Cooperative Organizations in Agriculture 51 



the methods of distributing the surplus earnings should 

 be under the legal control of the members, or should be 

 defined by the statute : the dividends on stock, if paid at 

 all, should usually not exceed the customary rate of in- 

 terest ; after a reasonable reserve is retained, the basis of 

 distributing the remaining surplus should be proportional 

 to the product contributed or to other service rendered 

 by each member ; and the voting power of the members 

 should be equal, if possible, or proportional to the amount 

 of product contributed by each member or to other serv- 

 ice rendered. 



