LEGAL PHASES OF COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS. 7 
ing associations of producers to act as live-stock commission agencies 
should have certain portions of the packer and stockyards act, 1921, 18 
in mind, and particularly section 308 thereof, which prohibits the 
paj'ment of patronage dividends to nonmembers. 
Other important matters to be considered at the time of forming 
an association are the particular provisions to be included in the 
articles of association, the matter of finances, and of income taxes. 
To avoid the necessity of amending the charter at a later date, steps 
should be taken at the time of forming the corporation to see to it 
that the powers acquired by the association on incorporation are 
sufficiently broad to permit it to engage in any activity which it may 
be found advisable to conduct. In the case of associations formed 
with capital stock those interested should investigate the " blue 
sky " laws of the State or States in which stock will be sold and 
govern their actions accordingly. 19 The foregoing as well as other 
matter appearing herein makes it plain that those desirous of form- 
ing an association should have competent advice with respect to the 
legal aspects of incorporation as well as the conduct of the associa- 
tion's business. 
NAME OF ASSOCIATION. 
It is absolutely essential that a corporation have a name under 
which it shall transact its business. Fundamentally the incorpora- 
tors of a corporation may select any name they choose for the cor- 
poration. Statutory provisions now exist in many States in refer- 
ence to this subject. These provisions frequently require that the 
name shall clearly indicate that the corporation is incorporated. 
Sometimes the statutes require that the name shall include the word 
" corporation," " incorporated," or the abbreviation, " Inc." Ee- 
strictions prohibiting the adoption of a name already used or so 
similar thereto as to be easily mistaken therefor exist in many juris- 
dictions. The statutes of a number of States prohibit the use of 
the word '" cooperative " in the name of a corporation unless the 
corporation is a cooperative one or unless it is organized under cer- 
tain statutory provisions and does business in accordance with 
them. The term " association " standing alone at common law, and 
in the absence of a statute, does not have a definite legal meaning. 
It is true it suggests an organization, but whether the organization 
is incorporated or unincorporated is unknown. Probably to many 
it suggests a corporation, and many of the statutes providing for 
the incorporation of a cooperative association state that the term 
means a corporation. But in the absence of a statute making it 
so, the term is not synonymous with corporation. The words " ex- 
18 42 Stat. 159. 
19 Cannon v. Farmers' Union Grain Agency, (Oregon) 202 Pac. 725 ; Kirk v. Farmers' 
Union Grain Agency, (Oregon) 202 Pac. 731, 
