Ashland weekly tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1919-1924, 1922-02-15

directors appear TO nave overlooked
and which reads as follows;
"If al the end Of any season ther
shall remain a surplus over an
above the expenses and losses, sue
surplus or so much thereof as tn
board Of directors may deem expedi
ent, shall be distributed among tn
stockholders as follows: 1st, not t,
exceed a ten per cent dividend ol
the capital stock of the association
and the residue, if any, proportionet
among the shippers of that season
in proportion to the net amount o
the receipts of the respective stock
holders for such season."
The 10 per cent dividend has beer
paid, but this absorbed only one
twenty-fifth part of the large surplus
IN hand at the close Of 1921. What
d. be directors propose to do with
.5 H- 4.U. Lnder this bylaw they
- 80 .A.raliy obliged 10 make
one sort OF a distribution, particu-
....ly when it is remembered that
lis surplus represents the fruit
0. ors own heard-earned dollars,
aided over to the association in
..., .orm OF excessive profits on ma
ter al (three times what they used
to be) and in the case of the late
apl les, a charge for handling the
fruit that can only be described as
exCrbitant. One very Objectionable
fea .ure about these large surpluses
is that they encourage extravaganza.
1t is so easy to be generous with
other peoples money. For instance,
we have the manager, at the last
general meeting, suggesting that the
directors receive fee of three dol
lars per attendance, thus adding an
extra and quite unnecessary burden
of $500 to the annual expenses, and
the directors in their turn, re-engag-
ing the manager at his war time sal
ary (nearly double his pre-war SAL
ary) and providing him with an ex-
pensive assistant with salary rs per
cent greater than the manager him
self received before the war, thus
starting the association on Its 1922
career with a greater overhead ex-
pense than at any previous time;
and all of this in face Of the fact
that the war time prosperity, which
was the cause Of the big increase in
salaries, is forever at an end, and we
are entering on period Of trade de-
preston, the magnitude and dura.
tion Of which no man can forsee, but
of which we may be sure the fruit.
grower will get his share.
The founders of the association
evidently intended 1t to be q strictly
cooperative concern, laying down
bylaws regulating the percentage OF
profit to be made on material and
merchandise sold to the growers and
providing, as above stated, for a
sharing Of the profits among the
shippers. The present tendency to
ignore the bylaws and to convert the
association into a mere profit-mak-
ing machine is to be deplored, and
must inevitably lead, in the writer's
opinion, to a disruption similar to
the one six years ago, when the pol
Icy Of the board failed to satisfy the
members of the association.
The association exists for two pur-
poses; First, to obtain better prices
for produce than the producer can
get by shipping direct, and, second,
to furnish members with box mater
ial and merchandise at a cheaper
rate than he can get elsewhere. The
.ees O. failure OF the association
will ultimately be judged solely by
its doing or not doing these two
things. Surpluses, however large,
will not count, unless distributed,
except to make the grower feel that
he has not had a square deal.
l would like to add a suggestion,
II am not trespassing too much on
your space The net worth Of the
association is now $4,000, that is
12a times the value of the original
stock. Why not issue more stock and
install a small cannery to use up
the surplus fruit? BY surplus fruit
| do not man Gull fruit, for a can
merry cannot be operated successfully
on second grade fruit, but It some
times happens, as last year with
blackberries, that there Is a glut Of
particular kind of fruit, which
could be saved by canning.
(cI0padl W VUpNEp