Cooperative Organizations in Agriculture 43 



the legislatures have placed a limit on the number of votes 

 that each stockholder may cast. This is a right fixed by 

 the statute. The right to sell and transfer the stock 

 is incident to the ownership. It also is a statutory right 

 and not subject to the control of the corporation, though 

 the corporation may have the first option to buy the stock 

 whenever a member desires to sell. The ordinary cor- 

 poration law is therefore inadequate to meet the require- 

 ments of the farmers' cooperative organization. In these 

 associations, it may be desirable to make the voting power 

 of members equal, or proportional to the product contrib- 

 uted, or to the acreage, or to the service rendered by 

 each member. The membership in these associations is 

 confined exclusively to producers and should not be trans- 

 ferable except under rules legally provided by the associa- 

 tions. These restrictions are non-enforceable under the 

 usual stock corporation laws. 



Many of the so-called farmers' cooperative organiza- 

 tions have been formed under the stock corporation laws 

 of the different states. The control of the membership 

 therefore becomes impossible unless legally provided 

 otherwise, and there is no way in which a stockholder 

 can be separated from the corporation when he withdraws. 

 He may sell his farm and continue as a member until 

 he sells his stock. He can dispose of it to any one who will 

 purchase it, though many associations provide that the 

 stock of a withdrawing member shall first be offered to 

 the association, a provision which is of no value when the 

 association is not financially able to buy the stock; or, 

 if he retains it, he may become identified with a rival 

 organization and still be entitled to know all about the 



