The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1922-02-24

as he says, there was much doub
and confusion regarding the lega
) limits within which trade orgainza
: tons could properly operate"
2 SO, practical man that he is, he sa
: him down and prepared a series o
questions covering apparently the en-
tire field of associative action, no
manifestly prohibited by law, ant
called upon the Attorney General fol-
an informal expression of his view,
as to the legality of the specific ac
tivities mentioned. Briefly stated. he
asked if a trade association could pro.
, vide for a uniform system of cost ac.
counting by its members; for uniform.
ity of trade phrases and names; for
the standardizing of quality and
grades of products, forms of contract
technical and scientific terms, its pro-
cesses in production and its machin-
cry; for cooperation to eliminate
waste and to raise ethical standards;
for the collection of credit informa-
ton and furnishing same to members;
for the handling of insurance for its
members; for cooperative advertis-
ing and furnishing OF trade labels and
| VI tht-iiltl Ms lOl Illt lIlNllNluudl use Oh
its members; for the promotion of
welfare work among employees; for
the handling Of legislative questions
affecting the particular industry; for
the promotion of closer relations be-
tween the industry and federal and
state departments Of government; for
the collection of statistical information
from the members for the compila-
ton of consolidated statements of
facts relating to the industry fer the
use of members or others. In connec-
ton with the last named provision
Mr.. Hoover inquiries if in the collec-
ton of such statistics it may obtain
from members detailed reports as to
prices, such reports to be consolidat-
ed into one, showing the average
price received for the total volume of
each grade, brand, style, size or quail
ity for the period covered by the re-
port.
In his reply Mr.. Daugherty says, as
regards uniform cost accounting, that
while there is no apparent objection
to standard system, associations |
should be warned to guard against |.
uniform cost as to any item of ex-
pense, at is" he says, "as clearly |
a violation Of the law to agree upon
the cost on an item that constitutes I.
a substantial part of the total cost |
price when its cost actually varies, as
to agree upon the sales price, because
the sales price is substantially effect !
ed by such an agreement" He has /.
doubts about the legality of uniform
trade labels and trade marks, think !
ing the inevitable result would be
uniformity in price As to all the
other activities referred to in Mr.. |
Hoover's questions, he says he can
see nothing illegal in their exercise,
provided always that whatever is
done is not used as scheme or device
to curtall production or enhance pric-
es, and does not have the effect of |
suppressing competition"
This opinion, though informal,
should relieve business from a num-
Der of uncertainties that are hamper
ing associative action. The value of
organization for the advancement of
,rade interests and for the protection
II trade rights is not to be doubted.
1t has been made so clear that there
are few If any trades that are not SO
organized, and within the last twenty
years the trend towards organization
and cooperation has been so strongly
in America, in all sorts of
ways, that nearly all progress has
been made dependant largely upon
organized effort. Whether or not we
nay carry this too far is beside the
question. The fact that there are
many advantages in organization, and
hat much can be accomplished by or.
,anized action that would be impossi-
lie without it, has been repeatedly
proven. So far as association con-
rlbutes to group benefit and does not
operate to public disadvantage it is
worthy of encouragement.
But the rights of association has
zen often abused by acts against the
,,ublic interest, and it is such acts the
'herman law was established to pre-
,,ent; The suits and rulings under 5
his law, however, have been so many.
nd so complex, that it is not easy to {
eclde what acts may or may not be !
'lthin its provisions. Mr.. Daugherty
as made fairly clear the distinction I
etween what is legal and what is q
OF in association activities. ANY
hing in the rules or work of a trade !
ssociation that operates to curtail +
reduction, enhance prices or sun /
ress competition is, in his opinion. a C
iolation of the law. Anything in Or
anized effort that does not effect any Y
these results is, it would seem, le- S
ally permissible. At any rate, Mr.. q
ioover has laid open broad field s
or associated activity in which Or r
anized endeavor may work without Il
azard, and that is an important ac-
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Democrat e