Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1911-12-21
VIEW POINT Of
COMMISSION MEN

II
hiicssns R. NJ. White & son,
Editors Mexico. Ledger.
Gentlemen:
We haws your essteanled favor erl
tho istii and thank you for the op.
portunity offered The coumassicn
men to explain their side OF siie pro
posed change in commission iwtss,
We do mot tliInk the shippers
who hayo been agitating this sub
ject have given the matter
thorough consideration. In the
first place. when the present rate
was established moro than TWEEN
ty years ago texcepting ON hogs)
which was changed about 1906, the
expense Of handling stock on the.
different markets was 25 10 sol
per cent less than it is to-day;
! for instance about that time
all commission houses employed
! only one man to sell both hogs
and sheep; one man 70 cell ali
native cattle. butcher stuff and
steers together. and in most cases
the cattle salesman also sold the
quarantine cattle along with his
natdue cattle.
In recent years shippers have de-
manded and are recetving service Car
superior to that Rvery well or
gandzed commission house now en.
ploye specialist in each lne, a
man for hogs; another man for
sheep, another for native steer cat.
tie; anothr for butcher stuff; an
other for quarantine cattle, and in
some cases where the volume oil
business Is large. more than one
salesman works on onA class
Of stock, solely with a view to
obtaining highest prices and get
ting the stock sold and weighed
with the maximum dill in them.
Our living expenses have dncreas.
ed fully 50 per cent Within that
period hence Ii Is necessary that
the salaries we pay our employees
must be Increased accordingly; 9th.
erwise. they could mot live. This
increased expense OF living is
due almost wholly TO the increased
cost OF food and all farm pro.
ducts,
The producer to-day Us getung
from 25 10 80 per cent. inl
mos cascs the latter, more for
every product Of his farm than he
got al the time the old nte was
established Farm lands have I'M
creased fully 50 per cent in value
during that period. The ex-
penses OF running the farms have
increased and we grant that 1t is
Necessary for the producer to have
Tcre money for his pro
ducts than dt was nwenty years ag
The same rule applies 10 the.
commission business. 1t is
Just as necessary for us to have
more ii we are to keep the financial
condition of our business on solid
foctins and afford protection to
these Who consign their stock To-
us,
This proposed change is really
more in the nature of readjustnrent
than Il is an advance When the
present rate was established.
cattle. hogs and sheep were all
selling Is to 90 per cent lower than
they sold during the past two years.
At that time the commissions coli
leeted which were not considered
extortionate or exorbitant, averaged
q little better than 2 per cent on
gross sales To-day, it ayerag-
es less fhan por cent. and on the
basis Of the proposed change
Will average less than IL per
cent; so we Will still be doing busi-
ness iof smaller rate next
| year than we were twenty years ago
| IN all other lines of business
prices have increased. salaries
OF employees have increased and tn
Income of tile business has inr
creascd not so however. with
| the commission business, which
Iwhen eigmed on percentage basis
land that is the ON
Ily true basis on which it should
be figared, will show a decrease as
compared with tigen6y years ago,
Notwithstanding our enormously in
creased expenses Furthermore when
the present rate was established,
practically aIl the stock that came to
market was hauled an twenty -four to
! thirty foot cars and we seldom ey-
es saw a stock car which measured
lcager than thirty feet To-day 99
per cent Of our receipts arrive In
cars which measure SO to 40 feet In
length, and not radlroad in the
Mississippi Valley or the West
which have ordered new stock cars
for the coming year. has ordered any
thing but 40 foot cars; we are there
. fore, selling fully 25 per cenl
more stock out OF each car re
ceived NOW that We did twent
years ago.
We do not think 1T will look reas
enable to any fair7ininded man L
expect us to handle this increased
volume OF business at a lowel
mte than We did twenty yeans ago
l considering the general increase il
] the cost of our necessities.
: Another point is that the in
! creased volume of business Also in
creases the responsibility Of thu
commission man That responsible
: ity can be measured only in dol
: lars and cents. What other pro
y duct Of the fannl 10 there 9th
; er than hive stock which whel
y handled on commission basl
Z does not cost over per cent 70
y handling?
y If q man sells a piece OF lan'
< he pays a commission of 2 to
e per cent; he pays more than 2 pc
g cent to have all kinds OF grail
sold He pays anywhere from /
s Oh. ~. .n.t 4., i,a,.s lvs. r..,.,..,.