The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-09-30

An organization has been perfected
in the city Of New York which pro-
poses to reduce the cost OF living by
reducing the cost Of distribution. The
: news story states that the OF
! the contributing territory IN
yania and New York have agreed 10
furnish their products directly to the
retailers at less than the retailers
; have had to pay heretofore. The re-
| tailers are members of the organiza-
ton as we'll as the farmers. Then the
consumers have been taken in as aux
iliary members and they agree to buy
| from the retailers who are members.
and in return the retailers agree to
, reduce prices to the purchasers. The
! theory seems possible. but whether it
| can be put into practice remains to
be seen.
TIE question of distribution. espec-
tally in this country, has become a
complex as we'll as costly Middle
! men have increased and each n
| through whose hands a commodity
passes adds to the future cost to the
extent of his expenses and profits. In
New York the organization before
. noted found that in some instances
commodities passed through the
hands of six middlemen from the time
they left the producer until they
reached the consumer. All of them
were not necessary.
When man passed from the savage
state. direct barter and sale ceased
to exist. The Indian in his primitive
condition traded his lands or his furs
for the trinkets of the white man
which appealed to him. There has
been a constant development Of the
methods Of traffic. however, from that
condition to our present methods. The
producer who would attempt to sell
directly to the consumer in New
York would find his cost of sales and
distribution greater than his loss of
profits over a direct bulk sale to a
distributor 4. The legitimate develop.
ment of distribution does not add ex.
ira to b e final cost.
Every man who contributes to the
distribution of commodities is entitled
to hts operating expenses and a bust
ness profit. If these are excessively
hien' 1t 10 In nearly every instance he.
cause OF peculiar circumstances or he.
cause Of conditions which the public
force upon him. Daniel Webster
when he was at the zenith OF his
tame. could be seen almost any morn.
Ing IN h Washington market with
his basket on his arm buying the
days supply for the family. Wash
tngton market even now would not
pass muster with a civic league bent
on swatttng the fly. It was merely an
open pac where the farmers from
the nearby country stopped their
wagons and exposed their wares.
i whether meats, poultry or vegetables.
M are no screens and no fiyless
stores. What 1t was from a sanitary
point sixty or more years ago. history
mas not recorded. for there were m
pure o commissioners then. What
Grand Forks business man would
conduct the family marketing as
Daniel Webster did? What Grand
Forks housewife would use the Dress
ed poultry or meats that came from
surroundings such as the Washing
ton market?
The merchant Of today must ham
die package goods. the package con-
tanning which costs nearly as much
as the contents. He must keep his
meats on ice and his perishable goods
under glass. These add to the primary
cost. But they are not all. He must
ueii'er the goods to the customer
whether the purchase is ten cents or
ten dollars, and it must be done
without delay. The average house
wife does not care to go down town
aor her purchase. so she has the tele-
phone installed. The merchant must
mo- only provide a telephone, but an
operator, and often several, to handle
the telephone orders for his custom
ers. And all these expenses must be
ADDED to the 8 Of the goods, and
consequently to the cost of living.
me New York organization will And
1t difficult to eliminate any Of the.a
costs. ICE
AS for the middlemen, the in
stance OF six on n line in New York
as certainly abnormal. The distrtbu.
ton OF California fruit in thi. c,tv
serves to illustrate a fair as wei, a..
cheap method. 1t is shipped from
the producers association in car lots
20 tne wholesalers and by them dis
'r'outed 10 the retailers. No retailer
Souiu nahoie a car lot before 1t would
spoil, but a number Of retailers can.
True they could combine and pur-
chase but the expenses of such COM
btnation would be larger than the
wholesaler profit. SO that nothing
woul be gained.
Abnormal advances in the cost of
commodities caused by cornering the
market. or Withholding the supply
arc not legitimate. But until less ex-
pense in handling and delivering
goods to the consumer is evolved.
there will be little reduction in the
ultimate cost. The six middlemen on
one commodity could only exist by
having some sort of abnormal con-
troll W 1t. Shortening the route
between producer and consumer will
help. but not entirely solve the prob
lem Of the high cost Of living.