SPECIAL POWERS AND DUTIES

SEC. 7. (a) The board shall meet at the call of the chairman at least weekly, and at such other times as the Secretary of Agriculture or the chairman deems advisable.

(b) The board is authorized—

(1) To obtain, from any available sources, information in respect of crop prospects, supply, demand, current receipts, exports, imports, markets, transportation costs and facilities, prices of agricultural commodities, wastes or unnecessary costs in connection with the present method of marketing, costs of production either domestic or foreign or both, and economic, legal, and financial information in respect of the organization, progress, busiiess methods, and cost of operations of cooperative associations in the United States and foreign countries. (2) To disseminate any such information, or analyses or summaries thereof, from time to time, among cooperative associations and farm organizations in the United States.

(3) To advise cooperative associations, farm organizations, and producers in the adjustment of production in order to secure the maximum benefits under this act.

CONTROL AND DISPOSITION OF SURPLUS

SEC. 8. (a) The board shall keep advised by investigations, from time to time' made upon its own initiative or upon petition of any cooperative association or farm organization, of the domestic and world prices and the existence or the probability of the existence of a surplus of any agricultural commodity or any of its food products.

(b) The board shall furnish, upon request, to any cooperative association or farm organization, or to any producer of any agricultural commodity, or to any person owning or controlling any of such commodity, its recommendations upon the disposition of such commodity, or any surplus thereof, and upon the available methods of financing. Whenever the board is of opinion that the provisions of this act applicable to a basic agricultural commodity (as hereinafter defined in this section) should be made applicable to any other agricultural commodity, it shall submit its report thereon to Congress.

(c) For the purposes of this act cotton, wheat, corn, cattle, and swine shall be known and are hereinafter referred to as "basic agricultural commodities," and the term "food products" means the respective food products of each such basic agricultural commodity except cotton. Whenever the board finds, first, that there is or may be during the ensuing year (1) a surplus above the domestic requirements for wheat, corn, cattle, or swine and/or their food products, or (2) a surplus above the requirements for the orderly marketing of cotton; and, second, that a substantial number of cooperative associations or other organizations representing the producers of the basic agricultural commodity are in favor of the commencement by the board of operations in such commodity and/or its food products, then the board shall declare its findings and commence such operations. Such operations shall continue until terminated by the board. (d) During such operations the board shall assist in removing or withholding the surplus of such basic agricultural commodity and/or its food products by entering into agreements with cooperative associations engaged in handling such basic agricultural commodity or its food products, or with a corporation or association created by one or more of such cooperative associations, or with persons engaged in processing such basic agricultural commodity or its food products, for the following purposes:

(1) The payment out of the equalization fund for such commodity, as hereinafter established, of the amount of losses, costs, and charges of any such association, corporation, or person, arising out of the purchase, storage, sale, or other disposition of such basic agricultural commodity or its food products or out of contracts therefor, if made after such agreement has been entered into and if made in accordance with the terms and conditions thereof; and

(2) The payment into such equalization fund for such commodity of profits of any such association, corporation, or person, arising out of such purchase, storage, sale, or other disposition or contracts therefor; and

(3) The making of advances out of such equalization fund to any such association or corporation for financing the purchase, storage, sale, or other disposition of basic agricultural commodities and their food products in order to assist in removing or withholding the surplus of such commodities and/or prod

ucts.

91358-26-pt. 2-3

(e) If the board is of the opinion that there is no such cooperative association capable of carrying out any such agreement, the board, prior to the expiration of two years from the passage of this act, may enter into such agreements with other agencies.

(f) Such agreements shall provide, among other things, that

(1) No payment of losses shall be made unless the purchase or contract for the purchase is made at a price which in the opinion of the board is not in excess of a fair and reasonable price.

(2) No sale or contract of sale shall be made in respect of which a loss would be sustained unless such sale or contract is authorized by the board.

(3) Advances made by the board shall be payable on demand, whenever and to such extent as the board deems advisable, if the board finds that the market price in the principal markets of the United States for the basic agricultural commodity, or its food products, in respect of which the advance was made, is in excess of a fair and reasonable price.

(g) If the board is of the opinion that there are two or more cooperative associations capable of carrying out any such agreements, the board, in entering into such agreements, shall not discriminate unreasonably against any such association and in favor of any other such association.

PURPOSES OF EQUALIZATION FEE

SEC. 9. In order that the producers of each basic agricultural commodity may contribute ratably their equitable share to the equalization fund hereinafter established for such commodity; in order to prevent any unjust discrimination against, any direct burden or undue restraint upon, and any suppression of 'commerce in basic agricultural commodities and their food products with foreign nations in favor of interstate or intrastate commerce; and in order to encourage and stimulate the normal and usual current of foreign and interstate commerce in basic agricultural commodities--there shall be apportioned and paid as a regulation of such commerce, an equalization fee as hereinafter provided.

DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF FEE

SEC. 10. Prior to the commencement of operations in respect of any basic agricultural commodity and thereafter from time to time the board shall estimate the probable advances, losses, and expenses to be paid in respect of the operations in such commodity and its food products. Having due regard to such estimates, the board shall determine and publish the amount for each unit of weight, measure, or value designated by it, to be collected upon the processing or the sale or other disposition of such basic agricultural commodity during the operations therein. Such amount is hereinafter referred to as the "equalization fee." At the time of determining and publishing an equalization fee the board shall specify the period during which the fee shall remain in effect.

PAYMENT AND COLLECTION OF FEE

SEC. 11. (a) During the operations in respect of any basic agricultural commodity and its food products, the equalization fee shall be paid, under such regulations as the board may prescribe, upon the processing or the sale or other disposition (as the board may determine) of the unit of such basic agricultural commodity, but no such fee shall be paid in respect of cotton or corn prior to three years from the date of the passage of this act..

(b) The board may by regulation require any person engaged in processing or in the purchasing of a basic agricultural commodity—

(1) To file returns under oath and to report, in respect of his processing or purchasing of such commodity, the amount of equalization fees payable thereon and such other facts as may be necessary for the payment or collection of the equalization fees;

(2) To collect the equalization fee from the producer and to account therefor; and

(3) To issue to the producer a ser al receipt for the commodity which shall be evidence of the participating interest of the producer in the equalization fund for the commodity. The board may in such case prepare and issue such receipts and prescribe the terms and conditions thereof. The Secretary of the Treasury, upon the request of the board, is required to have such receipts prepared at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

(c) Every person who, in violation of the regulations prescribed by the board, fails to account for any equalization fee shall be liable for such fee and to a penalty equal to one-half the amount of such fee. Such fee and penalty may be recovered together in a civil suit brought by the board in the name of the United States.

EQUALIZATION FUND

SEC. 12. (a) In accordance with regulations prescribed by the board, there shall be established an equalization fund for each basic agricultural commodity, into which the equalization fees and the profits in connection with operations therein or in its food products shall be deposited.

(b) The board, in anticipation of the collection of the equalization fees, and in order promptly to make the advances agreed to be made and to provide for the prompt payment of the losses agreed to be paid and the salaries and expenses of experts, may advance to the equalization fund for any basic agricultural commodity, out of the revolving fund hereinafter established, such amounts as may be necessary.

(c) There shall be disbursed from the equalization fund the amounts agreed to be repaid by the board for losses, costs, and charge in respect of the operations in the basic agricultural commodity or its food products, and the salaries and expenses of such experts as the board determines should be payable from such fund. There shall be repaid from such equalization fund any amounts advanced in respect of the agricultural commodity, from the revolving fund hereinafter established, and remaining unpaid together with interest on such amounts at the rate of 4 per centum per annum.

(d) When the amount in the equalization fund for a basic agricultural com modity is, in the opinion of the board, in excess of the amount adequate to carry out the requirements of this act in respect of such commodity and its food products, and the collection of further equalization fees thereon is likely to maintain an excess, the board may retire in their serial order as many as practicable of the outstanding receipts evidencing a participating interest in such fund. Such retirement shall be had by the payment to the holders of such receipts of their distributive share of such excess as determined by the board. The amount of the distributive share payable in respect of any such receipt shall be an amount bearing the same ratio to the face value of such receipt as the value of the assets of the board in or attributable to the fund bear to the aggregate face value of the outstanding receipts evidencing a participating interest in such fund, as determined by the board.

AUDITS OF BOOKS AND ACCOUNTS OF BOARD

SEC. 13. The books and accounts of the board showing the payments of the losses and profits under agreements entered into under section 8, salaries and expenses of experts, and refunds on exportation shall be audited at least once every year at such times and by such auditors as the board may direct. The report of such auditors shall be included in the annual report to the Congress.

COOPERATION WITH EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS

SEC. 14. (a) It shall be the duty of any governmental establishment in the executive branch of the Government, upon request by the board, or upon Executive order, to cooperate with and render assistance to the board in carrying out any of the provisions of this act and the regulations of the board. The board shall, in cooperation with any such governmental establishment, avail itself of the services and facilities of such governmental establishment in order to avoid preventable expense or duplication of effort.

(b) The President may by Executive order direct any such governmental establishment to furnish the board with such information and data pertaining to the functions of the board as may be contained in the records of such governmental establishment. The order of the President may provide such limitations as to the use of the information and data as he deems desirable.

(c) The board may cooperate with any State or Territory, or department, agency, or political subdivision thereof, or with any person.

SEC. 15. As used in this act

DEFINITIONS

(a) In the case of wheat or corn, the term "processing" means milling for market of wheat or corn or the first processing in any manner for market (other than cleaning or drying) of wheat or corn not so milled, and the term "sale or other disposition" means the first sale in the United States of wheat or corn for milling or other processing for market, for resale, or for delivery by a common carrier occurring after the beginning of operations by the board in respect of wheat or corn or their food products.

