Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1921-06-14

= wise. You have very drastic LAY
s in, that.
: 1 am going to tell you just hoy
: we are handling the same situation
in Mississippi. The State of Misiis
? sippi doesn't know the word cooper
$ alton" is in the dictionary. There
2 not a single law on the books in rel
i erence to cooperative marketing as
| sociations or cooperative association
of any kind. Secondly, Mississippi
has a law that no foreign corpora
ton can do business unless the ar
ticles have been approved by the AT
torney General. Next, Mississippi
has a law which absolutely prohibits
any sort of combinations which tenC
to control or regulate prices o.
amount of production of any commo
dity and all that. In effect, it il
practically the same as the best par
and the worst part of your Kentucky
law.
The Way Out In Mississippi.
! Nevertheless, the Mississippi delta
cotton growers wanted to organize
They are now at the point where they
have reached 81 per cent of the cot
ton growers required to be signed VI
l-4JLyUUU UdISS OuI VI -UOyUUU. pic
pared the articles of Incorporation Of
that group. 1t will incorporate in
Tennessee because Tennessee has g
fairly good law. 1t is a neighboring
State; Memphis is the capital of Mis-
sissippi anyhow for all business pur
poses; and it is very easy % run Mis-
sissippi activities from Memphis. Sc
they will organize under the Tennes
see law.
We had to get articles of incorpora
| ton that would pass the Attorney Gen.
eral of Mississippi, and, secondly, that
would pass, so that the activities
would not be subject to wild prosecu-
ton under the so-called antitrust act.
We took the Mississippi statute and
traversed each part of the statute. For
| instance, where it says you cannot
form q combination to fix prices, we
expressly state, that this corporation
may not fix prices, but it is empowered
under a standard arrangement to han
die cotton for growers of this section
and to offer that cotton on the best
markets of the world and to secure the
best current market price. We ira.
versed every provision in that particu.
lar law. We say expressly in our ar
llCleS OIL THAT llSlSdu Ol
being a combination for the purpose
of reducing or limiting competition or
production, we were creating this CO.
operative association for the purpose
of finding the best markets of the
world, for getting products as directly
as possible between the producer and
the actual commercial users, after
eliminating the so-called speculative
and wasteful elements; for extending
markets; for extending demands; for
extending production.
So our articles of incorporation
traversed the Mississippi law on every
particular point, stating exactly the
purpose Of the association. Now that
is very important, because while it
isn't really important from a technical
standpoint to traverse the law so that
it would pass the Attorney General, we
actually set out in those articles of in
corporation the real and primary pur-
poses of the cooperative marketing as
ISOLATION.
A cooperative marketing association
is not created for the purpose of re-
straining trade; it is not created for
the purpose of restraining competition,
or creating artificial prices, or any
thing of that kind. What you are do
ing is to extend the markets, get in
creased production, stabilize market
conditions. You can put out all the
spectators in the world without
court holding you are restraining
trade. The only trade to worry about
it the so-called barter and sale, the
activities that can be economically
and fairly conducted with good both
to the consumer and producer. We
do not interfere with that side. What
we are thinking to do is to establish
an intelligent system of handling the
product, not to regulate the quantity
nor reduce quantities, but to extend
the uses, extend the markets-every-
thing that is the reverse of what the
law forbids. There is a very definite
method of handling the situation &C.
casioned by your Kentucky law by the
absence of cooperative marketing
law. 1t is exactly the parallel of this
Mississippi situation.
New Laws Needed.
However, there is d still better al
tentative. At the next session of the
Legislature, have that body adopt the
so-called cooperative marketing asso-
citation law. That will solve your prob
lem-because the act is a basic act.
1t gives the growers of the State the
right TO organize different types of CO.
operative marketing associations, or
ganize with capital stock or without
but gives the right to organize. Then
il especially states the kind of con-
tract you may make-agency, or sale
and resale. 1t tells the remedies and
the so-called pool arrangements, and
all that. In short, you will have basic
and fundamental law that permits the
growers 10 do everything that is neces-
sary.
incidentally, you will have a statute
that makes it almost a crime to at
tempt to get a man to break pooling
agreements made with co-operators,
and to go around whispering and in
things against him. 1t has
been upheld in your courts. We have
adopted it. The Kentucky Court of
Appeals has gone further than any
other court in promoting cooperation.
a law has been prepared; Judge
Bingham has a copy of it. He has
had it prepared. L think he will take
that up with the members and see
that the right arrangement is made
for having it introduced and, if pos
sible, passed by your State Legisla-
ture. Fundamentally there is a prop
err basic cooperative law now in the
hands of your leader on this prac-
teal plan.
1 wanted to answer the series of
questions which have been put to me
by various persons since yesterday.
Now, 1 am going to state in a nut
shell what is contemplated for the
hurley tobacco group.
The Burley Cooperative Plan.
It is contemplated that you shall
organize a cooperative marketing as
ISOLATION without capital stock of the |
hurley tobacco growers. You will
have clause providing that. when |
other associations are organized in |
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