Evening star., 1950-07-10
Second of a SerieS.)
By Crosby S. Moves

Despite a widespread popular
belief. calling a group of dairy
farmers monopolists is not the
same thing as calling them dis
honest.
In the present controversy over
Washington's milk supply. the
term "monopolist" is being thrown
around with considerable free
dom, and almost always with the
implication that a monopolist is
generally to be considered in a
class with extortionists and baby
snatchers.
The "monopolist" invariably
mentioned in connection with milk
here is the Maryland and Virginia
Milk Producers Association, whose
1,700 farmer members supply
Washington with about IS per
cent of its milk.
The association can be a near
monopoly now, and it could be-
come a real monopoly in the fu-
ture and still be perfectly legal.
The reason is that in 1922 Con-
gress passed a law specifically ex-
empting farmer co-operatives
from the provisions of the anti
trust laws.
Part of the present confusion
lies in the fact that the associa-
ton, along with three Washington
dairies, was found guilty of vio-
lating the law against price-f fixing
in District Court last May.
However, at that time, Judge
Alexander Holtzof, who presided
at the trial, made the difference
clear. He called attention to the
fact that the association, as a
farmer cooperative, was exempt
from the provisions of the Sher-
man Act until it entered into
what were ruled to be rice-f1xing
agreements with non-farmers-
that is with the distributing
dairies.
| And even on this issue Judge
HoltZof commented that in the
Government charges there was
nothing to show "malevolence OF
immortality on the part of the
cooperative" The association anc
the dairies were fined for what
Judge Holtzof termed a "tech.
nical violation" of the law. But
at the same time a Justice De.
partment spokesman observed that
"the Government does not con.
tend these men had been vicious
or predatory"
To understand how the associa-
ton started and how it grew tt
it's present controlling position
one must have a look at the milk
picture of more than 80 years ago
Those were the days before the
association became effective anc
they were not good days for the
dairymen. In a system of uncon-
trolled competition among pro-
ducers of milk, and among dis
tributors who sold it, nobody was
particularly happy.
Milk Depends on Cow.
The supply of milk basically
depends on the COW, and that
placid animal has a few peculiari-
ties of her own. Cows take a
couple of years to start producing
milk. When they do start they
produce it in seasonal cycles.
Because most cows naturally
have calves in the spring and be-
cause milk-producing pasturages
is lush then. the milk supply. un-
der uncontrolled conditions /:
more than twice as great in the
spring as in the fall and winter
In the old days, this basic faci
about milk made things tough or
everybody. The consumer was
faced with rapid price variations
in the cost and supply of a basic
food. The distributors were
forced into price wars with theil
competitors ana plagued WIFI
continual headaches by the pat
tern of alternating flood and
drought.
The farmer was low man on
the economic totem pole. From
one day to the next he couldn't
be sure what he might get from
a distributor for his wares. In
times of oversupply the distribu-
tors could freely play one pro-
ducer against another. Somehow
the farmers had to get rid of
the milk they had at whatever
price they could get for it.
The association here. and SINH
lar farmer co-operativeS else
where, were the principal factors
in changing this picture. BY its