section 12 of the Interstate Commerce Act, as amended, relating to the attendance and testimony of witnesses, the production of documentary evidence, and the immunity of witnesses, are made applicable to the power, jurisdiction, and authority of the Secretary of Agriculture, the said commission, or said reference in proceedings under this Act, and to persons subject to its provisions. Upon evidence received the said commission may require all contract markets to refuse such person all trading privileges thereon for such period as may be specified in said order. Notice of such order shall be sent forthwith by registered mail or delivered to the offending person and to the governing boards of said contract markets. After the issuance of the order by the commission, as aforesaid, the person against whom it is issued may obtain a review of such order or such other equitable relief as to the court may seem just by filing in the United States circuit court of appeals of the circuit in which the petitioner is doing business a written petition praying that the order of the commission be set aside. A copy of such petition shall be forthwith served upon the commission by delivering such copy to its chairman or to any member thereof, and thereupon the commission shall forthwith certify and file in the court a transcript of the record theretofore made, including evidence received. Upon the filing of the transcript the court shall have jurisdiction to affirm, to set aside, or modify the order of the commission, and the findings of the commission as to the facts, if supported by the weight of evidence, shall in like manner be conclusive. In proceedings under paragraphs (a) and (b) the judgment and decree of the court shall be final, except that the same shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court upon certiorari, as provided in section 240 of the Judicial Code.

SEC. 7. Any board of trade that has been designated a contract market in the manner herein provided may have such designation vacated and set aside by giving notice in writing to the Secretary of Agriculture requesting that its designation as a contract market be vacated, which notice shall be served at least ninety days prior to the date named therein as the date when the vacation of designation shall

take effect. Upon receipt of such notice the Secretary of Agriculture shall forthwith order the vacation of the designation of such board of trade as a contract market, effective upon the day named in the notice, and shall forthwith send a copy of the notice and his order to all other contract markets. From and after the date upon which the vacation became effective the said board of trade can thereafter be designated again a contract market by making application to the Secretary of Agriculture in the manner herein provided for an original application.

SEC. 8. For the efficient execution of the provisions of this Act, and in order to provide information for the use of Congress, the Secretary of Agriculture may make such investigations as he may deem necessary to ascertain the facts regarding the operations of boards of trade, whether prior or subsequent to the enactment of this Act, and may publish from time to time, in his discretion, the result of such investigation and such statistical information gathered therefrom as he may deem of interest to the public, except data and information which would separately disclose the business transactions of any person and trade secrets or names of customers: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the Secretary of Agriculture from making or issuing such reports as he may deem necessary relative to the conduct of any board of trade or of the transactions of any person found guilty of violating the provisions of this Act under the proceedings prescribed in section 6 of this Act: Provided further, That the Secretary of Agriculture in any report may include the facts as to any actual transaction. The Secretary of Agriculture, upon his own initiative or in cooperation with existing governmental agencies, shall investigate marketing conditions of grain and grain products and by-products, including supply and demand for these commodities, cost to the consumer, and handling and transportation charges. He shall likewise compile and furnish to producers, consumers, and distributors, by means of regular or special reports, or by such methods as he may deem most effective, information respecting the grain markets, together with information on supply, de

mand, prices, and other conditions in this and other countries that affect the markets.

SEC. 9. Any person who shall violate the provisions of section 4 of this Act, or who shall fail to evidence any contract mentioned in said section by a record in writing as therein required, or who shall knowingly or carelessly deliver for transmission through the mails or in interstate commerce by telegraph, telephone, wireless, or other means of communication false or misleading or knowingly inaccurate reports concerning crop or market information or conditions that affect or tend to affect the price of grain in interstate commerce, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

SEC. 10. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the Act and of the application of such provisions to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

SEC. 11. No fine or imprisonment shall be imposed for any violation of this Act occurring before the first day of the second month following its passage.

SEC. 12. The Secretary of Agriculture may cooperate with any department or agency of the Government, any State, Territory, District, or possession, or department, agency, or political subdivision thereof, or any person; and shall have the power to appoint, remove, and fix the compensation of such officers and employees, not in conflict with existing law, and make such expenditures for rent outside the District of Columbia, printing, telegrams, telephones, law books, books of reference, periodicals, furniture, stationery, office equipment, travel, and other supplies and expenses as shall be necessary to the administration of this Act in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, and there are hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary for such purposes.

THE COOPERATIVE MARKETING ACT

[Act of July 2, 1926 (44 Stat., 802).]

AN ACT To create a division of cooperative marketing in the Department of Agriculture; to provide for the acquisition and dissemination of information pertaining to cooperation; to promote the knowledge of cooperative principles and practices; to provide for calling advisers to counsel with the Secretary of Agriculture on cooperative activities; to authorize cooperative associations to acquire, interpret, and disseminate crop and market information, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That when used in this Act the term "agricultural products means agricultural, horticultural, viticultural, and dairy products, livestock and the products thereof, the products of poultry and bee raising, the edible products of forestry, and any and all products raised or produced on farms and processed or manufactured products thereof, transported or intended to be transported in interstate and/or foreign

commerce.

SEC. 2. The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed to establish a division of cooperative marketing with suitable personnel in the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the Department of Agriculture or in such bureau in the Department of Agriculture as may hereafter be concerned with the marketing and distribution of farm products. Such division shall be under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture.

SEC. 3. (a) The division shall render service to associations of producers of agricultural products, and federations and subsidiaries thereof, engaged in the cooperative marketing of agricultural products, including processing, warehousing, manufacturing, storage, the cooperative purchasing of farm supplies, credit, financing, insurance, and other cooperative activities.

(b) The division is authorized

(1) To acquire, analyze, and disseminate economic statistical, and historical information regarding the progress, organization, and business methods of cooperative associations in the United States and foreign countries.

(2) To conduct studies of the economic, legal, financial, social, and other phases of cooperation, and publish the results thereof. Such studies shall include the analyses of the organization, operation, financial, and merchandising problems of cooperative associations.

(3) To make surveys and analyses if deemed advisable of the accounts and business practices of representative cooperative associations upon their request; to report to the association so surveyed the results thereof; and with the consent of the association so surveyed to publish summaries of the results of such surveys, together with similar facts, for the guidance of cooperative associations and for the purpose of assisting cooperative associations in developing methods of business and market analysis.

(4) To confer and advise with committees or groups of producers, if deemed advisable, that may be desirious of forming a cooperative association and to make an economic survey and analysis of the facts surrounding the production and marketing of the agricultural product or products which the association, if formed, would handle or market.

(5) To acquire from all available sources information concerning crop prospects, supply, demand, current receipts, exports, imports, and prices of the agricultural products handled or marketed by cooperative associations, and to employ qualified commodity marketing specialists to summarize and analyze this information and disseminate the same among cooperative associations and others.

(6) To promote the knowledge of cooperative principles and practices and to cooperate, in promoting such knowledge, with educational and marketing agencies, cooperative associations, and others.

(7) To make such special studies, in the United States and foreign countries, and to acquire and disseminate such information and findings as may be useful in the development and practice of cooperation.

SEC. 4. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, in his discretion, to call advisers to counsel with him and/or his representatives relative to specific problems of cooperative marketing of farm products or any other cooperative activity. Any person, other than an officer, agent, or employee of the