Antitrust Status of Farmer Cooperatives: - USDA Rural Development ...

man’s language was constitutional. Numerous amendments were
introduced to fine-tune the language, some passing and others not. 34
After several days of debate, which probably confused rather than
clarified the issues in the minds of many Senators, Senator George was
able to wrest control of the bill from Senator Sherman and have it
referred to the Judiciary Committee for rewriting. 35
One of the amendments offered during Senate consideration of
Senator Sherman' s bill was designed to protect farmer cooperatives.
A number of senators were concerned that Senator Sherman' s bill
would outlaw farmer cooperatives. For example, during floor debate,
Senator William Stewart (R-NV) 36 said:
.. .(T)ake, for example, the beef trust in Chicago....There
is a plain remedy for that trust, not in legislation perhaps, but
in the action of the parties interested. Farmers who are
producing beef have to sell it at an enormous sacrifice, at
starvation prices. Cattle are cheap all through the country.
Still beef is high in Chicago. Suppose the farmers in the
West should unite and say, "We will not sell our beef except
at a certain price. " Suppose they should unite to beat this
combination; they would all be criminals under this bill; they
could not combine to beat it at all. 37 (Emphasis added).
After stating a similar second example concer ning wheat growers,
Senator Stewart continued, "This measure strikes at.. .the very root of
co-operation.. .. When capital is combined and strong, it will for a time
34 21 Cong. Rec. 2455-2474 (M arch 21, 1890); 21 Cong. Rec. 2556-2572
(March 24, 1890); 21 Cong. Rec. 2597-2616 (March 25, 1890); 21 Cong.
Rec. 2639-2662 (March 26, 1890); 21 Cong. Rec. 2723-2731 (March 27,
1890).
35 21 Cong. Rec. 2731 (M arch 27, 1890).
36 Senator Stewart possibly gained an appreciation for cooperatives while
living in California throughout the 1850s and serving for a time as state
attorney general.
37 21 Cong. Rec. 2606 (1890).
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