Vht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1477 
The  Date  is  Tuesday,  December  4 
At  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Hanover  Farmers’ 
Club  last  Saturday  most  of  the  afternoon  was  given 
over  to  explaining  the  proposed  school  bill.  At  the 
conclusion  the  following  resolution  was  adopted  : 
“ Resolved ,  That  this  club  shall  go  on  record  as  op¬ 
posed  to  any  radical  change  in  the  present  school  law, 
especially  in  the  case  of  the  bill  proposed  by  the  Com¬ 
mittee  of  Twenty-one.” 
Many  of  us  live  in  districts  where  consolidation 
would  not  add  to  the  expense,  but  where  bringing  in  a 
few  more  into  the  district  would  help  decrease  it. 
These  live  near  to  town  where  there  are  already  tine 
schools,  but  we  realize  the  burden  such  a  bill  would  be 
to  our  neighbors  in  the  hills,  hence  our  action  for  their 
protection.  blanche  b.  m’andrews,  Sec. 
THE  Farmers’  Club  of  Hanover  was  organized 
in  1877  with  headquarters  at  Silver  Creek,  N. 
Y.  It  has  always  represented  the  best  thought  of 
the  farmers  of  upper  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.  At 
the  annual  meeting  last  August  nearly  3,000  peo¬ 
ple  were  present.  Another  correspondent  tells  us 
that  the  vote  on  this  resolution  was  practically 
unanimous.  Reports  of  such  meetings  are  con¬ 
stantly  coming  to  us,  and  thus  far  they  are  all  one 
way.  There  is  great  interest  in  the  proposed  school 
meetings  to  be  held  Tuesday,  Dec.  4.  Readers 
everywhere  are  volunteering  to  see  that  the  meet¬ 
ings  are  held.  One  County  Grange  deputy  has  asked 
every  Subordinate  Grange  to  co-operate.  The  pro¬ 
gram  is  very  simple.  Let  the  school  trustee  or  some 
other  responsible  voter  call  a  meeting  at  the  school- 
house  on  the  evening  of  Dec.  4.  Urge  every  voter  to 
come  out.  Call  for  a  discussion  on  the  proposed 
school  bill,  give  all  sides  a  fair  hearing,  and  then 
take  a  vote  on  the  subject.  Elect  someone  to  send  a 
copy  of  this  vote  to  the  local  Assemblyman  and  an¬ 
other  copy  to  The  R.  N.-Y.  We  will  collate  and  pub¬ 
lish  the  vote. 
This  is  the  American  icay  of  settling  things. 
If  we  are  to  be  denied  an  official  referendum  on 
this  school  question,  let’s  do  it  ourselves,  and  develop 
a  vote  of  our  own.  You  will  not  at  first  realize  what 
this  may  mean,  not  only  in  connection  with  this 
school  question,  but  also  in  other  matters  connected 
with  farmers.  In  its  far-reaching  effects  this  school 
bill  is  the  most  important  legislation  which  New 
York  farmers  have  faced  since  the  Civil  War.  In 
olden  times  these  great  questions  -were  settled  in  the 
schoolhouses  and  old  lyceums.  There  spoke  the 
voice  of  the  people.  Let’s  go  back  to  the  good  old 
practice  and  to  the  old  places  where  human  rights 
and  manhood  were  defended. 
Volunteers  are  needed  for  Tuesday,  Dec.  4.  Start¬ 
ing  without  definite  organization,  all  must  help. 
Will  you  serve  in  your  district? 
If  so,  write  us  at  once ! 
Why  and  How  is  a  Business  Incorporated 
Why,  is  a  business  incorporated?  How  is  a  business 
incorporated?  Is  incorporating  preferable  to  partner¬ 
ship.  and  what  is  the  difference?  What  does  capital 
stock,  as  capital  in  connection  with  incorporation, 
mean,  and  how  is  the  business  of  a  corporation  con¬ 
ducted,  regarding  those  interested  in  the  business,  such 
as  pay  of  each  member,  responsibility  of  each,  and 
other  information  that  would  enlighten  me  on  the 
above?  a  reader. 
