Complications of a Bankruptcy Case 
On November !) the bankruptcy court in Brooklyn, 
on the recommendation of the receiver, accepted an 
offer of the Edelstein Dairy Company of $17,000 for 
the distributing end of the Cornwall Dairy Com¬ 
pany in Brooklyn. The terms were $8,000 down, and 
the balance in four quarterly payments covering two 
years, the title of the property to remain in the 
meantime with the receiver. This leaves the country 
places at Blakeslee, Cato and Orrs Mills yet to be 
disposed of. Appraisals of these plants are being 
made by men appointed by the court. 
Edelstein, Silverman & Cohen were the parties 
interested in the Cornwall Dairy Company. Edel¬ 
stein has been employed by the receiver in continu¬ 
ing the business. Cohen and Silverman are said to 
be wealthy. The liabilities of the Cornwall Dairy 
Company were something in excess of $100,000. The 
assets in sight seem to be about $50,000. There are 
some grounds, however, on which it seems that 
Cohen and Silverman may be held personally. One 
item of $27,000 is demanded by the receiver. It is 
alleged by him from the evidence so far taken that 
Edelstein, Silverman & Cohen each signed a note for 
$0,000. These notes were indorsed by the company 
and money borrowed on them. There is nothing to 
show, it is said, that the proceeds of these*notes 
went to the company. The inference is that the indi¬ 
viduals became in possession of it, directly or indi¬ 
rectly. Anyway, Cohen, treasurer of the company, 
signed three checks in blank some days before the 
receiver was appointed. These were filled in by the 
bank to itself for $9,000 each, and dated some three 
days apart, and the checks were charged by the bank 
against the company in favor of itself in payment of 
the three notes. The receiver alleges that this was 
virtually making a preferred creditor of the bank, 
and insists that this $27,000 should be paid in to the 
receiver, as a part of the assets of the company. 
As it. stands now the city end of the business is 
back where it was before the failure. Whether the 
old regime got possession of the country plants, di¬ 
rectly or indirectly, is yet to he determined; hut in 
any event we have three men, two at least of whom 
are rated wealthy, in control of a corporation, and 
going through bankruptcy proceedings, and emerging 
from it with the business again in their hands, and 
something like $50,000 to $60,000 lopped off their 
joint obligations at the expense of New York State 
dairymen. It was probably because of the wealthy 
rating of Cohen and Silverman that the State Agri¬ 
cultural Department decided that it was unnecessary 
to bond the company, but it must have known that a 
stockholder or officer of a company is not responsible 
for the debts of the company. In fact, he may legally 
possess himself of a large part of its assets. 
Selling Association; A Personal Experi¬ 
ence 
SELLING ASSOCIATIONS.—The article by It. L. 
S., “Will the Burnt Farmer But Out the Fire?” in your 
issue of September 25 was read by me with a great deal 
of interest, particularly the paragraph on “Organization 
Needed.” A word of personal experience might be 
appreciated by your readers. It should be remembered 
that while the Federal and State governments have ad¬ 
vocated selling associations, their advocacy has been 
only a matter of study without regard to the law. The 
government spends large sums«of money iu the support 
of a Bureau of Markets whose business is to study mar¬ 
kets, and to assist in the economical distribution of food¬ 
stuffs. In many counties there is maintained a County 
Farm Agent, whose business is the giving of advice con¬ 
cerning the growing and selling of farm produce. Many 
leading economists, as the professor of economics in 
Toledo University, advocate selling associations as an 
economical way of distributing food products. Such as¬ 
sociations would surely seem to bo of benefit generally, 
to the consumer as well as to the producer. In many 
sections of our country, food, which is so badly needed 
in the large centers of population, is permitted to tot 
in the fields and storehouses for lack of economic 
raeaus of distribution. The argument is all in favor of 
trial of such organizations, to see how far they could 
remedy this want. 
TOLEDO GARDENERS UNITE.—The Toledo Gar¬ 
deners’ Exchange Company was incorporated under the 
laws of Ohio in 1915 with 45 stockholders for the pur¬ 
pose of selling farm and garden produets, (lie principle 
articles being hothouse lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes. 
The sale of stock in the company was limited to actual 
gardeners. All the members of the exchange company at 
various times sold some of their produ<*e through other 
channels than the exchange, and in later years some of 
them sold all their produce thus. Provision for this was 
distinctly made in the rules and regulations of the com¬ 
pany. The main reasons for the continued existence of 
the company was the convenience of delivery and sale 
of goods. Among other things tin' by-laws of the ex¬ 
change company provided that the members should give 
the officers of the company their cordial support; that 
no deception should be practiced in putting up of their 
lb* RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
goods; that goods were to be graded and marked in ac¬ 
cordance with the rules of the directors; to sell as far 
as practicable all their produce through the exchange 
company; to notify the manager each day of the 
amount of goods they would have for sale. 
