FARMERS' ELEVATOR— HOW ORGANIZED 259 



or $50.00. The number of shares which may be issued to one person 

 is frequently limited, so that the total investment of any one individual 

 may not be more than $200 or $500, varying in dififerent companies. 

 Frequently each share owned by a stockholder entitles him to one 

 vote at a meeting of stockholders, but the number of votes that may 

 be cast by any individual is usually limited regardless of the number 

 of shares he may possess. In some companies the transfer of stock is 

 subject to the approval of the board of directors. 



In distributing the profits several plans are followed. In some 

 cases the profits are divided among the stockholders according to the 

 amount of stock held. In some states the companies are permitted by 

 law to distribute profits on the co-operative basis. A definite return 

 is granted to each stockholder which is merely interest on the capital 

 invested. This rate of interest is determined by law. The profits are 

 then distributed among the stockholders according to the amount of 

 business each has done with the company. This may be according to 

 the number of bushels of grain "each has sold to the elevator. 



The penalty clause already referred to provides that any stock- 

 holder in the Farmers' Elevator Company who sells grain to another 

 elevator shall pay a certain amount to his own elevator (usually from 

 1-2 to 1 cent per bushel) . From eighty to ninety per cent of the com- 

 panies have this clause included in their by-laws. In some cases the 

 legality of this clause has been questioned and others feel that it is no 

 longer necessary, although it is felt that without this provision in the 

 past the movement would have been greatly crippled. 



Representatives of local cooperative organizations can be as well 

 posted each day as managers of the "line elevators." Market quota- 

 tions by wire are received from all of the leading distributing and 

 storing points. No knowledge, however, of the movement of gram 

 enroute to market can be ascertained. A larger cooperation of all the 

 societies in a given district is the solution of this difficulty. With the 

 increase in the influence of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and 

 that of the State Railroad Commissioners, a more amiable relation 

 between farmers' organizations and transportation companies will 

 exist. This is already manifested by a number of the railroads in 

 their kindly attitude. 



