ORGANIZATION OF COOPERATIVE GRAIN ELEVATOR COMPANIES. 29 
ordinary receipt may be given instead, which receipt is taken up 
when regular stock certificates are issued. The plan of organization 
presented in this bulletin contemplates that certain by-law provisions 
shall be printed upon the stock certificate, and for this reason it may 
not be practicable to use the regular stock form usually carried by 
stationers. However, it may be possible to select a stock form on 
which the special provisions may be printed upon the back of the 
certificate by the local printer, in which case a reference to these 
provisions should be made upon the face of the certificate. Care 
should be exercised that these stock forms do not contain matter 
which vitiates or conflicts with the special provisions. 
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT. 
Persons having a knowledge of the early struggles of farmers' ele- 
vators in the United States may wonder at the absence in the sug- 
gested form of by-laws presented in this bulletin of the so-called pen- 
alty clause, which at one time was regarded as of much importance. 
Men who are familiar with the real intent and purpose of the first 
use of this clause, which in its most simple form provided for the 
payment to the company of a charge of 1 or 2 cents per bushel for 
every bushel of grain which any member of the company should 
market through other agencies or dealers, state that the idea of a 
penalty was entirely foreign to its purpose and that it was intended 
only as a voluntary and mutual arrangement whereby, if it became 
apparent that outside dealers were paying more for grain than it 
actually was worth in order to discredit the cooperative company, 
each member would contribute to the support of his company in 
the manner provided and as long as these conditions existed. The 
members would then sell their grain to such outside dealers, making 
these dealers fall victim to their own competitive methods. It pro- 
vided an equitable means for contributing to the support of the co- 
operative company during an emergency. Other companies copied 
the idea but lost sight of its real purpose and tried to make it a co- 
ercive means to compel patronage. Used in that way its presence 
in the by-laws has served only to antagonize the members, and, quite 
aside from the legal difficulties which are in the way of enforcing 
such a provision, it is believed to have outlived its general useful- 
ness. The patronage dividends in a truly cooperative company 
should furnish every inducement necessary to secure the patronage 
of the members without coercive means. 
In case it becomes necessary to meet conditions brought about by 
other dealers paying more for grain than it actually is worth in 
order to discredit the cooperative company, a direct personal appeal 
to the members, stating frankly existing conditions and probable 
