THE CENTRAL EXCHANGE 133 



director in the district exchange, and the board of the dis- 

 trict exchange chooses its director in the central exchange. 

 Hence, any question of pohcy throughout the entire system 

 is ultimately decided by the growers themselves. 



Suppose that the board of directors of the central ex- 

 change should adopt a policy that failed to command the 

 support of a majority of the growers. At the annual meet- 

 ing of the local association in the fall some one would offer 

 a resolution to the effect that the association was not in 

 sympathy with this action on the part of the California 

 Fruit Growers Exchange and that the representative of 

 the association on the district exchange be instructed to 

 use his influence against the policy. If a majority of the 

 associations composing a district exchange so voted a ma- 

 jority of the directors of the district exchange would be 

 pledged against the unpopular measure, therefore they 

 would instruct their delegate to the central exchange to 

 oppose it. Finally, if most of the district exchanges should 

 prove hostile there would be no recourse on the part of 

 the directors of the central exchange except to reverse their 

 former judgment and abandon the policy in question. 



The original judgment of the directors of the central 

 exchange might conceivably be for the best interests of the 

 growers, but the important point is that by the very nature 

 6i the exchange system the growers themselves must be 

 the arbiters of what is for their interest. Nothing can be 

 foisted on them either by the district or central exchange, 

 for these latter organizations are owned and controlled by 

 the growers : they are the servants of the local associations. 

 If the growers see fit to employ local, district, and general 

 managers who are expected to offer suggestions and make 

 improvements, well and good, but that does not mean that 

 these officers can proceed in contravention of the wishes 

 of a majority of growers. 



