V 1 1 . 4 ,J v S ''v ! - J . 1 t , t - - ! Y rJui MbJt (5 CJ Holaiiie Met Margies ITaabe Potron-Members' (over) 54.000 Volume of Business during past Xlscal Year by Class: Elate Offlee with Distributors and Affiliated. Warehouses ALUkrted Warehouses and Departments with Patrons . . . . local Marketing by Warehouses ........ ITit Margins (receipts less expenses before i patronage dividends or interest on stock ;i paid) Tclci el Patronage Refunds paid Elrlimd paid on Stock .................... Ulvlde4 Margins eeeeeeee .$6,447,291.00 7.455.384.31 U88.974.08 352.443.54 301.833.20 45.581.33 5.029.01 i i ! ...... r.jf v- r ; rr? n i ipi i I - I : l I l f l l . m-m . BuSI I t 1 I I k. 4 7 : U .--hi I. I .L''& I 1 ' I V W J .r ' p 1 ' 1 I 1 f f f 1 : I I -I ,: t I : t I . I n. v 1 I J LJLJ UU U U U i 1 , i V V-rf' LJLJ ?--:t"?.-'';-:-r?ri rn'7; r3 1 7 - YEAR ENDING. JUNE 30. 1946 :':;-.Th taxes listed in, ,He chart to the rVi nr',i the taxes paid hy .the.;vj Farnlers Cooperative Exchange in lsG. , 1 1. ' ere-paid on, the-same.', j ' basis as any other business firm in North CaoJina. t ,;i.-?.!'.Had the Fanners Cooperative Exchange been required to ; operate under the same rule as ordinary commercial coroorations. it would have 1 ' paid, in addition to the taxes listed on right, a franchise ; tax of $1.75 pert $1,000 on its capital stock of $1,964,165.70 or $3,437.28 instead of the $270 If paid as license tax in lieu of the franchise tax, or a total of $3,167.28 more I than It paid. AlscirWuld have paid a 6 income tax on savings of $45,581.33 that was distributed as dividends on capital stock and. on un-. divided margins of $5,029.01. The total tax on these would have amount-" ed to $3,036.62. The total amount of additional taxes; the Farmers Cooperative Ex-; change would have been required to pav in 1946, under the rule applied , to regular commercial corporations, wi'M hve amounted to only $6,203.90. . We hereby certify that toe were employed by the Board ' of Directors to audit the books and accounts o the Farm . ers Cooperative Exchange lor the year ending June 30r '948, and that the above statements regarding, volume '' margin and taxes are true.' v A. T. Men & Company '.. ' Certified Public Accountants ' - mm mm .Sales Tax ..... .;-;V I , ..V.. r.... U19.205.3 4.573.C2 11,810.7: W37X7 ii4i.it ,ri.8S7.:3 153X3 ; i Old Age Tax (Jnemployxnent -tcity Tax ............;.....v........i....; Countr ,Tax,;; ifi yi, .4i Intangible .Tax .... ', License Jax la.liea Franchise Tax Truck' Ucense ..r. . .;.... ..... Chick Dealer . , . . ,.....;.; City License and permits f Seed Dealer . .'. .... .. . . . . . . TOTAL WHIM if.' wmAw-n -tfieiie. mmAummiE? Statements have been made by representatives of the North Carolina: Mer-" -. , quired of ordinary commercial corporations, it would have paid $3,203.00 la gjidi- more tax, it is obvious that it is not the amount cf taxes 1 " chants Association, inferring that farmer cooperatives were great octopuses reach-" j v Mional. taxes, " lng out to grab everything and giving nathing'in.freturn. .In fact; they have.cre f ; . - With only $6,203.90 .Ts zr: s ; I -- t:-- J 1 l . Tj. t 1 1 r i . i .l-.J iL.l .1 ll cted an impression that farmer cooperatives do not pay taxes. It has also been ' contended that the State ot Worth Carolina was losing millions ot dollars m. ' revenue ana that the fanner was not carrying his end of the tax burden. f The Farmers Cooperative Exchange offers the certified statement of a repu diable accounting firm, which: stated above that in t.he fiscal year ending June 30, 1946, the Farmers Cooperative Exchange, owned by the farmers ioU North ' Carolina and operating under the Cooperative Law, paid $62,163.51 in taxes on exactly the same basis as any other business in the State. Had it been required to pay the State income tax and franchise tax as re- involved that many of the merchants are fighting, but the farmers and their rights to own and operate their own cooperatives in order that they may better their eca-. v nomic condition, enjoy a higher standard of living, and farm in a competitive M world. ;; . H t". ZXtBJ1? Farmers of North Carolina have always paid their share of taxes. They bad 4o list ev$ryk mule, every plow, and everything