PROSECUTING FOOD PRODUCERS.—In 1919 
when there was much agitation of the II. C. of L., 
Governor Cox called together the county prosecutors of 
Ohio to formulate plans for the prosecution of the eo- 
called food profiteers. Among their first, if not the 
very first, of their acts was to cast the dairymen of the 
Cleveland district into jail, and to institute proceedings 
against the gardeners’ associations of Cincinnati. To¬ 
ledo, etc. The hooks and all documents of the Toledo 
Exchange Company were seized by the court, and the 
office wastepaper baskets thoroughly searched for pos¬ 
sible evidence that would incriminate the directors. 
Large headlines were published in all the daily papers, 
heralding the prosecution of these men as criminals, re¬ 
gardless of the pain and suffering caused to their fam¬ 
ilies. An expense of o/er $3,000, together with much 
loss of time, whs entailed upon the officers and direc¬ 
tors. A temporary injunction was granted by the court 
against the Exchange Company, preventing them from 
doing the very thing winch the State of Ohio had grant¬ 
ed them the right to do in their charter. (The case was 
tried with a jury in the Court of Common Pleas, who 
voted nine to three to convict. ) 
LEGAL ARGUMENTS.—From the experience thus 
had with the Valentine Anti-Trust Law, it appears in¬ 
advisable to have printed rules and regulations, although 
no exchange can do business without regulations. It 
was argued by the court that the by-laws gave the direc¬ 
tors a power of control over the products of the stock¬ 
holders which was in violation of the law. The provis¬ 
ion of the by-laws whereby, in times of glutted markets, 
the members could sell outside of the exchange, the court 
held, “would create a moral, if not a legal obligation on 
the part of each stockholder to market his produce 
through the Exchange Company.” Had the Toledo Gar¬ 
deners’ Exchange Company, therefore, been organized as 
closely as the California association referred to iu your 
article of September 25, the directors would have been 
heavily fined and might have been sent to the peniten¬ 
tiary. 
OFFICIAL INEFFICIENCY.—Now, it seems to 
your correspondent, that had the Governor and the pros- 
(Binghamton Morning Sun) 
It Makes a Difference Who Borrows 
eeuting attorneys been really efficient public officials, 
they would have known the following facts: (a) There 
is a Bureau of Markets created by law for the purpose 
of studying market conditions and of assisting in the 
economical distribution of foodstuffs, very easy of access, 
without any additional expense to taxpayers, located in 
the annex to the capitol building in Columbus. (b) 
There is in Toledo within u few blocks of the prose¬ 
cutor's office a County Farm Agent supported by the 
people, who could have informed him of the Bureau of 
Markets where dependable information on whether 
these market prices could be fixed, (c) The State of 
Ohio gave a number of vegetable growers called the To¬ 
ledo Gardeners’ Exchange Company a charter to sell 
produce collectively. (d) Agricultural departments 
from their study of the economic distribution of food 
products advocate selling associations, (e) The govern¬ 
ment exempts selling associations from paying an in¬ 
come tax. (f)The law of supply and demand controlled 
the prices of green vegetables, and because of fluctua¬ 
tion of the supply and the perishable nature of them, 
fixed prices are not possible, (g) Should vegetables be 
destroyed, as is said to be done sometimes to keep up 
the price, that the lose to the owners would always far 
exceed any consequent increase of price, (h) Every rule 
aud by-law of a growers’ association must be made to 
stimulate and not to restrain trade if disaster would be 
avoided, (i) Large sums of money are spent by gov¬ 
ernmental departments for stpdyiug food problems and 
its distribution. 
LEGAL ARGUMENTS.-—At the trial of the case the 
prosecutor argued that when the Exchange Company 
sold the produce of two or more members, the same be¬ 
ing of equal grade aud the goods being included within 
the same sale, it was a violation of the provisions of the 
law. By-laws, although worded by an attorney, may not 
always hold good, for at the opening of this trial one of 
the directors of the company asked the prosecutor how 
they could operate under the law, and was told to con¬ 
sult, an attorney. While the directions of their attor¬ 
neys were followed, the association was fined for con¬ 
tempt of court for doing as was advised. While it cost 
the people a considerable sum of money to prosecute the 
Exchange Company, there were no benefits derived bv 
the people. The Toledo Gardeuers’ Exchange Company 
no longer exists, and prices have been reduced, though 
many other factors have operated to that end. and it is 
1773 
fair to assume that there is a kindly feeling in the heart 
of the city consumer for the officials who claim to have 
been instrumental in the process. Also as dairymen 
and vegetable.growers all have property interest from 
which they can not readily depart, it is reasonable that 
there would have been ample time for investigations be- 
foro hasty and harsh proceedings to prosecute were re- 
sorted to. oeo. bayeb. 
Burning Corn in the West 
I have just read your editorial anent the reports of 
farmers using corn as fuel in Iowa. Your conclusion 
that such reports are fakes is undoubtedly true insofar 
as it applies to Iowa, Eastern Nebraska and Eastern 
Kansas. But, on the other hand, it is just as cer¬ 
tainly not true as applied to Western Nebraska, West¬ 
ern Kansas and a small part of Eastern Colorado. The 
writer has just returned from an extended auto trip 
through that region, and, briefly, here is what he found 
the situation to be : 
Big crops of wheat and corn all through that region ; 
only cars enough to ship a very small part of the wheat. 
