Omaha daily bee., 1922-05-10
Co-Operativesi in
Nebraska See
Good Trade Year
survey by State Shows Favor.
able Outlook Is General.
ly Taken = Few Are
Negative.

favorable outlook Tor cooperative
enterprises in Nebraska is reporte,
by 1870 such institutions. while ll
take an uniayorable view. This !!
according 10 the survey oi co-opera
iiyes Just completed by the stat,
board OF agriculture and the bureau
OF business research OF the uniyersit,
oi Nebraska.
A business OF $50 .000. 900 was done
by 2sl representative concerns II
1921. The total sales OF lis eleva
tors was 50, 300. .5l. and OF Al COM
hinations OF elevators with Other
lines was Sl0,s07. sos. This indicates
iha, the elevators alone transacted
more than 90 per cent OF the total
volume OF business. -
The total sales oi SO cooperative
stores amounted TO S4.l22,78l, or one
tenth OF the total business OF the
22l companies examined. The aver
age sales OF cooperative lumber
yards were the smallest. S4o,o34,
while stores averaged S7l ,0S2 and the
elevators S2l0,4s9. A warning note
calls attention TO the fact that in 80
stores the ratio OF goods on hand TO
capital was too high. l0l per cent.
forty-three per cent oi the COM
panies have surpluscs despite the
bad season. The number reporting
higher prices to producers through
cooperation is l78; lower prices 70
consumers through cooperation, l37.
Many Dissolve.
OF 250 reporting companies none
started an entirely new business in
1921. but five began by purchasing
the business OF old stock companies
and rcincorporated as co-operativcs.
Forty companies have been in exist
tence since before 1918 and 100 COM
panies have established themselves
in the period l9l3-l92l, inclusive.
showing a steady increase in num-
bers.
More than 20 companies OF CO.
operative nature filed articles Of dis
solution in 1921. Inasmuch as many
companies often do not file dissolu-
ton articles until some months after
quitting business, it is not possible
atives actually did cease business
from failure and other causes in
1921. Il
The companies are engaged in busi-
ness as elevators, stores, creamerieS
and lumber yards; 58.7 per cent of
the principal lines carried on by Z5O
companies being elevator business,
2o.3 per cent being stores, and the
remainder creameries, lumber yards
and miscellaneous lines. 1t is to be
noted that these proportions refer to
type OF business and not to volume
OF sales.
Some Limit Control.
One hundred and thirty-nine, or
6O.4 per cent of the companies, re-
port themselves as practicing all four
of the principles denoting true CO.
operation; while l73 or 75.2 per cent
paw a fixed rate of interest on capital
investment, declare patronage divi-
dends and limit the power OF control
of individual members in the COM
pany either by restricting the amount
of stock owned or its voting power,
or both.
This larger group of companies
therefore carry into effect the three
principles usually spoken Of as es-
sential to cooperation. Sixty-three
companies, or 27.4 per cent, paid
dividends on capital stock in 1921;
and % companies, or l2.6 per cent
declared patronage dividends.
1t is also noted that 22l OF the
$50 companies reporting paid-up
capital Of $4,025,9l1 had volume OF
business amounting to $3o,882,5l2 in
1921. The volume of business for
4S5 companies in 1919 amounted to
Sll2,3oo.06o and in 1920 to $83,Ol4,-
100. The average volume OF busi-
ness per company for these 4Ss COM
panies in 1919 was $3l4,038 and in
1920, $2l6,766, and for 22l companies
reporting in 1921 the average is $780,
463. showing a slight decline III busi-
ness, as would be expected in time
OF industrial depression.
80 Had Notes Outstanding.
According to the returns only lSO
OF the companies had notes OUT
standing January |. 1921, and only
Isl had outstanding notes for bor-
rowed money January !, 1922; The
total amount outstanding at the be-
ginning of the year was $2,567 ,429,
as against $2,333,300 at the end.
Ninety-three companies borrowed
$685.. .27O during the wear. while 1888
companies paid off notes during 1871
amounting to $917,3oo 1t will be
seen that there was a decrease in the
amount Of money borrowed Of $234,
l2o from the beginning to the end
of 1921. A significant fact is that
only SO companies borrowed funds
during the year and 1873 companies
made payments on previous borrow
ings.
One hundred companies report a
surplus in 1921, amounting as total
to $522,777, or an average of $5,2z7,
while II others report a deficit. 1t
was not determined whether the sur
plus accrued in 1921 or represented
merely the accumulations OF more
generally prosperous preceding years.
It is noteworthy in either case that
43 per cent Of these companies were
still able to report a surplus for the
year during which business was de-
pressed throughout the country.
Parole From Prison Asked
hy C,rnv Cnvrfv Rurg1ar