Bridgeton pioneer., 1912-08-15
investigators Say Poor Distribu-
zion Is Mainly Responsible.
WOULD CHANGE CITY CHARTERS
Better Control Over the Food Supply
and Distribution Is Recommended to
the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of Mar
kets Suggested For Each City.

COmulIlee headed by Wllllam
Church Osborn which has been study
ing food prices and market facilities in
New York state recommends to the
legislature few changes in city char
tiers devised to give to the cities a bet
ter control over their food supply and
distribution.
The most radical change suggested
by the committee is the amendment of
city charters to provide for each city a
department of markets. This depart
ment it is urged, should be put in di-
rect charge of all the sanitary and eco
nomic questions of the city's food sup
ply. 1t should publish daily accurate
price lists for consumers to prevent ex-
tortion 1t should supervise systemat-
ic auctions at places fixed by the city,
where the wholesale prices for each
day would be fixed by supply and de-
mand of every kind of food. Such
auctions should not be held for the
profit of the city or any organization.
but should be open, so that all parties
interested in food supply might have
free voice
This system, the committee says, is
successfully carried out in European
cities.
Next, the railroads and steamship
lines entering the cities of the state
should be encouraged and, if necessa-
ry. obliged to provide facilities for the
prompt delivery of food and also to
provide space so that the public auction
for wholesalers could be held as soon
as the food arrived. The transporta-
ton lines should be required to fur
nish both cold and general storage to
carry over when necessary q two DAYS
supply and to publish daily bulletins
OF the supply of food which had been
brought to market.
FaVors Food Department Stores.
The chief aim of the committee in its
hearings and investigations was to de-
termine how far the price of food has
been raised to the consumer by poor
methods of distribution. With the au-
thority of the state behind it, the COM
mlttee reports, it was able to make q
minute study of all the conditions af-
fecting food supply from the producer
to the consumer. A close comparison
was made Of the various ways of mar
keting food, and. as in New York alone
thirteen different methods were recog-
nized and studied, the committees con-
clusions were broadly and thoroughly
worked out.
Among all these methods of selling
IL
partmept store. where buying from pro-
ducers was direct and selling was right
into the hands of the consumer. Here.
the committee found, waste was at
minimum, distribution was satisfactory
and capital earned fair return. This
is the kind of store that should be
encouraged, the committee says, and
1t urges organizations and individuals
interested in the cost of living ques
ton to work for them.
In addition to the food department
store as possible solution of the high
cost of living problem, the committee
suggests "chain type" of distributing
stores. Two hundred chains of this
kind, the committee believes, would
supply New York city. The initial cost
of each chain is put at $4,000, and an
other $4,000 would be required for
capital. The department store plan is
thought to be the better.
The report is opposed to the build
ing by cities of public market struc-
lures or terminals for market purposes.
for these. says the report, have been
found to impose a heavy expense on
the taxpayers
Cost $15o,ooo,ooo Year Too Much.
According to the estimates of this
committee, New York pays $15OOOO,-
900 a year for handling its food sup
ply. After it's Investigations, hearings
and study of statistics the committee
estimates that the food supply of New
York costs at the transportation termi-
nails $3.50 100000 and that it costs in
the kitchens of the consumers $500,
100000. This great difference is charg
ed chiefly to handling and not to prof
its of middlemen.
The difficulty is, says the report,
that there are too many small retail
ers, who are barely making living
because they buy in small quantities
and sell to few customers. The evi
dence gathered by the committee
shows that the corner grocer is gen
orally merely making a livelihood for
his family. Great retail stores, capa-
BILE of supplying from 25,000 to 10000
persons, each store provided with am
pie storage facilities, both cold and
general, would bring down the cost of
food distribution to about Is per cent
without delivery and 20 per cent with
delivery as against the cost of % to
30 per cent under the present system
without delivery and as high as 40 per
cent with delivery.
The committee infers that the total
cost of wholesaling. including profits.
as about 10 per cent and of retailing
about 33 per cent. If its plans were
adopted, says the committee, and