The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-07-10
BRIGHT IDEAS OF
MONTANA EDITORS
Hurts the Market.

FOR reasons easily to be understood the
men who are acting as buyers on the 10
cal wool market are averse to having the
prices they pay for the staple made pub
lie. 1t is to their interest to keep those
who have wool to sell as much as posi-
Die IN ignorance as to the ruling rates,
Tor upon the ignorance depends their
aDlllty to pick up clips at rates much less
than their actual values warrant. But
why the men who have the wool to sell
should be willing to become parties to the
arrangement is not SO easily understood,
as they have nothing to gain thereby.
On the contrary, they help the buyers in
depressing the market by keeping back
information that may be of benefit to
those who have not yet disposed of their
clips. The wool market is supposed to
be open and ruling prices are supposed to
be matter of public information and in
terest, but instead the market as con-
Quoted here and at other places in the
state is yelled by the same secrecy as
the doings of some secret fraternal or
ganization. Clips are sold and transfers
are made and if the seeker after infor-
nation makes inquiry he is met by the
answer, terms private" Why it should
be necessary to do business in this man-
ner is not plain to those on the outside
Inc ones responsible for this condition
are the buyers, who are shrewd enough
to realize the benefit secrecy often is
to them.
Were the sellers to look at the ques-
ton in the same selfish manner as do the
buyers they would not consent to any
such arrangement. A man coming frtm
long distance with his clip is not sup
posed to know the market prices and
with his neighbors who may have dispos-
ed of theirs sworn to secrecy he is I'M
| able to gain an idea as to what he should
receive for his product and Of necessity
! must take the word of the buyer. The
| latter as events Of the past few days SO
| to show, do not practice the same secrecy
| among themselves. The opposite seems
| to be the fact. While there are probably
| more than a dozen Of them on the mar
| ket, competition appears to have been
| eliminated as one of the factors govern
ing the market. Instances occurred dur
ing the past week where large clips were
offered, yet. despite the many buyers who
| are supposed to be on the market bids
| were limited to two or three and the diff
| ference between them was so little as tt
| almost warrant the belief which obtains
among some growers that a pool had
been formed. For this condition Of at
tairs the growers are, in a large meas
ure, responsible. By consenting to sell
terms private" the buyers have every.
thing pretty much their own way and
| prices will be kept down below a scale
that would rule We're the business of buy.
ing done openly and above board. Some
of the growers have learned this and
refuse to be bound by any pledges the
buyers may wish to impose and do no
hesitate TO informm the public through
the newspapers as to the prices they OBJ
tanned. They realize that to give tn
matter publicity is to benefit the marke
by informing those who may not We
have sold and thus enable them to form
by comparison an opinion as to the val
ue of their own c.ips.-Billings Gazette.