CHAPTER VIII 



THE CO-OPERATIVE PURCHASE AND DISTRIBUTION 



OF FEED 



In order to get feed from where it is grown or manufactured 

 to our barns, a series of operations musj take place which, as far 

 as making the feed available for use is concerned, are as essential 

 as the production of the feed itself. These operations include 

 financing, assembling quantities of feed at points of origin, grading 

 it, sacking it, transporting it, and finally distributing it locally. 

 Of late farmers have had a feeling that they themselves could per- 

 form some of these operations and a large number of co-operative 

 corporations have been organized. 



116. Advantages of a corporation. — All corporations are 

 legal entities. They derive the authority for their existence from 

 the state. The advantages of a corporation as an instrument to 

 conduct business are several: first, through it individuals may 

 pool their capital; second, it is a permanent institution; third, it 

 limits personal liability through assuming a personal liability of its 

 own; and finally, it provides a means whereby the small capitalist 

 or the small producer may invest his capital and secure skilled 

 management of it. In short, the corporation is a useful way of 

 concentrating money and management for great undertakings that 

 could never be handled by individuals because of their great size. 

 At the same time it provides a means whereby individuals may par- 

 ticipate in enterprises without endangering their personal fortunes. 



117. Character of co-operative corporations. — In the ordi- 

 nary business corporation money rules; men vote in the management 

 of the corporation in proportion to the shares of stock tliat they 

 own. In the case of the co-operative corporation, it is a generally 

 recognized principle that each member has one vote regardless of 

 his share of ownership in the corporation. 



In the ordinary form of business, corporation profits that accrue 

 are distributed in the form of stock dividends. In the co-operative 



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