Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-03-07
HOW PUBLIC MARKET
REDUCES FOOD COST
By MAYOR JAMES r. HANNA.
of Des Moines, in the Denver Times.

\ city market is u sociological insti-
tuition. 1t is intimately related to the
whole industrial and economic problem
Of city life. 1t deeply affects not only
the industrial and commercial pros
perity of the business and manufac-
turing interests. but also the economic
and social we'll being OF the people at
large.
A cheap market has the effect of Il
raise in wages. For that reason it
means a great deal both To the wage
Garner n to the employer of labor.
When the cost OF the real necessities
of life is low. laborers can afford to
work for comparatively low wages.
i hey cannot afford TO work for ordinary
wages when the cost of living is eN-
traordinarily high.
Neither can manufacturers and other
employers OF abor make up this high
cost of living by paying unduly high
wages. especially When competing
manufacturers in other cities nave bet
ter conditions. The We'll fed. contented
workman is Il better investment for his
employer than II who is underfed
and disseminated.
III vas not until the manufacturing
and commercial interests in DeS MoineS
began to understand this fact that we
We're finally able to start the city mar
ket, although the subject had long been
agitated among the people at large.
Finally. d market filled with an
abundance OF cheap and wholesome
ogical valu a real slum district AN
not exist alongside of q free, open mar
ket. The great variety, the wholesome
condition and the generous quantities
OF foodstulfs at low prices, naturally
offered ON IL market. If it is carefully
guarded against the shylocks. is guar
antN of better social and physical con-
ditions among the people.
Two Factors Raise Expenses.
Two factors had been at work in Des
Moines forcing living expenses to a high
point. First was the general advance
in cost of living. which applied here
as elsewhere. resulting from Tie in
creaSed cost of many of the common
necessities of life.
This, no doubt. follows natural econ
omic law and is due to the rapid in
crease of city population and to the
wasting of the fertility of the soil,
the wanton destruction of our great
forests and the destruction of the great
sheep and cattle ranges of the west by
overlooking.
Then, too, Des Moines has within a
few Years passed from "a struggling
country town to something of a city. a
few years & she readily drew from
the immediate countryside all needed
farm produce at country prices. With
in a few years the countryside became
unable to supply this demand for pro-
duce, and prices for it advanced to
metropolitan standards and even great
er.
For example. but a few years ago
eggs cost but little -nore in Des Moines
than in outside country towns. In our
recent investigation of prices it was
found that eggs OF doubtful age re-
tailed in Des Moines for 20 cents a
dozen, while country prices through
an ft,n -f tA n,,.rA .t r.-... 49, -
as low as . cents Il dozen for strictly
fresh egg
Living Cost Increased.
Besides these two forces which con-
spired to increase the cost of living in
Dies Moines, it was strongly asserted
by many that there was at work a foo
trust consisting of the retail grocers.
wholesale grocers. commission men, the
creanlerieS. the butter and egg houses
and the peddlers. Whatever the truth
of this matter may be, the effect was
just the same as if there were such a
condition..
In our city of less than 100, 900 there
are 297 grocery stores and at least as
many more places selling fresh fruit.
canned meats, fruits and vegetables
and bakers products. Six or seven
hundred such establishments all try
ing to pay rents. clerk hire. cost of
delivery and a little profit, naturally
increased prices. all of which had
finally to come out of the pockets of
the people. and no doubt contributed
greatly to our cost of living.
These interests naturally opposed the
public market and for Il long time had
the sympathy of other business inter
ests. on the ground of mutual protec-
ton. and for a long time defeated the
undertaking.
Popular Crusade.
Finally. however. manufacturers and
other business interests employing Ia
Dor began to feel the necessity of easier.
living conditions for labor. else they
could not meet the competition from
other cities where better conditions ex-
list. The newspapers joined in the cru
SADIE. and what had long been advo-
Gated i'm certain quarters but had as
long mysteriously failed of materials
cation, sprang into existence fun
grown.
The first day of the public market
in Des Moines there We're "a wagons.
throngcd with eager buyers. The word
was carried to the farmers for miles
Ground. The second day there were
more than 10 wagons.
Since hat time the average daily at
tendance is from $40 to 225 vehicles.
ranging from the low cart drawn by
a donkey to the costly touring car. The
people of all classes turn out in thou
sands and it is no doubt this spirit of
cooperation that contributes so large
ly to the success of the undertaking..
Autos Go to Market.
The market opens at > O'Clock in the
morning and by that hour dozens of
farmers are there with a variety of
vegetables and produce. BY 6 O'Clock
most of the produce is on the mar
ket and thousands of buyers are there
with their baskets. carriages, automo-
biles. baby carriages, in fac anything
which can be made to receive guam
fir los of yarafa hlno and nrodI,ca