A  BUSINESS  is  incorporated  to  create  an  artificial 
or  legal  unit  to  do  business  as  an  individual 
person.  The  purposes  are :  To  provide  for  the  unin¬ 
terrupted  continuance  of  the  business  after  the  dis¬ 
ability  or  death  of  the  organizers,  to  accumulate 
capital,  to  secure  credits,  and  oftentimes  to  avoid  in¬ 
dividual  responsibility  for  debts  and  other  obliga¬ 
tions. 
The  States  have  adopted  laws  under  which  cor¬ 
porations  may  be  organized  by  complying  with  the 
provisions  of  the  law.  The  individuals  proposing  to 
create  a  corporation,  usually  five  or  seven,  must 
make  out  a  certificate  giving  their  names  and  ad¬ 
dresses,  the  name  of  the  corporation,  where  its  prin¬ 
cipal  office  is  to  be  located,  the  amount  of  capital 
to  be  employed,  the  number  of  shares  into  which  it 
is  to  be  divided,  and  the  face  value  of  each  share. 
In  one  form  of  organization  the  shares  may  have  no 
designated  par  value.  The  names  of  the  directors 
must  also  be  stated  in  the  certificate,  and  the  amount 
of  capital  paid  in  by  each  subscriber  to  the  stock, 
and  the  duration  of  the  company,  which  may  be  per¬ 
petual.  A  certain  percentage  of  the  stock  must  be 
subscribed  and  paid  in.  This  certificate  is  filed  with 
the  Secretary  of  State,  and  when  it  satisfies  him  as 
complying  with  the  law,  the  company  is  authorized 
by  him  to  do  business.  The  company  is  then  said 
to  be  incorporated. 
The  corporation  is  a  development  of  the  partner¬ 
ship,  which  preceded  it.  The  partnership  ends  with 
the  death  of  one  of  the  partners.  Each  member  is 
responsible  for  all  the  obligations  of  the  partnership, 
and  the  firm  is  responsible  for  the  acts  of  any  one 
of  its  members.  Its  capital  is  usually  more  limited, 
and  the  responsibility  of  its  members  more  personal 
than  in  the  corporation.  For  these  reasons  the  cor¬ 
porate  form  is  generally  preferred.  The  advantage 
of  the  partnership  is  that  it  is  simple  in  its  form. 
The  stockholders  of  an  incorporated  company  elect 
a  board  of  directors  to  run  the  business.  Each 
holder  has  as  many  votes  as  he  holds  shares  of 
stock.  •  The  vote  is  therefore  by  capital  and  not  by 
persons.  The  directors  meet  and  organize  by  elect¬ 
ing  officers  and  creating  committees  to  conduct  the 
business.  The  business  is  usually  directed  by  the 
largest  stockholders,  and  those  holding  more  than 
one-half  the  stock  are  in  a  position  to  control  it.  The 
profits  of  the  business,  after  salaries  and  expenses 
are  paid,  go  to  the  stockholders  as  dividends.  The 
dividends  are  figured  on  a  percentage  of  the  stock. 
A  company  with  $100,000  capital  paying  10  per  cent 
dividends  would  pay  out  $10,000  in  profits  to  stock¬ 
holders,  and  a  member  holding  200  shares  of  $100 
each  would  receive  $2,000  in  dividends. 
This  all  refers  to  business  corporations.  The  laws 
provide  means  to  organize  individual  corporations 
and  modifications  of  both  the  stock  corporation  and 
the  individual  corporation  to  suit  the  needs  of  a  pe- 
culiar  lines  of  business,  such  as  banking,  insurance 
and  farm  co-operation.  Any  company  or  association 
formed  under  these  laws  is  said  to  be  incorporated. 