(b) In the case of cotton, the term "processing" means ginning, and the term "sale or other disposition means the first sale in the United States of cotton for milling or other processing for market, for resale, or for delivery by a common carrier occurring after the beginning of operations by the board in respect of cotton.

(c) In the case of cattle or swine, the term "processing" means slaughter for market, and the term "sale or other disposition" means the first sale in the United States of livestock destined for slaughter for market without intervening holding for feeding (other than feeding in transit) or fattening-occurring after the beginning of operations by the board in respect of cattle or swine or their food products.

(d) The term "sale or other disposition" does not include

(1) Transfer to a cooperative association for the purpose of sale by such association on account of the transferor.

(2) The transfer of title in pursuance of a contract entered into before, and at a specified price determined before, the commencment of operations in respect of the basic agricultural commodity or its food products. In case of the transfer of title in pursuance of a contract entered into after the commencement of operations in respect of the basic agricultural commodity or its food products, but entered into at a time when, and at a specified price determined at a time during which, a particular equalization fee is in effect, then the equalization fee applicable in respect of such transfer of title shall be the equalization fee in effect at the time when such contract was entered into and such specified price determined.

(e) The term "person means individual, partnership, corporation, or asso

ciation.

(f) The term "United States," when used in a geographical sense, means continental United States.

(g) The term "cooperative association" means an association of persons engaged in the production of agricultural products, as farmers, planters, ranchers, dairymen, or nut or fruit growers, organized to carry out any purpose specified in section 1 of the act entitled "Án act to authorize association of producers of agricultural products," approved February 18, 1922, whether or not such association is qualified under such act.

REVOLVING FUND AND APPROPRIATION

SEC. 16. (a) There is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $250,000,000, which shall be administered by the board and used as a revolving fund, in accordance with the provisions of this act.

(b) For expenses in the administration of the functions vested in the board by this act, there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $300,000, to be available to the board for such expenses (including salaries and expenses of the members and the per diem compensation and expenses of members of the council) incurred prior to July 1, 1927.

SEPARABILITY OF PROVISIONS

SEC. 17. If any provision of this act is declared unconstitutional or the applicability thereof to any person, circumstance, or commodity or class of transactions in respect of any commodity is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the act and the applicability of such provision to other persons, circumstances, commodities, and transactions shall not be affected thereby.

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 18. This act may be cited as the "Federal farm board act of 1926."

STATEMENT OF GEORGE N. PEEK, MOLINE, ILL.

The CHAIRMAN. Will you state your name and business relation to the matter before the committee? Mr. PEEK. My name is George N. Peek, of Moline, Ill. I am chairman of the executive committee of 22, of the North Central States Agricultural Conference. I am not engaged in active business. I have given all of my time for the past two years to the agricultural problem, and a large part of it for three years preceding. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, there has been so much said about the North Central States Agricultural Conference that I think your committee and the Congress should have a little of the history of that movement. With your permission, I would like to recite that for the record.

The CHAIRMAN. There are two committees here, of one of which Mr. Hirth is chairman of the farmers' organizations that met in Des Moines, and another is a committee representing the business men's meeting, perhaps with farmers, that met in Des Moines and appointed a committee of 22, and you are chairman of that committee? Mr. PEEK. I am chairman of the committee of 22. Mr. Hirth and Mr. Murphy represent the farm committee.

Senator HEFLIN. And both of those committees are working for the same thing, as I understand it.

Mr. PEEK. No. I will try to make that clear in my statement.... The CHAIRMAN. You are both in favor of the same bill?

Mr. PEEK. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. That was really Senator Heflin's question.

Mr. PEEK. I thought he said they were one and the same thing. Senator HEFLIN. No. You are both working for one and the same thing, is what I said.

Mr. PEEK. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. You may proceed with your statement.

Mr. PEEK. The All-Iowa Agricultural Marketing Conference was held at Des Moines, Iowa, December 29, 1925, called by the Iowa Bankers' Association, and had in attendance nearly 1,100 people. That conference adopted a platform and requested Governor Hammil to appoint an all-Iowa agricultural marketing advisory committee of 50 representative citizens of Iowa. The advisory committee met at Governor Hammil's office on January 8, 1926, and made Governor Hammil honorary chairman and the Iowa congressional delegation honorary members, and selected an executive committee. This executive committee met late January 8, 1926, and on January 9 arranged to call an "all agricultural area" marketing conference of 11 States to meet at Des Moines on January 28, 1926.

In Illinois, early in January, a call was made by Governor Small, of Illinois, for a general conference on the agricultural surplus problem, to be held January 15, at the LaSalle Hotel. Specific invitations were extended to organizations consisting of the Illinois Bankers' Association, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Agricultural Association, the Illinois State Grange, the Farmers' Elevator Association of Illinois, the Chicago Livestock Producers Association, the St. Louis Producers Association, the Peoria Producers Association, the Illinois Press Association, the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, the Illinois Federation of Labor, the Illinois State Teachers' Federa