Public Law 74–766

Whether any corporation engaged in the manufacture, sale, or distribution of agricultural implements and machinery, of whatever kind and description is, or within the past three years has been, violating any of the antitrust Acts of the United States, and the nature, extent, and effects of any such violation;

The existence and effect of any contract, agreement, combination, or conspiracy in unlawful restraint of trade and the existence of any unfair methods of trade or competition in connection with the manufacture, sale, and distribution of said agricultural implements and machinery;

Whether and to what extent methods of price fixing, price maintenance, and price discrimination in violation of the antitrust Acts exist in connection with the manufacture, sale, and distribution of said agricultural implements and machinerv;

Any developments and tendencies in the direction of monopoly and concentration of ownership or control of the means of the manufacture, sale, or distribution of said agricultural implements and machinery;

The existence of any combination to restrict or control the manufacturer ¹¹ So in original. or supply of agricultural implements or machinery or to raise or control the price thereof, or to restrict credit in the sale thereof;

Whether and to what extent the present prices of agricultural implements and machinery are due to any violations of any of the antitrust laws;

Whether and to what extent costs and profits of any corporation engaged in the manufacture, sale, or distribution of agricultural implements and machinery have been affected, enhanced, or maintained by unlawful combinations, agreements, or understandings, or any other violations of the antitrust laws, and whether and to what extent costs and profits of any such corporations have been misstated or misrepresented to conceal or promote violations of the antitrust laws;

The extent of concentration of control of manufacture and distribution of such equipment in the hands of particular manufacturers and the basis thereof;

The costs, prices, and profits of manufacturers and distributors of agricultural implements and machinery;

The distribution methods and dealer price spreads of margins entering into prices paid by farmers for agricultural machinery and equipment;

The facts regarding the relative price movements of farm machinery and farm products since 1914;

The facts regarding the relative price movements of farm machinery and implements and some of the machinery and implements and somewhat comparable material and labor;

Any other pertinent facts regarding the present prices of agricultural implements and machinery, and the cause thereof; and

What measures, legislative or otherwise, in the opinion of the Commission are needed to correct conditions in the farm-implement industry adversely affecting the interests of farmers.