Corn not yet moving. Bankers are straining their re¬ 
sources to the limit to carry loans made to farmers last 
Spring that the borrowers are wholly unable to meet 
because of being unable to market their crops. Espe¬ 
cially is this true of the wheat and wool growers. Be¬ 
cause of no money being available, but little feeder 
stock can be purchased, so that avenue for consumption 
of the big corn crop is closed, too. Borrowers are offer¬ 
ing to turn everything over to the mortgage holders, but 
the banks decline, as they could not sell the stuff at 
forced sale for enough to pay the face of the notes, 
owing to the big price decline, which is made very much 
worse there by the car shortage. There are practically 
no trees in that region, and no coal mines at all; 35 to 
50c per bn. of 70 lbs. of ear corn is all that’s offered now. 
What little coal the local dealers are able to get sells 
for from $15 to $17 per ton at car. Add the expense 
of hauling it from five to 30 miles and you can see what 
those poor people are up against. Under the same cir¬ 
cumstances what would you do? Drive out to the corn- 
field and get out a load of fuel, or go to town and try 
to borrow the price and haul out a load of coal, if you 
happened to be lucky enough to get it at all? Yes, 
there will certainly be lots of corn burned in the West 
again this year. j, h. tubbs. 
Nebraska. 
The Low Price of Cotton 
I cannot wholly agree with you in your recent edi¬ 
torial on the price of cotton. It seems to- me that the 
cotton growers should not have expected to receive 40c 
for the 1920 crop. Isn’t that a war price? No more 
cotton is needed for munitions and other war purposes. 
Human activities are directed to production now instead 
of destruction. Furthermore, on account of the high 
price of all cotton goods, we are buying as little as we 
possibly can get along with, and are going to continue to 
do so until we return to pre-war prices. What is the 
inevitable result of increased production and limited de¬ 
mand? Three-dollar wheat is out of order, too. I did 
not sow any wheat because I did not believe next year’s 
crop would bring $2 per bu. Had I had time to do my 
own seeding it would have been different, as I would 
have expected to purchase lower-priced products with 
lower-priced wheat. But to pav out 1920 cash prices 
for labor to produce 1921-priced wheat did not look 
good to me. j. G . K . 
Ohio. 
Wlmt were these cotton growers to do? Cotton is 
the only cash crop they can produce. They are in 
debt, and are in many cases forced to grow cotton. 
They had no possible control over prices of products 
they were forced to buy. They were obliged to pay 
war prices for all their supplies. The world’s cotton 
supply is short, in spite of a return to peace, and on 
the basis of true supply and demand there is no 
excuse for the present low prices. 
Central New York Notes 
Have been going to the farm every day lately. There 
is the finest crop of cabbage that we have ever raised. 
We figure that at the present price, $6 a ton, it would 
be better, so far as the work and the income are con¬ 
cerned. to let them alone to go to destruction. Fortu¬ 
nately then' is the herd of cows, and they are eating 
all they can of them every day. They eat about two 
heads each, and then they are full. A small feed of cut 
cornstalks goes into the ration also. Of course the 
grain ration must not be omitted, nor should they lie 
scrimped. It is possible to use a somewhat heavy feed 
with the succulent feed they are having. Gluten, corn- 
meal, oilmeal and cottonseed are not so bad on such 
feeds. Ground oats seem to he a better feed at present 
prices than wheat bran. Possibly bran may come down 
after a little while. Most feeds have declined somewhat. 
On November 10 the cows are out grazing through 
the day. something unusual at this date. The haymow 
may not be quite so full as it lias been for some years, 
but. the cabbages and the corn fodder will help out 
nicely. There is a little money in milk just now for 
the dairyman who is well situated in respect to feeds 
if one has the city market to rely upon. League prices 
may figure some loss on the usual labor base, but with 
the open Fall aud cabbages at $6 a ton one can make 
milk and a profit, even if it is small. Of course we have 
to figure some loss on the cabbages, yet feeding them to 
the cows gets us the best margin of any crop of the 
season except the hay crop. 
Feeddo not drop locally as in the wholesale mar¬ 
kets. Feed dealers are like farmers -they want to get 
as much out. of the goods as the trade will permit. 
Evidently we should get our G. L. F. Exchange into 
working order, for it_ seems the only way to get out 
feeds at a fair margin. Dealers say they are losing 
money, and I can believe it. Farmers have lost badly. 
8ome of thi' dealers say it is all in the game, aud some 
complain considerably. 
The water supply for the stock at the farm is a 
serious one. It. has always been. City aud town peoph 
complain of the water rates, and wish they were in tin 
country, where water is free. All the same, it. isn’t 
free. Guess it, costs more on the farm than in town. 
That lead pipe that is now giving some trouble has been 
laid 45 years or more. That is small cause for com¬ 
plaint. but it lias had considerable attention during 
l hat tilin'. Lead pipe is not in high favor with some, 
but I rather like it. Possibly something may depend 
on soil and water in deciding the pipe to use. Iu some 
soils the pipe had to be removed 15 years ago. 
< 'henango <’o.. N Y jj # H. I,. 