Comparative  Prices  for  Milk 
FOR  October  the  Dairymen’s  League  Co-opera¬ 
tive  Association  made  a  gross  return  for  3  per 
cent  milk  of  $2.42  per  100  lbs.  The  deductions  are 
10  cents  for  expenses,  and  10  cents  for  certificate 
of  indebtedness,  leaving  a  cash  return  to  producers 
of  $2.22  per  100  lbs. 
The  Sheffield  group  reports  a  flat  price  of  $2.75, 
the  dealer  taking  all  milk. 
The  Non-pool  producers  report  a  flat  price  of 
$2.78. 
Complete  reports  have  not  been  received  from 
Eastern  States  Producers,  but  the  average  of  the 
15  plants  is  estimated  at  $2.65  per  100  lbs. 
The  comparison  of  prices  since  1916,  for  the 
month  of  October,  appears  in  the  following  table: 
, - October - , 
Milk  191(1  1917  1921  1922  1923 
Borden’s  .  $2.05 
League  .  $3.10  $2.27  $2.01  $2.22 
Co.  op.  unit,  high..  2.33  2.78 
Ind.  group,  high .  2.575  2.75 
B.  and  C.  value .  1.857  2.30  2.23  2.339  2.287 
Butter,  c  per  lb . 3544  .4462  .4697  .4589  .4769 
Cheese,  c  per  lh . 21125  .2425  .22625  .2575  .2565 
The  purchasing  power  of  the  dollar  now,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  1916,  is  estimated  to  be  from  55  to  65 
cents.  Taking  the  highest  estimate,  the  purchasing 
power  of  100  lbs.  of  milk  for  October,  1923,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  1916,  would  be  as  follows: 
League  .  65  per  cent  of  $2.22  $1,443 
Co-op.  unit,  high ...  65  per  cent  of  2.78  1.807 
Ind.  group,  high..  .  .  65  per  cent  of  2.75  1.787 
B.  and  C.  value _ _  65  per  cent  of  2.287  1.828 
Butter,  per  lb .  65  per  cent  of  .4769  .3099 
Cheese,  per  lb .  65  per  cent  of  .2565  .1667 
This  would  indicate  that  a  producer  receives  less 
of  the  products  he  buys  for  100  lbs.  of  milk  in  Oc¬ 
tober,  1923,  than  he  received  for  the  same  quantity 
of  milk  in  October,  1916.  Every  producer  can  fig¬ 
ure  for  himself  how  near  these  estimates  come  to 
his  own  experience.  We  are  simply  trying  to  put 
available  figures  in  shape  for  general  information 
and  study. 
The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  re¬ 
ports  prices  paid  to  producers  in  the  Eastern  terri¬ 
tory,  reduced  to  3  per  cent  basis  for  October,  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 
Washington,  D.C.  $2.36 
Chicago,  Ill .  2.55 
Baltimore,  Md...  2.88_ 
Boston,  Mass.  . .  3.135 
Indianapolis,  Ind.  1.72 
Scranton,  Pa.  . . .  2.98 
Trenton,  N.  J.  ...$3,645 
Buffalo,  N.  Y .  2.65 
Cleveland,  0 . 2.875 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.  .  .  2.70 
Philadelphia,  Pa.  .  2.85 
St.  Louis,  Mo .  2.175 
A  Campaign  Against  Daylight  Saving 
MR.  T.  J.  OWENS  of  Poughkeepsie  seems  to  be 
a  very  live  wire,  carrying  a  full  charge  of 
electricity.  He  represents  an  organization  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  fighting  daylight  saving.  The 
object  is  to  secure  a  State  law  making  standard 
time  the  legal  time  for  this  State.  Mr.  Owens  has 
already  obtained  more  than  200,000  signers  to  a 
petition  calling  for  standard  time.  These  are  all  in 
New  York  State.  They  are  not  all  country  people, 
by  any  means,  many  being  working  people  in  town 
and  city.  Railroad  workers,  in  particular,  are  op¬ 
posed  to  daylight  saving.  At  a  local  election  in 
Poughkeepsie  a  daylight  saver  was  defeated.  At 
the  last  election,  Middletown,  N.  Y.,  voted  on  the 
question,  and  gave  a  majority  of  13  in  opposition  to 
daylight  saving.  This  was  a  referendum  designed  to 
give  the  common  council  an  idea  of  what  the  citizens 
wanted.  The  two  wards  of  Middletown,  wherein  the 
working  people  are  in  majority,  were  strongly  op¬ 
posed.  Outside  of  New  York  City  it  is  evident  that  a 
referendum  would  show  a  good  majority  opposed  to 
daylight  saving.  With  a  practical  campaign  there 
would  be  an  astonishing  vote  for  standard  time,  even 
in  the  city.  Mr.  Owens’  work  is  remarkable.  It 
just  shows  what  can  be  done  by  active  and  earnest 
men,  even  without  capital  or  newspaper  help.  It 
should  be  a  great  eye-opener  to  farmers. 
