The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-10-06
WHATDRUMMERS COST.
The Enormous Sums Spent Annually by the
Army of Travelling Statesmen.

The Enormous Sums Spent Annually by the
Army of Travelling Statesmen.
1.-THE money used in single year to foot
the salary and expense bills of the travel
ing statesmen of the United States would
pay of the entire national debt and leave
few dollars over"
This rather startling statement was made
by Junior member of one of the large dry
goods houses of Philadelphia, who has
force of about fifty travellers under his i'm
mediate charge. AS proof of his assertion
he presented these particulars: '"There is
hardly wholesale, iobbing or commission
house in any line of business in the United
States that does not have at least single
representative; and from one lone man the
force ranges up as high as l25 or $50 men,
and there may be one or two houses with
even more. The average of the most re-
liable estimates places the total number Of
commercial tourists in this country at
$50, coo, and, mind you, this does not mean
peddlers, but only those who sell goods at
wholesale.
The railroad fares, charges for carrying
sample baggage by freight or express,
hotel bills and numerous incidental travel
ing expenses of these men will range be-
tween 81 and s12 per day, but some men
will spend S25 in a single day for these pur-
poses without resorting to any extrava-
gance. Take, for instance, some of the
carpet, clothing or fancy goods men who
carry ten or fifteen trunks full of samples
| take a packer with them. and hire hotel
parlor to display their goods whenever
| they open their trunks. But the number
of these men is comparatively small, and
So day will fairly represent the average
expenses of the 100000 men. There you
have 81 500, 600 per day for expenses alone.
Multiply this by 1865 and you have S547, 800,
600 as the amount expended in one year.
The item of salaries is nearly as large.
| Few men are paid less than 5000 year.
The largest number receive between
81 500 and g, 500, either in salaries or com
missions. A less number are paid from
g., 600 to S5,000-those receiving the latter
amount being comparatively few. But
there are travelling statesmen who are al
ways in demand at $4,000 to sic, 600 year,
but they are few and far between. The
lower salaried men predominant, as might
be supposed, and an average of 81 500 per
year is not far out of the way. Figuring
go, 600 men at an average salary OF 81 500
per wear gives total of $50, 1000 0O0, ac-
cording to my arithmetic. To this add
s547, 500, 600 for expenses, and you have
1897, SOC, COO for these two items
But there are other items to be charged
against the salesmen's accounts. 1t is i'm
possible to give an accurate estimate of the
cost of trunks, samples and other requis
ties of the travelling men, but the items, as
we figure them in our store, will give some
thing to judge from. Our fifty men re
quire $50 trunks. costing s. each or 81 200
These men require two sets of samples
yearly-one in the spring and one in the
fall. The cost of these two sets of samples
IS about one thousand per annum. Or this
$50, 900 worth of goods that are required foI
samples every year considerable portion
is lost, while most of it is so soiled anG