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THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



ond, when an association gets far 

 enougli along to buy honey, and, per- 

 haps, deal in supplies too, it is very 

 desirable that the permanent capital 

 should be large enough to cover the 

 value of a carload of honey. When 

 a local association is large enough to 

 cover the production of several cars 

 annually as it should be, and begins 

 to buy honey from outsiders to tone up 

 the market, it then becomes a ques- 

 tion of investment for the individual 

 producer on about the same basis as 

 the investment in a honey house or a 

 wagon. Our own association has now 

 settled down to this basis, many of 

 the members owning a number of 

 shares instead of only one share, and 

 we take care (see Art. 10) that they re- 

 ceive a fair interest on their invest- 

 ment. 



Article -7.— (See also Art. 2 of the 

 By-Laws, 7th Paragraph.) The intern- 

 al politics of every business associa- 

 tion should be Republican throughout 

 the year, and Democratic on election 

 days; that is, the stockholders should 

 have absolute control of the general 

 business by having free choice of of- 

 ficers from their whole number, and 

 electing them annually, by proper 

 methods of balloting and election; but 

 when that is done, the officers elected 

 should have entire control of the de- 

 tails of the business, and whenever 

 the requirements of business demand 

 it, should keep such details to them- 

 selves. 



By-Laws, Art. 2, next to last para- 

 graph. 'i.ne duties of a live and ef- 

 fective board of directors of a local 

 association point to one important 

 principle that is apt to be disregarded 

 in favor of a cumbersome and ineffec- 

 tive theory of representation. They 

 should one and all reside close to the 

 company's place of business. In prac- 

 tice, there is no infringement of the 

 rights of representation of distant 

 stockholders, though it may seem to be 



so in theory. The place of business 

 will of necessity be where there are 

 the most stock-holders; and the inter- 

 ests of the stock-holders in any one 

 honey-producing region are not so 

 conflicting that they cannot be ade- 

 quately represented by fair-minded 

 and competent men in any part of the 

 territory covered, and the annual elec- 

 tion gives every stock-holder the pow- 

 er to pick out such men. 



Article 6.— The Manager is the man 

 above all others upon whom the suc- 

 cess of the local association depends. 

 It is a business rule that the smaller 

 the body the more effectively it works, 

 and when practically one man carries 

 out all the business, it will be well 

 done, and as a rule best done, provid- 

 ing he is competent. But a competent 

 man could get good wages elsewhere. 

 To retain a competent man, therefore, 

 he must be paid the wages of a com- 

 petent man; another reason for doing 

 business with capital. 



Article 10.— Here is the gist of the 

 advantage of co-operative business 

 over private business. This rule was 

 not followed during our first year of 

 existence, but was then adopted as 

 the result of experience. It is right 

 and proper that the stock-holders, as 

 stock-holders, should receive dividends 

 on their stock, because they have in- 

 vested money and should receive in- 

 terest on it. But for the stock-hold- 

 ers, as stock-holders, to divide up all 

 the net profits and put it in their pock- 

 ets, would be to degrade the associa- 

 tion to the level of a private money 

 making concern. It would no longer 

 be co-operative. For in chat case a 

 stock-holder might himself do no busi- 

 ness through the association, and yet 

 receive not only the interest on his 

 stock investment, but also a share of 

 the profits of another member who did 

 do business through the association. 

 But when the net profits are divided 

 up only among those members who 



