The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-06
TALK IF POTATOES INTERESTS HARPER Producer Not Getting Too Much for Produce THE PUBLIC MARKET Webb Says the Middleman Is Re- sponsible for the Enormous In-
 crease in the Cost of
 Living
THE PUBLIC MARKET
BY WALTER HARPER

Washington, November 5.-(Special.) I have read with considerable inter- est the interviews of Morris avenue on the apparent discrepancy In the price paid producers for sweet pota- toes and the prices quoted on the ave- nue. And still further interesting is the statement from Commissioner James Weatherly that though tke wholesale price of potatoes may be 50 cents per bushel Mrs. Weatherly is paying 35 cents per peck or at the rate of S1.40 per bushel.
 That is exactly the condition that was trying to uncover in the state ment made in this correspondence a few days ago that there is something . wrong in the potato market at Bir- mingham. If the Bessemer truck l. grower can get no more than 50 cents per bushel for his potatoes the con- sumer in Birmingham should certain E ly get them at less price than S1.40. If potatoes sell on Morris avenue at ' from 50 to 75 cents per bushel the re- Z taller a few blocks away should cer- : tain1y not double the price to the con- sumer. .r j The producer in this country is not getting too much for. his stuff. The : high cost of living cannot be charged {. to the farmer. Mir. Weatherly's plan for some sort of a public market ! where the consumer can buy his pro- $ visions direct from the producer is a good one It would be beneficial both 2 to the producer and the consumer. They could at least divide some of the enor- nous profits of the middleman. They could force the middleman to reason- able terms. @s s s t~
 Webb's Experience
 Alfred L. Webb has been the food provider for circuses for 26 years. He feeds 1900 men every day. He says that it only costs him one cent per meal more to feed his men than it did J4 years ago. But, he adds, that when asit comes to feeding his own family at home the cost has increased 50 per cent.
 He explains it this way. At home his family buys through the regular chan nels of trade where the profits of the. rlddleman has to be met To feed his 12a0 circus people he buys direct from 4 the producer, eliminating the middleman. He saves 49 of the 50 per cent increase that is demanded of the middleman.
 MT. Webb gives the following experi- ~ ence as an example of the methods of the middleman:
 When we were in New York at the be- ginning of the hot season lemons were selling at $5 a box one day. The next day they jumped to $14 box. Why? Some man had seen the need of them be- cause of the heat and cornered the mar ket. The extra s9. a box was paid Ito the man who produced nothing but spec niated in the necessities of life.''
 Z MT. Webb declares also that faulty dis tribution of products is another cause of tie high cost of living and giving the m,ddleman an opportunity to handle sup plies to his own profit.
 Producers Criticised
 II is noticed in one of the Morris ave- nue interviews that the producers are criticised for peddling their products over town before bringing their surplus to Morris avenue for sale.
 It is also stated that the price quota tion in The Age-Herald was incorrect. note that the price has been changed, but In the same issue carrying the interviews ] note that the price quoted on sweet potatoes is 80 to S5 cents per bushel. The retail merchant certainly pays no more than the price quoted. MT. Weatherly declares that he pays at the rate of $1.40.
 Mrs. Weatherly would certainly be glad 10 buy the potatoes at a central market direct from the Bessemer grower at, say. $1 per bushel. In this operation two peo- pie at least would be benefitted-Mrs. 'Weatherly and the producer. Tn the iong run Jefferson county would be benefited in more general and more certain pro- duction of it's home food supplies. A more general prosperity would result