Daily Republican., 1890-04-15

VtlcDs euQ winch IeImeHB e0Oul0
understand, 10 the combination Of car
riefs and middle men who absorb q
large share Of farm products. This Is
. question 10 which statistician Dodge
hes paid considerable attention In his
March report. He finds that bceves
are sold by growers tor seven tenths
10 three f0urths OF the prices OF few
years ago, and the meat is sold to con-
eumers In the retail market at little,
II any. reduction from the highest
prices of the last twenty years. For
instance, prime rib roasts have been
sold for 20 cents per pound and sirloin
steak for about the same. The meat
that 10 bought at 90. so to 81 per hun.
drsd, live weight, 10 sold TO consumers
d practically the same prices as that
which cost $3.50 10 e5 90; rarely 10
there difference made in the selling
prices OF cuts from different qualities.
Thousands Of poor people who do not
know the difference between good and
poor quality are most usually imposed
upon.
The work OF the mIddlemen In mar.
ket 10 the more distinctly shown in the
traffic Of meats, vegetables and fruits.
Milk 10 bought from farms for the sup.
ply Of New York city for less than
Tires cents per quart. and sold TO con.
suners Tor eight cents. The hucksters
Of city markets often got rs much for
handling . product, in q single day, 10
The grower obtained for producing Il
during whole seasons growth. The
contrast between the price OF fruit on
The farm and in city market is q sug.
gestion OF greed and extorlion. In
many markets the prices of variable
products are fixed for the day at early
dawn, not with reference to their cost
but In view OF their comparative guam
Cty, to squeeze from the buyer the last
cent that his patience will endure
without declining q purchase. The
poor are robbed still farther when
commodity costs 25 cente-a peck by q
charge oil Is cents for a half peck,
which is clear penalty of 30 per cent.
Tor buying 10 small quantities. The
trouble of the producers aud the con-
Sumers alike are with the middlemen,
who stand by ,he wayside of trade and
like . highwaymsn demand tribute
upon what the farmers raise. Corners
in trade have become the order of the
tay, and how to break them up 10
something which is puzzling the minds
Of legislators.
All cities are filed with these mid
dlemen or g0-betweens who in every
sense are our best citizens, but they
combine to fix the prices they pay for
goods and set up daily the rate de-
mandcd Tor the same. Free compet.
zion should reduce this share of the
middleman to q minimum il il were
not for the inducement and opporlu
nifty to combine formally or informally
70 control prices Of products and costs
Of vending.
Often the share demanded smounts
10 corfiscution OF the g,owers prof,
and the number oil statesmen is 50 in :.
creased that they complain that they
cannot make living The great
trouble seems TO be that there are too
many OF these middlemen nonpro-
ducers who absorb the products OF the
farm In the distribution 10 the con
sumner. A way apparently out OF this
difficulty would appear 10 be in a com
bination Of farmers 10 sell their own
produce and manufacture their own
-four. The days oil the gris! mill
seem To have been Numbered and the
merchant mill stands between the
farmer and the consumers. Some
thing should be done, says stat,stician
Dodge, 10 reduce the humber ant
,a 1aodiiy the greed of long line O
|. e,rrecches that are isttening on the in
.pslry oil the country, who neithe
on the farms nor spin in the lac
ps, and yet they are absorbing til,
4lth OF the country by combination
ahout conscience and service with
ut equity, while the producers ar,
rclegaied 10 the rear and lett 10 enlo,
their pittancc as they may.