, 1873-08-22
relations Of o[yllizad society toward its various


agroo tl.ot one shall Ito tho Wholesale, md al.
othor tho rotntl busitloHs what tic commission
for aoEng Bhall bo, aid wlnt tho profits of oac.
lhus nenry ovory clasH Of occupation bas a COM
btlation, moro or loBs cens,lrablo, among its
members, to nrrcHt tho FREQ trado Of supply nl,!
dcmant. Ono can scarcely wortlor tlat tho 1nass
OF farnorR believe TINT nil otl,or c1aHsea Of aoc-
Guy aro engaged In managing a vast conspiracy,
having for its solo object tho robbery Of tho un-
happy farmor, with, perhaps, tho intention Of
ultimately reducing linn to tho condition Of a
Hcrf, when ono fluids no Intelligent r man Mr..
Flagg giving countonnnco to prejudice 80 yul-
gar.
All a,1ch talk as this
LEADS AWAY FnoM
any conception. much lass my solution, Of tho
difficulty, Some men do b1Bincus at Wholesale,
and othera at retal not because Of any agreo-
ment or combination betweon them, but bocn,lso
oncli finds place under tho conditions on which
society Ia organized. III other words, tho occ,,-
patton OF tho rotai dealer exists simply because
tho vast majority Of people prefer to
buy their goods from tilno to timo, In
small quantities. rs their neotln or tastos
require instead Of buying them IN largo qnantt-
tics, and storing away for future uso. l pre-
sumo ITO argument il necessary to show Tint
goods may bo hnnalod in wholesale quantities ut
smaller margin OF profit than In retail quanti-
tioa. II, therefore, tho consumer buys his goods
III small quantities, 1t is eithor because ho llas
not tho means to buy in larger quantities, or bo-
cause, having the nsoalls, ho profors to buy III
small quantities. and, Oh the whole, finds it to
his interest," porhaps, to do 10. OF ono thing tho
farmcrs may be assured: Whcnover they got
ready to buy in Wholesale quantities,
THEY CAN nuY AT WHOLESALE pn1cEs;
and thoy will not fluid any combinations OF whole
salers and rotnlcrs ah1o to resist very long tho
argument Of lnrd casl, if tile farmers como pro-
pared with it.
Tho Same argument applies to s'miltlomcn -
of all descriptions, whom 1t il now becoming
popular among tho farmers to denounco as
"robbers, thieves" &c. When a farmer, or
any other person, Hends his produce to bo sold
on commission, llo does 90 becauao this is q
cheaper moshod than for him to go to Il tlistans
market and attond to tho sale IN porBon, aud
not, as lo would now haye us believe,
because tho comlniaBon-,nnn Inns attained
possession OF tho liBhway over which, the pro-
ducer's wareg must travel to tho consumer, and,
from thiR vantagc-ground, lovioa toll upon Tho
unfortunate producer. after tho manner Of
bold Baron Of tho middle ages. Itoften appears,
upon superficial examination tlat many manu-
factnrod articles pass through an unnecessary
number Of hands before reaching the consumer,
and thnt ho pays prico ont Of all proportion to
tito original cost. Yot Il careful! inquiry showB
that every such system In baacd upon
THE EXPERIENCE OF nus1NEss-MEN,
and represents tho growth of TINT experience,
rather than upon u combination orgallizcd for
the purpose Of noccing tho consumer.
It ia open for any dissatisfied person to dcvisc
in $ifSku1 T1nt&r
ioal system and llo will have not ouly earned
Tho gratitude Of llis fellow-mcn, but will also
have laid tho foundation Of lis own fortune.
In any ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS business, the
will teach him what margin of profit ho must
Bocllro III order to mako his business Rucccgg-
ful one; and the experience Of ono man III, in
general, 80 like that OF another, that thor stand
md competition uann!ly compels tho accoptancoe
OF the lowest one by nil
These nro comnonplaccs and it would not
hRvo occurred to mo thHt thore was any neces-
sity of giving uttorance to thens, Ind not seon
evidence Of auch Il lack Of thor apprehension on
tho part Of tho farmers.
1t may tickle tho fancy of aomo people to COM
pare our "railwny-Lords" TO the
nonnEn-lANoSs OF THE FEuDAL AGES.
1!sslmiustsS reviewer, tl,at ' SYr'1 "The u1ted
Statcs il rapidly entering new foudal
ago." in which, nB in former feudal ti1neg
" the chief hold upon the people IL founded
upon tho possession Of tho roads. "-wtlout the
slightest attempt to prove this assumption.
Now, wo nll hive deep and growing respect for
tho proyorbial foreign tourist, who gotta an i'll
sight into onr morals, manners, aud ways Of lifo
together with knowledge OF tic workings Of
car, aB ho whizzes through tho country nt tic
ratio Of 30 mi!os hour, and feela Ills ability
to write, not only MI article for review, but q
book or two about US, whom he gets home
with clild!iko confidence in their superiority to
the results Of our own obHeryations
AB elcmonts Of this so-called s'Kailroatl auos-
ton" it is we'll to remember several things; and
Tirst-That railways rebuilt, not for puyposcs
Of bencvoenco, hut for tho Same reason that a
farmer raises wheat mud corn,--to-Hit: tlat OF
MAK1S0 MONEY.
froo from risk than is TINT OF lie
former; and o, comparison Of the
profits arising from tho two occupationg in INV
given district wll probably show TINT farming il
as romuuneratiTo as railroading.. III q new coan-
try, neither may pay ut first both look to tic
in the lapse of timo, The farmers acroB will in
crease in value. at loast al much as his noigh-
boris railway stock.
Thi'I5;rhat, while tho public welfare do
nandea that tile railways nhn11 lie controlled ton
certain extent by Btatnto-law, 1t il by uo means
eaBy To determine
THE DEdnEE or CONTROL
which may DO jutliciously exercised. There is
orator) beyond which restrictions will l'o u1uffi-
o1iH to thoso who '1so the railways, US we'll as to
those who own tlom.
I preaume that thero are fow farmers, evan,
who will not concede that pretty fair degree OF
business ability mud energy ars required to con-
duct tho AfRira of railway successfully. Now,
the value OF this ability aud energy IL simply ita
narkot,yaluo, rs shown by What railwey-