152 , COOPERATIVE MARKETING 



agents been in this part of their work that the losses from 

 all causes, such as bad debts, failures in business, etc., since 

 the discontinuance of the California Fruit Agency in 1904 

 have been but about $7,688, on a total f. o. b. business of 

 approximately $192,000,000, or a loss of about 1-250 of 

 I per cent, on sales.^ This record of financial manage- 

 ment would be highly gratifying in almost any commercial 

 undertaking and is an emphatic contradiction of the belief 

 that farmers have not the ability to organize an efficient 

 business institution. 



The third object as stated in the agreement is facilitating 

 the collection of damage claims. Damage claims are en- 

 tered chiefly against the railroads and car companies and 

 may arise from several causes such as overcharge, rough 

 handling, undue delay, insufficient refrigeration, pilferage 

 or freezing in transit. Under the system of individual 

 shipments there was rarely a thought of entering claims 

 for damages against the carriers and little prospect of col- 

 lecting those that were entered. The exchange system 

 specifically provides that the prosecution of claims is to 

 be one of its functions. And in order that claims shall 

 be entered whenever damage is sustained, no matter if the 

 amount be so small that an association would not consider 

 it worth while to set the machinery of reparation in mo- 

 tion, the traffic department of the central exchange is em- 

 powered to handle all claims, making the expense of their 

 collection a general selling charge against total shipments 

 but crediting the amounts recovered to the associations 

 that have suffered the injury. By means of the system of 

 inspections of the cars en route by agents of the Exchange 

 it is entirely possible that a claim for damages may be 

 well under way before the car has reached its destination, 

 while tmder the old system the injury would not come to 



^ Figures compiled from the annual reports of the general manager 

 of the California Fruit Growers Exchange. 



