Capper–Volstead Act

Capper–Volstead Act
Citations

Long title	An Act To authorize association of producers of agricultural products.
Enacted by	the 67th United States Congress
Public law	Pub.L. 67–146
Statutes at Large	Sess. II, ch. 57, 42 Stat. 388–389
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 2373 by Andrew Volstead (R–MN) on ? Committee consideration by ? Passed the House on May 4, 1921 (295-49) Passed the Senate on February 8, 1922 (58-1) with amendment House agreed to Senate amendment on February 11, 1922 (276-8) Signed into law by President Warren G. Harding on February 18, 1922
United States Supreme Court cases
Case-Swayne Co. v. Sunkist Growers, Inc., 389 U.S. 384 (1967) National Broiler Marketing Assn. v. U.S, 436 U.S. 816 (1978)

Capper–Volstead Act (P.L. 67-146), the Co-operative Marketing Associations Act (7 U.S.C. 291, 292) was adopted by the United States Congress on February 18, 1922. It gave “associations” of persons producing agricultural products certain exemptions from antitrust laws. It is sometimes called the Magna Carta of cooperatives.^[1]

Origins

The law was passed in response to challenges made against cooperatives using the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), the Clayton Antitrust Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.), and the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). As a consequence of the depression of agricultural prices subsequent to World War I, farm organizations intensified their drive for government aid and managed to get a farm bloc established in Congress. Senator Arthur Capper was a member of this bloc and the Capper–Volstead Act was a part of the farm legislative program. (The law carries the names of its sponsors, Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas and Representative Andrew Volstead of Minnesota.)

Content

The act authorized various kinds of agricultural producers to form voluntary co-operative associations for purposes of producing, handling and marketing farm products - that is, it exempted such associations from the application of the antitrust laws. The United States Secretary of Agriculture was given power, on his own motion, to prevent such associations from achieving and maintaining monopolies. He could hold hearings, determine facts and issue orders ultimately subject to review by federal district courts.

References

↑ The Capper-Volstead Act: Opportunity Today and Tomorrow

Dictionary of American History by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940
CRS Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition - Order Code 97-905

External links

US Code Title 7, Section 291 & 292 (from GPOaccess.gov)
The Capper-Volstead Act: Opportunity Today and Tomorrow / In Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Capper-Volstead Act by Donald M. Barnes and Christopher E. Ondeck—a paper on the Act from the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives site

United States federal agriculture legislation

Farm Bills	Federal Farm Loan Act (1916) Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933) Agricultural Adjustment Act Amendment of 1935 Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936 Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 Agricultural Act of 1948 Agricultural Act of 1949 Agricultural Act of 1954 Agricultural Act of 1956 Agricultural Act of 1961 Food and Agriculture Act of 1965 Agricultural Act of 1970 Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 Food Security Act of 1985 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 Agricultural Act of 2014

Additional Legislation	Hatch Act of 1887 Agriculture Appropriation Act of 1905 Agricultural Appropriations Act of 1922 Cotton Futures Act (1914) Cotton Futures Act (1916) Grain Standards Act (1916) Wheat Price Guarantee Act (1919) Future Trading Act (1921) Grain Futures Act (1922) Capper–Volstead Act (1922) Agricultural Marketing Act (1929) Farm Credit Act of 1933 Frazier–Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act (1934) Bankhead–Jones Act of 1935 Commodity Exchange Act (1936) Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (1937) Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 National Wool Act of 1954 Agricultural Fair Practices Act of 1967 Farm Credit Act of 1971 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972 Commodity Futures Trading Commission Act of 1974 Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1980 National Aquaculture Act of 1980 Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act of 1983 Extra-Long Staple Cotton Act of 1983 Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 Hunger Prevention Act of 1988 Alien Species Prevention and Enforcement Act of 1992 National Wool Act Amendments of 1993 Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, December 26, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.