224 THE FARMER AS A COOPEKATOK. 



terms, so as to permit almost anything at all related to the 

 proposed business to be done; as, for example, " to buy, receive, 

 sell, dry, can, or preserve fruit," when the real intention is 

 simply to receive and sell fruit, and the articles should read, 

 as the purpose of the corporation, "To receive, store, and sell 

 fruit, for cash only." Under their powers, by the first reading, 

 an incompetent board of directors might lawfully bankrui)t 

 every stockholder; by the latter form, at the worst, they could 

 be only mulcted in a small sum for expenses. Thoughtless 

 persons, in preparing these articles, often think it just as well 

 to put everything in, with the idea that they "may want to do 

 some of these things sometime;" this, however, is no reason; 

 if the purposes, as originally drawn, are ever found insufficient, 

 a little trouble, and a few dollars, will at any time set every- 

 thing right, and meantime no stockholder can be involved in 

 any way that he did not intend. The articles of incorporation 

 form the constitution of the society; they constitute a public 

 record, to be filed for public reference, in the manner provided 

 by the law of the state, and when so filed, can only be changed 

 by the stockholders themselves in accordance with the provi- 

 sions of the local law. They should never be prepared except 

 under the advice of an experienced attorney, who should care- 

 fully inform stockholders of the exact obligations they assume. 

 Experienced business men are far more competent than farmers 

 to frame such a document, but it is safe to say that no such 

 experienced person ever frames such a document except under 

 competent legal advice. 



The by-laws of a corporation also constitute a public 

 record, but are usually filed only in the office of the corpora- 

 tion itself, where they must always be subject to public 

 inspection. It is well to have legal advice in preparing these 

 also, but it is not so important as in the case of the articles of 

 incorporation. As a draft is usually prepared in advance for 

 submission to the stockholders, it is very desirable to submit 

 the proposed by-laws to an attorney before presenting them to 

 the stockholders. 



The reason of this is obvious. The by-laws of a corpora- 

 tion should contain: — 



