116 BULLETIN 110 6, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
sonally liable, then they are free from personal responsibility for 
the debt. The secretary of the North Dakota Farm Bureau Federa- 
tion, an unincorporated organization, brought suit against the federa- 
tion and its officers to recover for services rendered by him for the 
federation. It was held that if the officers of the federation stipu- 
lated that they were not to be bound individually that the officers 
were not individually liable upon the contract made with the 
secretary. 89 
In an Arkansas case 90 it appeared that growers of sweet potatoes 
took steps with a view of forming an incorporated cooperative as- 
sociation for the purpose of curing and preserving potatoes. No 
corporation was formed, but persons selected as officers of the associ- 
ation by those interested in forming it executed two promissory notes 
in the name of the Ashdown Potato Curing Association, signing their 
own names as president and secretary, respectively. The money was 
used for building a potato-curing house. The venture failed. In 
connection with the project, subscription lists for stock were circu- 
lated. A suit was brought on the notes against the two officers of the 
association and about 60 other persons who were alleged to have been 
interested. The question for decision was who were liable on the 
notes. The Supreme Court of Arkansas in passing on this question 
said : 
It was a voluntary unincorporated association, in effect a partnership, and 
* * * the only question in the case was the identity of the persons who 
composed the association at the time the notes in the suit were executed. 
This case illustrates how those interested in the formation of an 
incorporated association may, if the plans for incorporation fail, be 
held liable as members of an unincorporated association. 
If an unincorporated association is engaged in business the mem- 
bers are liable as partners to third persons. This obligation is im- 
posed by law on the members of such an association, and it is im- 
material what the rules of the association provide on the subject of 
liability. 91 In a California case, 92 suit was brought by the plaintiff 
against an unincorporated cooperative association, and certain of its 
members, to recover the sale price of goods purchased by the as- 
sociation for use in its business. The association was composed of 19 
members. The defendant recovered an individual judgment against 
two of the members of the association, and they appealed on the 
ground that they could not be held individually responsible for the 
claim of the plaintiif. In affirming the judgment of the lower court, 
the Court of Appeals of California said that the case came within 
the rule announced in volume 5 Corpus Juris, 1362, 1373, as follows : 
While as between the members of an unincorporated association, each is bound 
to pay only his numerical proportion of the indebtedness of the concern, yet 
against the creditors, each member is individually liable for the entire debt, 
provided, of course, the debt is of such a nature and has been so contracted as 
to be binding on the association as a whole * * *. An unincorporated 
association organized for business or profit is in legal effect a mere partner- 
ship so far as the liability of its members to third persons is concerned; and 
89 Fuller v. Reed et al., 55 N. D. 707, 215 N. W. 147. 
90 Harris v. Ashdown Potato Curing Ass'n, 171 Ark. 399. 284 S. W. 755. 
91 Bennett v. Lathrop, 71 Conn. 313. 42 A. 634. 71 Am. St. Rep. 222. 
M Webster v. San Joaquin Fruit and Veg. Growers' Protective Ass'n, 32 Cal. App. 264, 
162 P. 654. 
