Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-05-20
AGRICULTURAL.
MATTER PREPARED SPECIALLY FOR
TEE "REcoRD USIoN"
The Middleman and the Farmer - Tho
sale OF Crops Frost and
Frut-Etc


with the farmer. IN reference to the handling
and disposal of his produce. II there was
some way by which the producer and con-
sumner could be brought face to face. and the
crops Of the former could be exchanged from
the one to the other without unnecessary
cost. it is evident that both would be greatly
benefited. The producers Of agricultural
produces Of necessity are scattered over
broad expanss of country. Their means OF
knowledge as to the demand for their pro
ducts aud the prices they bear IN the markets
is necessarily limited. Their time Ard ene--
gies are required in the details Of production
and preparation for market Of the several
crops they raise. The consumers # these
products. on the other hand, 10 great extent,
reside in the cities and are themselves in
turn quite generally producers of goods,
wares and uerch5rdise Of whiea ths farmers
are consumers. It is evident that the
farmer in distant part Of the county and
the manufacturer in the city cannot make it
convenient TO meet together and make direct
exchange Of goods and products. The dis
lance is too great between them. and the ex-
pense Of travel is too great To warrant such
msstiug and exchange for the amount Of
business to be transacted between then.
What is true SIS between individual farmers
aud manufacturers is also true as between
al the individual farmers and manufacturers
in the country, and the individuals make up
the communities. The communities Of the
81. -l,.s
of agricultural products which the communi
ties in the towns and cities stand in need of
and so, on the other hand, the communities in
the towns and cities are constantly producing
a surplus Of manufactured articles which the
communities Of the country are constantly
ia need of. As it is inconvebiens for producers
and consumers 70 meet face to face and per-
s)nally make exchange OF their goods, 50 it
is announcement for them to send their own
conveyances and special agents to transact
their business fer them. 0ut OF these wants
and necessities and ont Of these mutual incon-
veIiences Of meeting personally or by special
agents arose a system Of conveying goods from
point TO point, called tran p0ltatl0D. 10 new
countries th5 means OF transportation ar3 OF
a primitive character on wagons, stages, |
etc, on land. aud h>tboats, scows, etc, on /
water. As countries grow older and become |
more thickly populated, and business in |
creases, the necessities of trans pOrtation 10 |
crease, and these necessities call into existence
new and more cOmmodious snd more eXpedl- |
Il Jus means of transportation, and we have /
steamboats, On water and railroads on land. /
Out Of the same state OF affairs has also |
grown a new business having for its object |
tie facilitating Of exchange of gooos SIS be- |
tween different parts IF the country and be- /
tween different individuals living near each |
ohsr, either 10 the city or country. The t
general name Of this exchange Of goods and /
products, or tae general term used to desig- |
nate it, Is commerce. The term commerce, !
however embraces both the transportation |
and exchange Of the goods and products /
Those who attend to the exchange Of the |
goods snd products, as between the growers
and manufacturers, for a consideration,
becoming t5e mutual sgeuts of
each, are properly middls-meu. Thsse
middle-men or general agents are divided
into several classes, snd have received differ
ent names or GppeltGti0ns, according TO their /
modes q doing business. The merchant is |
one who buys and sells goods, wares and pro- |
ducts and makes his profits out of the ad- /
vance on prices for which he sells taem, over /
and above cost on purchasing prices, with in-
cideutal expenses added. TIE success OF the |
legitimate merchant depends upon his thor
Uu&u kilOWttONe q supply &Lu h-LlAhtt anu |
his skill to bIiTg the producer and consumer |
together at the least cost, and upon his ability |
TO secure snd transact large amount VI |
of business. The business Of the wholesale !
merchant nay extend to every country in
which the articles, or any OF them in which !
be deals, are produced or are 20 be found
He buys at the lowest prices he can get goods
for and sells them at the highest prices he
can sell them for. His profits are his own,
and hia husis,azs ia boDprah ln and legitimate
SO long as he resorts to no unfair means and
makes no untrue representations to reduce
purchasing prices or TO advance selling
priees-does not misrepressnt the character
of the goods he deals IN. OF such merchants
and such merchandising Graugers and Iaanu.
facturers have no reason to and do not con-
plain.
Merchandising, carried on in this open and
honorable manner, whether by the wholesale
or retail merchant is OF great benefit to
country and to all classes of producers and
consumers. But when merchants combine to
misrepresent the state of the supply and de-
mand by the publication of false reports Of
crops or false reports OF prices. or to buy up
specific articles and produce a corner, or Ia
any other way create fictitious con
dition of trace, to cheat the people
or the one hand or the consumer on the
other, and thus secure TO themselves illegiti-
mate aud exorbitant profits at the expense OF
any class Of the coEInunity-thsn this style
of operation ceases to be legitimate mer-
chRndisipg, and those who engage 10 it
become amenahle to tie charge of obtaining
money under false pretsuses, and should be
held up to the scorn Of the community and
punished under the laws to prohibit frauds.
Such merchandising is in plain terms public
robbery. and IN its eff cts upon the commu-
nifty, both financially and morally, is more
detrimental than the forced contributions of
the highwayman. There is another class Of
merchants or middlemen who do not propose
to employ their own capital by investment in
goods but by their advertisements and other
wiss place themselves before the public as
strictly lniddlemen protesting simply TO act
as the confidential business agent of whoever
may seek their services or trust business to
their management. For these services these
middlemen generally charge a fee or commits
sion on the business transacted, as cOmpensa-
ton. They are termed commission mer-
chants. When this class of merchants live
strictly up to their professions, receive, store
and sell goods, or accept orders and buy
goods getting the best prices they eau for
goods sold in the best market they can find,
or buying fer the least price they can in the
lowest market. and transact their bust
ness in an open, straight forward, hon
est manner, and charge only the con-
mission agreed upon or the ruling
commission where the business is transacted,
then this form of merchandising is of great
benefit to the indiyiiu4ls who desire to have
their business transacted in this manner, and
TO the community aad the country. When,
however, these ostensibe commission merch-
ants betray the confidence of their principals
BY charges for alleged services in care and
transportation of goods never performed,
when they report higher prices paid for goods
purchased than they really paid, or report
lower prices for goods sold than they really
received, or when, having goods in their
possession, to sell they connive
and plot with others in the same business. or
secret partners, to depreciate prices with a
view to securing to themselves greater profits
than their legitimate commission on the
goods, honestly handled and sold, pays them,