Do  not  Rush  the  School  Bill 
It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  great  majointy  of 
farmers  are  either  directly  opposed  to  the  school  bill  as 
at  present  written  or  are  fearful  of  it.  This  I  can  say 
from  personal  contact  with  several  hundred  men  in 
various  parts  of  the  State  during  the  past  year  or 
more.  The  point  is  that  the  work  of  the  committee 
should  not  go  for  nothing.  Possibly  the  present  bill 
will  pass,  but  it  will  be  a  mistake  to  pass  it  until 
farmers  are  for  it.  It  may  be  necessary  to  defeat  it  as 
it  stands  before  anything  else  can  be  done,  but  it  seems 
to  me  that  we  should  be  coming  to  some  understanding 
as  to  what  is  wanted. 
My  own  idea  is  that  the  present  laws  are  not  fully 
desirable,  and  that  there  are  things  in  the  report  of 
the  committee  that  can  be  used  in  a  somewhat  different 
way.  Would  it  not  be  wise  to  get  something  going  that 
will  more  nearly  meet  the  wishes  of  our  farmers?  My 
chief  objection  to  the  plan  is  the  fact  that,  as  Mr.  Jan¬ 
sen  states  on  page  1427,  things  will  be  turned  com¬ 
pletely  over  to  the  village  voters.  This  is  the  objection 
that  I  made  when  the  plan  was  first  explained  to  me 
nearly  two  years  ago. 
There  can  be  no  objection  to  a  community  district 
whenever  all  the  districts,  by  a  substantial  vote,  decide 
that  they  want  one.  Until  that  time,  such  a  community 
unit  might  as  well  be  deferred.  The  idea  that  >s 
claimed  for  the  bill  of  equalizing  taxation  is  right  if 
the  plan  is  as  claimed.  Taxation  can  be  equalized  with¬ 
out  any  community  unit  other  than  the  units  we  now 
have.  Why  not  work  for  that,  and  for  the  community 
unit,  when  the  folks  want  it?  Consolidation  may  he 
the  right  solution  for  some  places,  but  that  is  a  local 
question.  They  tell  us  that  the  idea  of  consolidation  is 
not  intended,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  such  a  statement 
has  been  pretty  well  exploded  as  a  fact. 
Sometimes  I  wonder  why  village  districts  are  hold¬ 
ing  off  from  building  or  improving  until  the  new  bill 
passes  if  it  is  not  .expected  that  they  will  gain  by  the 
consolidation  of  financial  units.  They  say  it  is  to  get 
State  aid  in  building,  but  they  expect  our  new  local 
district  to  help  out  also.  No;  make  such  changes  in 
the  present  law  as  will  correct  some  of  the  objection¬ 
able  features,  leave  the  control  of  local  rural  schools  in 
the  hands  of  the  farmer  folks  until  they  wish  to  turn 
them  over  to  someone  else,  and  equalize  taxation  while 
increasing  local  control  instead  of  defeating  it. 
