EASTERN STATES 
Gui 
26 

Tuts MAGAZINE is published monthly 
by the Eastern States Farmers’ Ex- 
change, headquarters: West Spring- 
field, Mass. It is distributed free to 
members of this cooperative purchas- 
ing association. The purpose of the 
Eastern States Cooperator is to keep 
members informed about the progress 
of their organization — to help make 
better farming easier to accomplish 
by having up-to-date information 
available regularly. For anyone liv- 
ing outside Eastern States territory 
and those within the territory but 
not able to participate in the asso- 
ciation’s purchasing program, there 
is a subscription price of $1.00 a year. 
There are 100,000 members and 
patrons in the Eastern States Farm- 
ers’ Exchange located in New Eng- 
land, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and 
Maryland. The members are the 
owners of the Exchange, which 
serves as the purchasing department 
of their farms. They control its op- 
eration through their annual meet- 
ing which every member has the 
right to attend. Each member has 
one vote. 
Members elect the Exchange’s 
board of directors at the annual 
meeting. Through its executive com- 
mittee, the board of directors carries 
out its reponsibilities to the mem- 
bership. The management, respon- 
sible to the executive committee, 
selects and purchases the commodi- 
ties handled by the association. 
Eastern States commodities are 
processed in the Exchange’s own 
plants — shipped in carloads — 
usually delivered to members from 
the car door — and paid for on a 
cash basis; factors that enable the 
Exchange’s local representatives to 
serve 1000 communities economi- 
cally. , 
~ 
Vol. 21 7 

No. 1 



$1600 AN ACRE 
A vecerrasLe gat- 
den not only furnishes a family with a 
continuous supply of fresh vegetables 
and supplies a surplus for canning or 
storing for the winter months, but it is 
also a source of knowledge, happiness 
and security. 
At retail prices, a variety of vege- 
tables can become the equivalent ‘of a’ 
crop worth as much as $1600 an acre. 
A family with a variety of fresh 
vegetables on hand eats more, enjoys 
them more and does not have to shop 
around, especially when prices are high. 
Fresh vegetables supply the family 
with the highest quality in food value. 
Many vegetables may be served from 
the home garden that are not com- 
monly found on the market. 
A family’s problems in caring for a 
garden are mutual. When any group 
speaks a common language they are 
happier. They understand and practice 
cooperation in one more phase of life. 
HOME TALENT 
One tHe that 
can't be escaped in a cooperative is the 
fact that the cooperative is just what 
the members make it. So often, how- 
ever, members expect to get out of their 
association something they never put 
into it. 
The Elwood Bicknells of Oxford, 
Pennsylvania, are the kind who put a 
lot in their cooperative . . . and en- 
courage neighbors to do so, too. He’s 
the local Eastern States representative. 
One evening the Bicknells fixed up a 
buffet supper and invited six couples 
who farm in their neighborhood to join 
them for a pow-wow on Eastern States 
affairs. 
In the Bicknell living room the folks 
sat around ina big circle and took turns 
reading and discussing the topics in the 
little booklet, “‘A Story of Organized 
Thrift.’’ They were all Eastern States 
members before this little get-together 
— but after it they were much better 
informed about their cooperative. You 
could properly say they were “‘better’’ 
members after this meeting. 
Wherever Eastern States members 
take it upon themselves to develop bet- 
ter understanding of their cooperative’s 
affairs, there you will find members 
who are bound to get more good out 
of their organization. They’re doing 
things to make Eastern States better. 
TAXES, TAXES 
‘Tus story that co- 
Operatives now have a special legal 
privilege in escaping income taxes can 
be answered very bluntly. 
So does every business! 
There’s nothing “‘special’’ or “‘priv- 
ileged’’ about it. If any business man 
or corporation wants to forego paying 
income tax, the way to do it is simple 
—just share among all the customers 
all the money left over after paying the 
operating costs of the business. That's 
what cooperatives do — and there’s no 
law that says other businesses can’t do 
likewise. 
And if they did, they’d have no 
profit income to be taxed. Every busi- 
ness — cooperative or otherwise — 
has the same status before the law to- 
day insofar as taxing income profits is 
concerned. 
The reason businesses other than 
cooperatives do not flock to this priv- 
ilege is obvious. People own a profit 
business to make profits in dealings 
with other people who do not own this 
business. People own cooperatives to 
serve themselves and they can’t make 
a profit dealing with themselves. 
What the law says is that if farmers 
Operate a true cooperative i#t will be 
non-profit. 
Anybody’s business, if truly non- 
profit, is not paying income taxes. 
, Let’s help folks keep these points 
straight. 
PUBLIC RELATIONS 
Every member of 
Eastern States can help strengthen this 
cooperative service by appointing all 
members of the family along with him- 
self on the “‘Eastern States local com- 
mittee for public relations.’’ Every 
member of a farm cooperative should 