else they owned because those- things were tangible. That has not always been true with other croups. y-: Many merchants in the state own farms -and farm in direct competition wit) , 'the farmers, who depend 100 on farming for a living, yet they frown upon thr' : y idea of the farmer organizing his own business in competition with the merchani. . I7hnt is the real! issue? Is it laiies or s it the gonner's right to organize his onn linninss .i,w(Mifiy,,wtlfiM..to) tWmVfay The Warmers (Cojpeiaime JEhascge , JSVajs QirWmimna9 It was not by choice or chance that the farmers o! North Carolina organized their own business they were forced to in order to exist. For 66 years, they tilled the soil producing food end fiber for their fellowman, waiting and. hoping for Lelp and advice that never came. Finally, after years of waiting and hoping, they trere forced to provide help for themselves. - Hdrdly had the farmer recovered from the depres sion of the early twenties, his fourth. since the Civil War, before the depression of 1932 was at hand. Dur ing that year. North Carolina's 1,600,000 farm people vera forced to accept conditions that will never be forgotten. Cash farm income sank to an average of 13 cents per day per capita and an average farm fszlly of five had but a total of 90 cents per day to rsvlde clothing,' medical care, hospitalization, and 3 nsct religious, educational and social obligations, -crllcally every farm market was glutted. ITanT merchants, who up; until that time had. :n the Tanner's chief counsel and adviser, failed to . n I.i3 the gap and help the farmer. T.I Ills point the farmers of the State began to . :"i frfl them and take stock. They found out that from 1925 to 1932 the. average per capita cash. income had been only 38 cents per day and that over 50 per cent of the State's 332,000 farm homes had depreciated to the extent that they had a value of less than50t) each. ' It was because of these deplorable conditions that agricultural leaders ' decided something ' had to be idone. North Carolina's farm T economy had"? broken s , apart. - The farm markets were glutted and the farmer's ' ' purchasing power was getting smaller by the year. In most cases, many merchants, who had proven such staunch friends in the better days when the farmer had money to spend, turned their back on the farmer "' once his money or farm was gone. They had made little or no effort to help the farmer develop a market, . but rather.-expected the farmer to sell en a glutted , market during the fall months for whatever price he could get. - - ' , - , - ' - . The Farmers Cooperative Exchange was organ ' ized in 1934. Its first investment was in a modern seed. . , and grain cleaning plant to aid the farmers in pro - ducing more seed and grain. The second move, was a fertilizer factory to assist ' the farmers in taking advantage of the information" and research lata given out by the State Agricultural College and North .Carolina Test Farms. : ' The third step was to build a feed mill to provide. - a market for the farmer's grain and manufacture their ' own feeds by formulas recommended by the State's .: ; Agricultural College. It should also be pointed out . that prior to this time they had no way to take ad vantage of the research and information and experi mental work of the College" and the Department of " -Agriculture. - - - ' ; ; Since that'da" fr Farmers Cooperative Exchange i has provided numerous marketing i services for its L- owner-members. ; In eggs alone,', it has .saved the 1 , farmers thovn of dollars and in grain and seed, furnished the farmer a year-round market. ; Today, North Carolina farmers, through their cm I oraanlzation and with the help of North Carolina Ctcia College. and the North Carolina Department of Agrlr culture, are rapidly turning North Carolina Into a balanced agricultural State, which is the only hep j for the future security of our economy. , The only way to make farming a profitable busi ness is to lower cost of production and to merle t 1 1 such a way as to give farmers their share cf tl.3 c - - sumer dollar-r-thls is what farmers axs dcizj C:z l their own cooperatives. ' -Make Agriculture a profitable way c! LT cr.l eur whole economy will be safe. - i.