THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



443 



sufficient capital must be raised to carry 

 on the business. Stock should not be 

 sold with the view of an investment ; 

 therefore, the dividends on stock should 

 be limited to a very nominal rate. All 

 stock should be redeemable by the as- 

 sociation at par, and a provision to that 

 effect should be printed on the certiti- 

 cate and become a by-law of the or- 

 ganization. This provision should be 

 operative when stock is offered for 

 transfer, thus guarding against the pos- 

 sibility of the stock being bought up for 

 the purpose of control. Dividends other 

 than the nominal dividends paid on the 

 stock should be paid to the co-operators 

 in proportion to the volume of business 

 done by them with the association. Do 

 not be stingy in hiring a manager, for 

 while the cost may seem large it will 

 pay in the long run to have a competent 

 man. 



When the association is finally ready 

 to do business there are some rules 

 which should be followed explicitly. 

 Absolutely no favors should be shown ; 

 treat every one alike, rich or poor, black 

 or white; otherwise sore spots are sure 

 to be made which are hard to heal. The 

 strictest honesty should be exacted from 

 all ; a contract should be made with the 

 members of the association which 

 should define clearly and concisely what 

 each party is to do for the other, upon 

 what terms the transactions between the 

 association and the individual are to be 

 carried out, the amount of business to 

 be transacted as near as possible and a 

 forfeiture for breach of contract. In 

 handling the transactions between mem- 

 bers all contracts should be made the 

 same as if no relation existed between 

 them in the way of membership, and 

 such contracts should be carefully 

 drawn so as not to conflict with the 

 anti-trust laws or with the decisions of 

 the courts in relation to the restraint of 

 trade. These contracts are very essen- 

 Mal in order that the management may 

 know what to expect, and after expenses 

 have been incurred for the handling of 

 the business of a member he should 

 either produce the business so the profits 

 will reimburse the association, or be 

 compelled to make such reimbursement 

 personally unless conditions which are 

 beyond his control shall arise to pre- 

 vent. It is extremely important that 

 nothing shall be entered into in the way 



of a contract which can in any way be 

 construed as seeking to restrain trade. 



Many institutions have failed because 

 they have anticipated their profits, pay- 

 ing upon estimates which proved to be 

 too large and thereby exhausting the 

 treasury. The most successful co-oper- 

 ative institutions do business with their 

 members upon the market prices the 

 same as they would with non-members, 

 and, in fact, often transact business for 

 non-members. At stated intervals, or 

 when the business of a certain kind is 

 closed up, the net benefits to which the 

 members are entitled are declared as a 

 dividend in proportion to the amount of 

 business transacted with the individual 

 members. This system has many ad- 

 vantages which will become apparent 

 but which space will not permit of ex- 

 planation here. 



In handling of produce a system of 

 pooling and insurance should be inaug- 

 urated so that the possible loss which is 

 sure to come and is expected by all busi- 

 ness houses will be distributed over the 

 entire business, thus making what might 

 be a heavy loss to the individual mem- 

 ber practically nothing when borne by 

 the entire membership, thus co-operat- 

 ing to stand losses as well as to make 

 profits. 



In marketing produce I cannot too 

 strongly urge the introduction of the 

 packing-house system, each taking his 

 product to the packinar house or packing 

 houses, which should be conveniently 

 located and provided with proper facili- 

 ties, and where trained, impartial pack- 

 ers pack every one's products to stand- 

 ard grades. High standard of quality 

 should always be established and should 

 be maintained at all times as to quality 

 of product as well as to pack. Trade- 

 mark brands should be used, so that the 

 goods may become recognized in the 

 market. A reputation is the most val- 

 uable asset in trade. 



In conclusion, let me urge upon all 

 co-operators to study well the methods 

 used by the successful co-operative in- 

 stitutions, to be extremely careful in the 

 introduction of innovations, for what 

 may seem to be sure of success when 

 viewed from the standpoint of our 

 every-day competitive trade may fail ab- 

 solutely when applied to co-operative 

 work. 



THE BEEWARE BRAND 



MEANS SUCCESS s.ndforAi.nu.iauw,whichwait.n 



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