128 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



erative society pays them less than they could receive outside, 

 and sometimes even when cooperative selling is not always as 

 successful as individual selling. 



The fourth essential is singleness of purpose. It is true that a 

 great many of the cooperative societies in the United States both 

 buy and sell but it is also true that most of these successful so- 

 cieties are organized either for buying or for selling only. A 

 cooperative society should be organized to sell apples, or to buy 

 feeds, fertilizers or other agricultural requirements, or to store 

 cabbages or onions, and if these same farmers desire to cooper- 

 ate with others for some other purpose they should form a sec- 

 ond association. 



The fifth essential is incorporation. Nearly every success- 

 ful cooperative society in the United States and many abroad 

 are incorporated under state laws. The incorporation of a so- 

 ciety is a simple matter but very many fine results accompany 

 it. In the first place, the management is a board of directors 

 definitely provided for in the articles of incorporation. In the 

 second place, an incorporated society cannot go out of business 

 during the limit of time fixed by the articles of incorporation, 

 whereas, a society organized otherwise may stop business at any 

 time, frequently with disastrous results. In the third place, the 

 members of an incorporated society are liable for the debts of 

 the society only in proportion to the number of shares which 

 they have taken ; and finally, the incorporated society is subject 

 to the inspection of the state and all its business must be con- 

 ducted on approved business lines. 



The sixth essential is paid, efficient management. A great 

 many of our cooperative societies have gone to the wall because 

 the management was inferior or because the management was in 

 too many hands. The best societies in the United States, in fact 

 almost the only societies that are successful, are those that have 

 a single manager. Moreover, if this manager does any business 

 at all and is at all capable he should be paid and well paid. 

 Managers of some of the larger cooperative societies are paid 

 remarkably good salaries. For example, the manager of one 

 of the vegetable exchanges is receiving $10,000 a year. 



The seventh essential is absolute publicity regarding the af- 

 fairs of the society; this includes a full and complete oversight 



