain types of agricultural and horticultural organi- 

 zations. Section 6 reads as follows: 



That the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce. 

 Nothing contained in the antitrust laws shall be construed to forbid the existence and 

 operation of labor, agricultural, or horticultural organizations, instituted for the pur- 

 poses of mutual help, and not having capital stock or conducted for profit, or to forbid 

 or restrain individual members of such organizations from lawfully carrying out the 

 legitimate objects thereof; nor shall such organizations, or the members thereof, be 

 held or construed to be illegal combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade, under 

 the antitrust laws. 



It is important that State laws authorizing cooperative corpora- 

 tions should be so framed or amended as to confer ample authority 

 upon such organizations to comply with the provisions of the Federal 

 statute. 



Investigation shows that many farmers' organizations operate on 

 the capital stock plan because the laws of the State under which 

 they exist require capital stock, although a majority of them choose 

 the capital stock plan because it is thought that such a plan is best 

 adapted to securing the necessary capital for financing them. The 

 legal difficulties under existing State laws for noncapital stock 

 organizations should be ehminated as their presence influences the 

 creation of capital stock organizations which as a matter of law can 

 never possess the benefits and privileges conferred by section 6. 



The sentiment in the public mind that capital stock is essential for 

 the procurement of necessary capital, while widespread, is not well 

 founded, as is ' demonstrated by the success and great borrowing 

 capacity of various noncapital stock cooperative organizations in 

 existence in the United States at the present time. 



SELECTED LIST OF PUBLICATIONS ON COOPERATIVE PURCHASING 



AND MARKETING. 



Adams, E. F. Cooperation among farmers. The Forum, vol. 20, p. 364-376. No- 

 vember, 1895. 



Agricultural cooperation and organisation in the United States. International insti- 

 tute of agriculture. Bulletin of the Bureau of economic and social intelligence, 

 1st year, no. 1, p. 211-238. September, 1910. 



Aiken, D. W. The Grange: its origin, progress and educational purposes. U. S. 

 Department of agriculture. Special report 55. 1883. 



Alvord, H. E. Dairy development in the United States. U. S. Department of 

 agriculture. Yearbook, 1899. 



American academy of political and social science. The cost of living. Its Annals, 

 vol. 48, Whole no. 137. 1913. 



American academy of political and social science. Reducing the cost of food distri- 

 bution. Its Annals, vol, 50, whole no. 139. 1913. 