There  is  good  in  the  report  of  the  committee.  They 
have  done  a  big  lot  of  work  in  making  up  the  report 
and  they  have  information  that  is  not  included  in  the 
report  that  is  worth  while.  Meanwhile,  do  not  let  us 
accept  the  theory  that  our  rural  schools  are  bad.  The 
fine  scholars  that  commence  in  them  and  the  sturdy 
products  of  these  schools  refute  the  charges  made 
against  them.  Give  them  the  credit  that  belongs  to 
them,  and  give  them  encouragement  instead  of  rebuke. 
We  ask  for  bread  and  they  give  us  stones,  and  hurl* 
them  at  that.  Schools  are  not  all  that  could  be  desired. 
That  applies  to  some  besides  the  rural  schools.  I  fancy 
that  we  have  as  much  real  criticism  from  real  educators 
on  the  greater  schools  as  on  the  one-room  country 
school.  That  school  is  not  to  my  liking  in  many  re¬ 
spects,  nor  to  yours,  but  let  us  not  make  conditions 
worse  than  at  present  at  any  rate.  h.  h.  lyon. 
90  Days  for  Chicken  Thieves 
Some  time  ago  I  told  how  the  Plymouth  County 
Poultry  Association  had  been  formed  and  how  one  re¬ 
sult  of  its  activities  was  the  six  months’  sentence  to  the 
house  of  correction  of  one  thief  caught.  The  thief  plead¬ 
ed  guilty  in  the  district  court,  but  appealed  the  sen¬ 
tence  of  six  months  and  gave  bond  for  $500.  The  offi¬ 
cers  managed  to  advertise  the  sentence  so  that  it  ap¬ 
peared  as  a  news  item  in  some  of  the  large  daily  papers 
and  in  all  of  the  local.  In  one  town  where  the  stealing 
was  just  beginning  again  it  suddenly  ceased,  due  we 
think,  to  the  six  months’  sentence. 
The  case  came  up  in  the  superior  court  a  few  days 
ago  for  final  disposition.  The  lawyer  for  the  thief 
claimed  that  the  thief  was  under  the  influence  of  liquor 
and  in  a  drinking  bout  with  four  others  stole  the  poul¬ 
try.  Both  sides  acknowledged  that  the  thief  had  been 
drinking.  The  judge  evidently  thought  that  it  was  a 
part  of  a  drinking  bout,  and  reduced  the  sentence  to 
three  months,  where  the  thief  is  now  enjoying  the  hos¬ 
pitality  of  the  county.  The  officers  and  members  pres¬ 
ent  went  into  half  mourning.  The  result  seemed  disap¬ 
pointing. 
A  few  days  later,  however,  the  matter  appeared  in  a 
new  light,  when  another  hen  thief  (the  first  theft  to 
come  to  our  notice  since  the  first  sentence  was  broad¬ 
cast)  was  before  the  district  court  on  a  similar  charge. 
The  judge  promptly  imposed  a  sentence  of  three  months 
in  the  house  of  correction,  which  was  not  appealed. 
The  light-fingered  gentry  with  predilections  for  poultry 
seem  to  have  it  well  in  mind  that  the  three  months’ 
sentence  is  standard.  It  used  to  be  a  few  dollars’  fine, 
which  the  thief  could  pay  with  another  stolen  lot  of 
poultry. 
A  review  of  the  method  may  not  be  out  of  place ;  first 
an  association  with  sufficient  funds  and  members  to  car¬ 
ry  needed  overhead  expense ;  then  a  good  representative 
in  each  town  to  whom  the  police  may  go  for  help ;  then 
a  good  lawyer  at  the  trial  and  wide  advertising  of  the 
sentence ;  at  all  times  back  the  local  police.  Chief 
Russel  told  a  friend,  “I  never  had  a  bunch  of  men  back 
me  up  as  those  fellows  did.”  E.  H.  castle. 
Massachusetts. 
