The record-union., 1895-11-18
PRODUCER AND CONSUMER.
Plan by Which They Can be Brought
together.
William IT. Mills Adyocntes the Es-
tablishment of 81 Free Market
In san Francisco.

| The following interview with Will
lam H. Mills published in the San
Francisco Call, will be read with in
| terest by producers all over the State:
IF it were to cost the city of San
Francisco 81 ,000,00 to establish free
market within its limits the invest
ment would be the best one it could
make to-day"
In these enthusiastic words w. II.
Mills embodied an idea which he
claimed would be one of the greatest
benefits ever created for both the pro-
ducers and consumers of the State
Then to make clear his idea in its full
development he went on to say;
Take potatoes at 20 cents a sack !;
that means $1O0 an acre, for an acre
will easily produce 200 sacks. Yet
who ever heard of the producer get
ting anything like that figure? It is
not & question of freight, either, be-
cause they are mostly brought here
! by boat, while the railroad rate on po-
tatoes are merely nominal The tables
of the residents Of San Francisco are
supplied with grapes at the rate of
! SltO 10 S2OQ a ton; and take such things
as watermelons and muskmelons, for
! which you pay 10 cents a helping at a
| restaurant. and you are paying at the
| rate Of S2G0 an acre, while the producer
/ a amount
! his share.
The producers say they are not rails
! ing anything that pays them, while
! the consumer pays a tremendous price
| Now the difference between what the
! producer gets and what the consumer
! pays is the cost Of marketing.
The free-market system would cor
/ rect this, not wholly, but in SO great a
measure as to make the institution
] .r-v- = !, n al ba
! ciple cities OF Europe they have free
markets. There are market-places
/ where the producer takes his merchan-
disc and sells it himself There should
3e such a market established in this
! city. under the direction of a market
master. All produce should be classi-
! fed-fruit in one section. dairy pro-
! ducts in another, and so on.
There would be nothing to prevent a
! neighborhood from organizing a Coop
/ crative system. For instance the people
! Of locality. say of the islands in the
/ Secra mento River. or Of the valleys
near san Francisco. could organize and
act in cooperation. They could have a
representative TO take charge of their
! c0nsignments. who would have a place
/ in The market assigned to them. Under
/ these circumstances the purchaser
1 would be the consumer and he would
I pay less and the producer get consid-
! cradle more than is the case under ex-
/ fstine conditions.
The prices paid for all family stores
! bears such g disproportion to the price
! obtained by the producer as TO clearly
! indicate the need of systematic effort 10
/ bring the producer and consumer to-
! gcther 1t does not matter that your
market must be q big structure. Its
/ proposed magnitude only proclaims its
necessity.
TO sum the matter up. II is propo-
sition for the city. Its citizens should
be afforded the opportunity OF buying
from the producer as directly as possi-
Die It would make little difference
what the project would cost. for every
. individual would be benefited.
san Francisco is already one of The
cheapest places 10 live In in the world
according to so high an authority as
James Anthony Froude, who asserted
I this fact in his work Oceana.' When IN
/ this city on his tour around the world
J he went into the markets of San Fran
! cisco and compared prices with those
existing in other large cities, and In
general found them much IN our favor
/ with the successful operation of a free
market living viii be even cheaper. and
/ the farmer will also be much better of
The city could well undertake to
+ build the market, even If IT cost 81 ,0D0.-
600 FOR the site and structure The
/ license or fee charged for the use OF
stalls would suffice not only TO pay fc"
/ the maintenance of the establishment
/ but would be a source of revenue to the
/ city and could be made to return a fair
! income on the investment without i'm
posing any hardship on the city's
! tenants"