Leib, K. E.

English

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Washington Law Review Volume 1 Number 1 6-1-1925 The Federal Trade Commission, by Gerard C. Henderson (1924) K. E. Leib Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr Digital Commons Network Logo  Part of the President/Executive Department Commons Recommended Citation K. E. Leib, Book Review, The Federal Trade Commission, by Gerard C. Henderson (1924), 1 Wash. L. Rev. 76 (1925). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol1/iss1/9 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at UW Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington Law Review by an authorized editor of UW Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact cnyberg@uw.edu. WASHINGTON LAW REVIEWmay be made upon all kinds of personal property * * * and upon growingcrops and upon crops before the seed thereof shall be sown or planted. Pro-vided, that the mortgages of crops before the seed shall have been sown orplanted, for more than one year in advance, is hereby forbidden, and allsecurities or mortgages hereafter executed on such unsown or unplanted cropsare declared void and of no effect, unless such crops are to be sown or plantedwithin one year from the time of the execution of the mortgage." Thus noauthority is given for chattel mortgages upon crops yet to be grown whichare not crops for which seed is planted or sown (such as grains). And asapplied to such a crop as is under consideration, "growing crops" must be heldto relate only to crops grown and harvested the year the chattel mortgage isgiven. The fact that at the time B's mortgage was executed, "fruit spurs"had already formed, from which in the following year the blossoms and fruitwould develop, does not aid the situation. It could equally well be said thatwhen the tree was yet nursery stock it contained the rudiments of the cropof 19293. H. S.BOOK REVIEWSTHE FEDERAL TRADE Co3inssio-,-. By Gerard C. Henderson. New Haven: YaleUniversity Press, 1924, pp. xiii, 382.This is the first of a series of intensive studies carried on under the super-vision of the Committee on Administrative Law and Practice appointed by theLegal Research Committee under the Commonwealth Fund. It is intendedas a part of the program "which should reveal the workings of carefullyselected administrative organs, in so far as their activities mean law and notmere internal administration." The author very carefully limits himself to"a study in administrative law and procedure" and does not attempt a con-sideration of such parts of the work of the Federal Trade Commission ashave to do with special investigations and reports, the issuing of licenses orthe administering of the Webb-Pomerene Act.The discussion is divided into a relation of the history of the politicaland legislative factors leading up to the passage of the Act, an elucidation ofprocedure, discussion of findings, an enumeration of practices which havecome before the Commission for action, and finally a very valuable chapter inwhich are made conclusions and suggestions which point the way to a possi-bility of even more valuable service in the future than has been rendered inthe past.Throughout the book a thoroughness of investigation, a keenness ofanalysis, and a maturity and balance of judgment are displayed which onemight wish could be more often found in studies of our agencies of government.The Federal Trade Commission is at present in a position to understandand sympathize with the tribulations of the Supreme Court in those daysprior to the appointment of John Marshall. It is a cause for sober reflectionand some sadness to the lawyer, the student of government or the student ofbusiness that an agency so fraught with potentialities for good or evil as theFederal Trade Commission should find its position so uncertain, its proceduroso unorthodox, its power so ill-defined and its whole status so affected bypolitical changes or vicissitudes as its history up to the present time wouldindicate.There is need for a clearing of the atmosphere in regard to the attitudeof government toward monopoly and restraint of trade. Perhaps in view ofour existing legislation it would be more accurate to say that there is needfor a clearer understanding of Just what is monopoly or restraint of trade.The underlying economic tendencies and the effect of modern business methodsBOOK RETIEWSand forms of organization have in too many cases been uncomprebended bylegislative assemblies.Political expediency and personal bias bring tremendous pressure to bearupon an appointive commission. There is a danger that the views of souncompromising a leader as the late President Wilson (who held monopolyan abhorrent thing and competition the desirable state) may lend color todecisions which ought to be as carefully weighed and as far removed fromany accusation of political expediency as those of the Supreme Court.A careful study of the activities of the Federal Trade Commission in thenine years or so of its existence leads Mr. Henderson to conclude that,First: There is a real need for a revision of procedure which will freethe Commission from the necessity of acting in the double role of prosecutorand judge. This, he points out, might be done in such form as to help toprevent damaging publicity and prejudice resulting from the fact thatprosecution is conducted by the United States and at the same time morecontrol might be exercised over the matter covered in hearings and somelong drawn out and purposeless suits might be avoided.Second: There is need for the adoption of the judicial form of decision,already familiar for centuries in our courts, in order that principles mayemerge, based on recorded facts, which will help to avoid the uncertainty andconfusion so apparent as a result of the present formalistic findings.Last of all, as the author points out, monopoly and restraint of trade arethe main issue, and time should not be wasted on petty squabbles and dis-honesties. The Commission has attempted to handle too many cases. Thereis a warning for all of us in the statement that, "A crusade is more spec-tacular than a scientific inquiry, and a moral issue has greater political valuethan a practical adjustment."The clearness of type and excellent quality of paper and binding areworthy vehicles for the scholarly, well weighed and clearly handled examinationinto the nature and functions of one of our most important commissions.K. E. LEm.PanryCipLES oF ConporAioN LAw. By William W Cook. Ann Arbor, Mich..Lawyers' Club, Umv. of Mich., 1925. pp. xiv, 815.Here is a book deserving of special notice, one that appears to be thepioneer of a new type of text-book. As the author says in the preface:"This book is an experiment to condense, simplify and clarify the law, for theuse of the lawyer, law student and layman. In an article published in theMichigan Law Journal in February, 1923, on 'The Law Book of the Future',I proposed a new type of text-book, stating general principles with a fewapplications, and with foot-note references to elaborate text-books and to thedecisions of the Supreme Court of the United States. This book has beenwritten on that theory, the references being chiefly to the eighth edition ofthe author's six-volume work on corporation law, and to the decisions of theSupreme Court. References to very recent decisions are also added."The work consists of 815 pages. The type is clear and easily read, thepaper is thin, and the volume makes a very easily handled book but a littlemore than an inch in thickness, well bound in flexible covers. Mechanicallyit is a great improvement on the cumbersome text-book generally inflicted onthe beach and bar.This excellent publication is what it professes to be-a treatise on theprinciples of corporation law, and should prove invaluable to lawyers desiringto brush up on fundamentals and to students for general study and especiallyin reviewing. Mr. Cook has long been recognized as a sound authority on

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\u3ci\u3eThe Federal Trade Commission\u3c/i\u3e, by Gerard C. Henderson (1924)

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