the consent of those engaged in a given industry, practices which are unfair in the opinion of the industry as a whole. It is employed in cases where a large number of complaints come to the commission, usually from persons in the industry, respecting a number of alleged unfair practices generally prevalent in the industry. A public meeting of representatives of the entire industry is held in the presence of the commission, at which are discussed the merits and demerits of the business practices which have been generally complained of. The findings of the meeting are submitted to the commission, as the judgment of the industry upon the practices prevailing in it. The commission makes no decisions or ruling and does not consider itself bound by the findings but does regard them as prima facie law merchant for the industry. Trade practice submittals have been obtained in the following industries: oil, pyroxylin plastics, knit goods, macaroni, used typewriters, creamery, and book and writing paper. The results vary, but those in the last mentioned industry are typical. After two conferences before the commission 600 dealers and manufacturers of book and writing paper signed an agreement pledging themselves; (1) not to label papers as “handmade" unless they are actually made by hand and not by machine; (2) not to label, advertise, or sell papers that are given fabric or other material names because of a finish applied to them, under such name unless a qualifying word, or words, be used to indicate that the name is applied to indicate finish only; such as "linen finish," "Onyx finish," etc.; (3) not to label, advertise, or offer for sale under a foreign geographical name papers not of a foreign make, without the use of words indicating domestic manufacture, as "made in the U. S. A."; (4) not to label, advertise, or sell paper as parchment paper without the use of qualifying words to indicate its true character, as "artificial parchment" or "vegetable parchment."

Master in Chancery. The law provides that in certain circumstances the courts can refer suits in equity, brought by the direction of the Attorney General as provided in the anti-trust

acts, to the Federal Trade Commission as a master in chancery. Up to the present time this has not been done, but it constitutes a quasi-judicial duty which the commission may be called upon to perform at any time.

Economic Activities. The economic activities of the commission have in some cases led to quasi-judicial proceedings but for the most part are entirely distinct from the other work of the commission. They are divided into collecting corporation reports, making special investigations, and supervising export trade associations.

Corporation Reports. As indicated above the legislative history of the commission and the debates in Congress show it was contemplated that the commission would use extensively the powers given to it to require current reports from corporations engaged in interstate commerce. These were to make available to the governn.ent, to industry, to labor, and to the public, comprehensive and accurate data concerning the economic situation of the basic industries of the country. It was natural under these circumstances that this activity occupied a considerable part of the commission's attention immediately after it was organized. The commission found that, before any extensive plan could be put in operation, much educational work would be required to bring about an improvement in the methods of accounting used by business corporations, particularly with respect to accurate and uniform methods of cost accounting. Upon this depended the value of the corporation reports and the difficulty both to the commission and to the corporations of gathering and compiling them. Consequently the commission in coöperation with the American Association of Public Accountants prepared several publications to educate manufacturers and merchants in proper accounting methods.

During the first year of its existence the commission prepared a schedule of questions covering only certain fundamental data for which the books of every corporation should

furnish an answer. A total of 289,460 of these schedules were sent out to three classes of corporations as follows: (1) manufacturing and mining, 115,939; (2) mercantile, 74,512; (3) miscellaneous, 99,009. This request for information was supplemented by a "follow-up" letter in many instances, both being on a voluntary basis. The replies numbered only 87,079, and a considerable proportion of these showed the concerns addressed to be inactive or out of business. Even the returns received were disappointing, as a great many were incomplete and more were of doubtful accuracy. In view of these facts the commission felt constrained to withhold the issuance of the combined statements originally planned.

Further plans for securing general corporation reports and for compiling specific and current data regarding the most important industries were suspended on account of the pressure of war work. Although the war interfered with these the commission as a part of its cost of production war work did collect very complete and accurate reports from several important industries. Monthly cost reports were obtained in such basic industries as the iron and steel industry, the petroleum, the coal, the lumber, and the paper industry. In the coal industry in 1918, monthly reports giving complete information were received from nearly 2500 bituminous operators who mined between 90 and 95 per cent of the bituminous production during that year, while the reports from about one hundred anthracite operators represented about 99 per cent of the total anthracite production. These reports and also those of the other industries were discontinued after December, 1918. During the war they had been freely given by all the corporations concerned, and indeed if they had not been there is no doubt that the war powers of the President would have been sufficient to require them.

In January, 1920, the commission attempted to resume the collection of monthly reports in the coal industry under the authority given it in Section 6 of the Federal Trade Com

mission Act. The National Coal Association questioned the authority of the commission, maintaining that the commission was demanding information about intrastate commerce and coal production. The Maynard Coal Company sought and obtained a temporary injunction restraining the commission from requiring such reports. The coal situation was complicated by the fact that the coal companies maintained that any power the commission might have under Section 6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act had been transferred by the President under the Overman Act to the Fuel Administration. As this complication was not present in the iron and steel industry the commission decided to postpone the coal case until the question of its powers to require reports of the cost of production of commodities by corporations engaged in interstate commerce could be settled by a suit in the iron and steel industry. Certain steel companies had refused to make reports of the cost of production demanded by the commission and had obtained a temporary injunction. Some corporations continued to make such reports voluntarily even after the temporary injunction was granted, but not enough to give the commission the comprehensive data necessary. Therefore, it was deemed inadvisable to publish summaries of the data filed. The cases are still pending in the courts.

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Special Investigations. Most important among the economic activities of the commission are the special investigations it has conducted. The intention was that such investigations would disclose the true economic facts in any industry, and that if the conditions showed that regulation was necessary it would be obtained through the force of public opinion or through the action of some other governmental agency acting on the information brought to light by the investigation. Accordingly the commission was authorized to investigate:

(1) On its own initiative, any corporation engaged in inter-state commerce.

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* A permanent injunction has since been granted by the district

court.

(2) Upon the direction of the President or either house of Congress, any corporation alleged to be violating the anti

trust acts.

(3) On its own initiative or on the request of the AttorneyGeneral, the manner in which a court decree dissolving a trust is being carried out.

(4) Upon the application of the Attorney-General, any corporation alleged to be violating the anti-trust acts, and to make recommendations for the readjustment of the business in order that the corporation might retain its organization, management, and conduct of business in accordance with the law.

Besides the special investigations conducted under the above powers the commission was ordered to finish the investigations being made by the Bureau of Corporations when it was absorbed into the commission. Up to April 1, 1921, the following investigations had been undertaken by the commission: