Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-07-05
S|LZER TAKES
FARM STAND
Cooperative Marketing Con-
ference Held-Is against
Restraint of Trade

TRENTON, July 5.-A delegation
of agricultural leaders this week con
ferred with Governor Silzer on the
question of legalizing cooperative
marketing of farm products and got
from him a promise of support for
any program which they may work
out which will not be a restraint of
trade or be in effect a combination
Or trust. In the last session of the
legislature the Executive vetoed a
bill introduced by Senator Case, of
Somerset, for the federation of
county boards Of agriculture which
proposed to legalize cooperative as
sociations and which started off by
saying that any action taken to ac-
complish this should not be regarded
as unlawful or a trust or other or
ganization of similar character. To
this the governor objected and said
it might have a price fixing effect
which would be bad.
You should not hold lawful what
the supreme court of the United
States has declared unlawful" Mr..
Silzer told Professor Frank App, of
the Agricultural Experiment Sta
ton, here this week, when he acted
as spokesman for the delegation.
THE bill you had last winter would
allow you to do the very thing you
would object to other people doing.
If the coal dealers came in and ask
ed for such a combination we would
want to hang them.
II am thoroughly in favor of my
thing to advance marketing, but this
plan would warrant the plumbers.
the lumber ben and other lines to
come in and ask for a restraint in
trade. The only thing of this kind
tolerated in New Jersey now,-and l
fought it for three years-relates to
insurance rates and they have an
illegal combination and there is no
competition"
But cooperative associations of
this kind do not control your pro-
duction, Governor" argued Profess
sor App.
The idea is fundamentally wrong
and the farmers, if they fully un-
derstood it, would not stand for it.
because the farmers are essentially
more honest than Others" was the
Governors answer.
DR.. Jacob G. Lippman, director of
agricultural experiment station,
said the question at heart was one
of production, that it was reducing
number of farmers in New Jer-
sey and elsewhere and that it meant
ultimately higher costs of farm pro-
to the consumers. Mr.. Silzer
commented that the whole trouble
now is the lack of cooperation
among the farmers, which some of
MS visitors apparently thought
= i.AA.r~,
There is a limit to what legis-
lation cal accomplish" said the
chief executive. Speaking further
upon cooperation the farmers them
selves he declared that the Farmers
Exchange at Freehold, Monmouth
county, was all right until it started
to sell its stock to outsiders. AL
though the delegation pointed out
that laws like the one proposed in
the Case bill were in force in other
states, Mr.. Silzer expressed the view
that uniformity in legislation
throughout the country did not mean
that IL was desirable legislation.
Alva Agee, secretary of the State
Board of Agricultural then asked
whether Mr.. Silzer would sanction
a change in the present law govern
ing marketing SC that contracts
made by farmers for produce could
be enforced. The executive said ne
thought generally this would be all
right, but he objected to the pro-
visions in the bill of last winter
which provided for an injunction
against the man who dropped out of
the cooperative associations because
they were too drastic in his opinion.
The governor thought the bill might
be redrawn to conform to the
thoughts expressed at the meeting
and to provide that each farmer
might make a seperate contract with
the association.
John v. B. Wickoff. of Plainsboro,
counsel for the federation of boards
OF agriculture. is to draft these sGg-
gestions into a new bill and then
discuss the matter further with the
governor. The delegation included
besides those mentioned State SEN
ator David H. Agans, head of the
Stat, Grange; Senator Roberts. of
Burlington; Harry Taylor, of Free
hold, president of the federation; L..
A. Cooley. secretary ond Professor
j. A. Cutter, of the agricultural col
lege at New Brunswick.