A SURVEY OP TYPICAL COOPEEATIVE STORES. 



11 



at a figure which has since been recognized as too low. In the stores 

 under discussion the upper limit varied from $10 to $8,000, with 

 some stores placing no limit. It is difficult to say where the line 

 should be drawn. With voting power restricted to 1 vote, with 

 interest on capital stock limited to not more than current interest 

 rates, and with the cooperative policy of distributing profits in pro- 

 portion to the amount of business transacted by each member, it is 

 difficult to see how serious injustice can result from the concentration 

 of the bulk of the capital stock in the hands of a few members. 



Of those stores reporting, 37 stated that interest was paid on the 

 capital stock; the maximum given was 8 per cent, the minimum 5, 

 and the average 7 per cent. These figures do not indicate any great 

 advantage to the holders of capital stock. (See Table II.) 



Table II. — Practice as to the payment of interest and dividends on stock. 



Question. 



Stores 



reporting 



yes. 



Stores 



reporting 



no. 



Average 

 rate. 



Remarks. 





37 



34 

 3 

 35 



18 



30 



3 



27 

 7 

 3 



8 



Per cent. 



^ 7 



3, 7 per cent; 2, 5 per cent; 12, 

 8 per cent; 11, 6 per cent. 













Trade dividends paid to members 



9 

 25 



14 



39 



9 



29 



35 







Trade dividends paid to nonmembers 





Usually half rate paid mem- 

 bers. 



2 pay by means of a monthly 

 discount. 













- 



Dividends usually paid in merchandise .... 

















The manifest purpose of the cooperative store is to make savings 

 for its members in the purchase of household and other supplies. 

 Patrons are charged the customary retail prices for the locality in 

 which the store operates. Then, at the end of the specified period, 

 the accumulated surplus is distributed in proportion to the purchases 

 which each patron has made during the dividend period. Following 

 the Rochdale plan, nonmembers are frequently allowed half the rate 

 of dividends on purchases allowed members. 



The figures given in answers to questions 51 and 57 of the question- 

 naire do not indicate the degree to which the cooperative stores are 

 attaining their chief object — making savings for patrons. They in- 

 dicate, rather, the provisions in the by-laws as to distribution of 

 dividends and not the actual practice. While the information given 

 was not satisfactory upon this point, it is believed that the vast ma- 

 jority of the cooperative stores have been a disappointment in the 

 savings effected for members and patrons.^ 



1 See appendix, p. 30. Notes on the payment of trade dividends. 



