The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-04-14
FRANK E. HOWE, Editor and pu
"AT AN AFTERNOON CALL"
FIGHTING THE MIDDLEMAN


raises the foodstuffs on which we are
all dependant gets less than half
what the ultimate consumer pays for
these articles there has heen good
deal of dissatisfaction all round.
| The farmer is sore because, after
doing all the work of raising a crop
and shipping it, he feels that he
ought to get more than half what the
consumer pays for it. The consumer
feels even worse, at the high price oil
food products and naturally enough
thinks that he ought not to pay more
than double what the crop cost to
raise. The railroad points out that
| it is only getting from three to seven
per cent for transportation and
makes no large profit on the bust
ness. The commission man and
wholesaler shows that he takes the
biggest risk and makes the smallest
margin of anybody who handles the
goods. Then comes the retailer who
can prove that more retailers fail
than all other business men, combin-
ed. and those who know anything
about the retail business know that,
because of bad credits, high rents
cost of delivery and losses on perish
able and seasonable goods, the aver
age retailer only makes a decent liv-
ing and only a very small fraction
ever secure a competence.
All of them are more or less right
and the future will probably bring
about improved methods that VIII
somewhat lessen the cost of trans
ferring the goods from the producer
to the consumer, but under present
methods not many of the various mid
dlemen could reduce their margin OF
profit and still continue to do bust
ness. They must overcome through
efficiency a part of the expense now
attached to methods of doing bust
ness.
In handling goods for retail in Ben
nington or any other town one OF the
biggest parts of the expense is in the
delivery of the goods. In this town
practically a dozen milk delivery
wagons go over every street In the
village every day in the year. Near
" as many meat delivery teams
cover the same ground and more than
as many grocery delivery wagons go
over the same territory. The expense
added by this wasteful system OF de
livery is from ten to forty per cent,
averaging probably fifteen to twenty
per cent.
Why shouldn't large part OF this
expense be cut out? Two milk de-
livery teams could cover Bennington
every day at one quarter OF the ex-
pense of a dozen. There need be no
change of ownership of routes. Each
team could carry the milk of the vari-
Gus milk dealers and deliver 1t to the
customers who want the milk of that
producer. A large part of the milk is
now sold in sealed bottles and II
would be an easy matter for each
dealer to mark his bottles to insure
delivery to his customers, and the
surplus outside the bottles could be
carried in a can also bearing the pro-
ducers name.
There would be some substitution,
but there is now. All of us have
seen the milkmen on the corners
in the morning swapping milk to|
help out those who are short or have
had unexpected calls, and furnishing
a market for those who have a sur
plus. II wouldn't make much differ
ence as long as the dairies are all
inspected and the milk tested occas-
ionally.
Two automobile delivery outfits
with two hustling men for each could
deliver all the groceries, meats and
vegetables sold in Bennington,
work that now requires over twenty
men and twenty teams. Such sys-
tenn could be worked with absolute
fairness to every dealer. Make the
delivery men the employees OF all the
nrovision dealers in town and not the
agents of any one firm.
1t might be best to deliver meats
and vegetables in the morning and
other foodstuffs in the afternoon, but
a plan could easily be arranged that
would save the covering Of so much
territory by so many different men at
so great a cost Only one delivery
outfit would have to cover South
street. Morgan street OF Grove street
or other streets Of the village
once or possibly twice per day.
These deliveries would be at speci-
fed time and customers would soon
fali into the habit and the expense OF
delivery would be tremendously de
creased.
The greatest saving Of all would be
in helping stop bad credits. BY put
ting the delivery department in
charge Of the credits It would soon
be possible to locate the deadbeats
and cut them on from delivery ex-
cept they paid when they ordered.
The future is going to see read
80. - f~,nroxeueut in meth