CONSTRUCTIVE REMEDIES NEEDED 265

generally adopted prior to the recent widespread effort to
reduce the costs of distribution. Inventories of all kinds
of accumulated stocks of raw materials and commodities
for sale were kept at a minimum, and buying only for
current needs had been made possible by improved systems
 of transportation. Associations of producers in
different industries had also constantly gathered and disseminated
 among their numbers information relative to
producing and marketing conditions. By these methods
the lag between production and consumption had been
lessened, and through cooperation within certain industries
 the relation between production and consumption had
been to a greater or less degree satisfactorily readjusted.
As industry advanced, however, the need of solving the
larger problems constantly became more apparent. Disorganized
 or overexpanded industries, such as bituminous
coal mining and textile manufacturing, constituted weak
spots, which affected adversely the whole industrial structure
 and all its processes. The realization also of maximum
 economies, both in production and in distribution,
were checked by archaic anti-trust laws. Furthermore,
it became apparent that there was not sufficient centralized
control or information relative to the development of new
industries or the expansion of old ones. Overproduction,
maladjustment, or retardation has, therefore, constantly
menaced the new industrial organization, and has frequently
 developed in certain branches, thus preventing
the realization of the widespread benefits which should
have been accomplished.
The recognition of this condition of affairs has led to
the demand that production and distribution should be
released from the restrictions of anti-trust legislation and
thus enabled to consolidate and secure the freedom of
action and the economies which are manifestly essential.