New-York tribune., 1907-06-02
BUTTER FIGHT NOW
JObberS Sag Receivers Control E.r-
change and Fir Prices.

A bitter fight Is going on among the members OF
the New York Mercantile Exchange over the official
quotation In the market price Of butter which the
jobbers say they cannot buy the price quoted on
the market War ia being waged by the jobbers on
side and the receivers the butter cheese and
egg dealers the other
The Jobbers say the exchange Is controlled by the
receivers. and that they fix the market prices and
the exchange a medium to make profit
They further charge that the market is not quoting
what Is really the selling price the Street
This hight. which has been brewing for some time
las resulted In action against the exchange for
permanent injunction 70 restrain it from Issuing
quotations butter. cheese and eggs contrary 10
their selling prices
G. W. Martin & Bro, dealers In butter. eggs and
cheese at No . Harrison street. brought the suit
in cooperation with more than SO per cent OF the
iobbers. The tried before Justice JaycoN
in the Supreme Court IN Kings County two weeks
ago \ decision is now pending.
According TO the jobbers. the market quotation
for butter at present time is "a cents pound
But when they want 10 buy they say they have to
pay the receivers % cents pound The receivers
say they sell it for "a cents. because they
themselves have to buy 1t at premium from the
creanerles at two cents the official market
quotation.
The gradual effect" said one OF the jobbers
Yesterday has been that New York instead 9r
being the chief market OF the East has Iost her
prestige. the out of town trade seeking us re-
qulrements from other markets With the market
underauoted to such n large extent, the jobber In
burtar who supplies the grocer has found him
self compelled To spend a great deal OF time eX-
planning his reason for charging grocers so mUch
In sxcess OF the quotations and the grocer IN turn
haS To spend a great deal OF his time in explaining
To the thrifty housewife why she has TO pay sucH
a large amount above the market. In other "oru@'
the entire result is unrest and continual strlte
There is one other large result that is OF more
vital interest TO those engaged in the butter bust
ness than all the other things combined, and that
is that under the present system OF Quotations
there has sprung into great power a klnd OF
creamery that is known as centralized creamery;
Tsse % an b western esfs9 g saes By Supplying the
farmers with hand separatOrs they enabled 10
gather up the cream from radius OF from 20
to 200 miles and with one expert butter maker do
the work OF some 100 to 80 different expert butter
small cooperative creameres, which are the
creameries that have in the past supplied all mar
kets with fancy butter Under the presen1 manner manner
of quotations these centralized creameries receive
within y cent a pound of these small creamerles.
and the result has been that the latter have been
driven out and If the present method or quotations
absolutely from the United States these small. fine
creameres which are in a position TO receive milk
ter we all enjoy eating. These centralized cream
cries will then be absorbed by either one OF two
F. G. Henry. superintendent, of the Mercantile
On tbe settling basis given by the Official quota
tion COMMITTEES" and that it only makes quotations
Henry would not discuss the details of the contro-
There are fifteen members on the official quota
tion committee. Seven OF these are receivers and
permanent Officers while eight light are app appointed @
full power make the quotation, while the others
At the annual meeting of the New York Mercan-
tile Exchange held January 2, President How
the suit brought by the Martin Brothers said that
never in the history of the exchange had 'mem-
her so far ignored the foundation principle and
purpose OF the exchange as laid down in the char
Ter and fell that the Messrs, Martin justly mertt