El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-26

grows the grain and other produce,
gets less than half the price the con-
sumer pays at the corner grocery: and
when that information is not a mere
careful statistical inquiry. il becomes
highly interesting thing to the cOd-
cesses by which his dollar becomes a
90 cent piece.
NiddIemen In Beef Industry.
An interesting picture Of how the
process moves forward step by step is
afforded by a study Of the middlemen
IN the beef industry, one Of the most
| highly organized of all our marketing
industries. In considering these vari-
Gus steps, however it is well to keep
IN mind that in some stages Of the
procedure unusual economies have been
effected, and that but for these it is
hard tC tell where the prices the con-
, sumner would be called upon to pay for
! his steaks and rOasts would end For
instance. by Strengthening close to the
cattle supply. the saving effected in
/ the transportation Of the dressed beef
rather than Of the cattle on the hOof
becomes a substantial consideration
Seven carloads Of live cattle have
about three average carloads of dressed
| beef The difference in the freight rate
on a live and slaughtered steer
between Kansas City and New York
amounts to about $3.50 per head In
Strengthening on a large scale and the
consequent utilization Of the by-prO-
ducts. a saving Of large proportions is
cost of Handling Cattle.
When the Texas farmer sells his
stock cattle, a charge Of, perhaps.
for the service. Then il costs about Is
cents a head to drive them to the rail-
road, $3.50 a head freight to Montana
and the DakOtas. 20 cents a head for
attendance. and Is cents a head for
driving from the station to the ranch,
or about 1886 per head, all told On
the northern ranch this stock cattle
must be converted into fat cattle, and,
of course, the rancher who does II IS
not in the business for the pleasure
there is in it He probably adds some
thing to the value Of the steer besides
the cost Of putting on the surplus
get the fattened steer to and through
the StOckyards at Chicago. from the
northern ranch than 1t did to get him
through the first stage OF the Journey
to market. The whole course Of trans
pOrtatiOn from Texas to Chicago adds
a cent a pound to a cent and a half a
the time he reaches the packer The
profits Of the BUYERS and other middle
men between grower and packer prob
ably bring the total up to two cents
Profit for the Packer.
The packer. perhaps. pays six cents
a pound for the steer on the hOOL He
usually sells the dressed beef at
margin of about three cents above the
on-the-hoof price figure that would
mean a heavy loss to him except for
the by-prOducts- To illustrate. steer
which would cost him $50 on the hOOf.
would net him less than $50 worth of
dressed beef If the packer were to
make only one cent a pound on the
cattle he dresses. the big packers would
be making SlzO.09U,OO0 a year, or more
than billion dollars every decade ana,
of course, no one claims that they have
made that much
After the beef is dressed. there IS
the shipping charge for transportation
and icing. which adds about another
cent 10 the cost Then II goes to the
retail butcher. If the beef has cost the /
packer six cents on the hOOf it viii Z
cost the retail butcher around 10 cents
a pound wholesale A cent a pound I
more on the hOOf Will Increase the
and half a pound. Out Of the u cent !
a pound carcass the retailer will prob /
ably cut the consumers roast at some
thing under so cents.
Delivery Expense for Retailer.
Inquiry among retailers shows that 1
one of their main expenses is that Of 4
delivery A manager Of a big chain OF /
stores, which sell for cash and leave 1
the matter Of delivery to the consumer !
are about 20 percent under those of the I
ether grocers is because they effect i
that saving on delivery alone For /
steak that an ordinary grocer sells at Il
25 cents a pound. these stores charge /
20 cents. From this it will be seen I
that the delivery wagon probably fig ]
ures more than middlemen's profits in !
the sales OF produce to the consumer
Based on the assumption that the \
farm produce sold in this country does !
5000. 00Q. 900 TO the con-
sumer. and the further assumption OF /
this manager that the retailers de-
livery wagons are responsible for 70
percent of the consumers grocery bill.
that scandalOus Institution. the deliv-
cry wagon, costs the American con-
sumer annually enough to build the
Panama canal deepen the Mississippi
river. construct a deeD waterway to
Chicago and still leave enough to pay
for the mightiest fleet Of drea6nOughts
that ever cut the waves on any sea
lIiddIemen's Profits In Clothing.
Nor are the grOcerymen and the 9TH
er mlddIemen, who buy and sell farm
produce, the only mlddlemen who are
charged with having a hand, either in Z
the shape Of profits or of necessary
expenses in the things the consumer
has to buy. The American Wooden and
Cotton Reporter puts the high price of !
clothing upon the men who handle il I
from the time it leaves the producing !
until II reaches the wear
ng consumer. 1t states that. certain Z
New England manufacturer. whose :
brand of underwear is known through
ut the country brand which retaiIs
It from $3.50 to $500 the garment
makes only so cents a dozen when he
sells them 1t is claimed that it costs
40 dozen TO manufacture garments
hat retail for so cents. and that the
is satisfied with as much /
'roflt on half dozen garments as the
'etaller IS on single suit.
The claim is made by this journal
hat dress goods for which woman Z
laE the Eeldller sou a yard. cost him
.l.50, and that the suit she buys for
20, costs him S13.75. \ 4O-inch lawn.
'etalIlnE Tor 80 cents. was sold by the Z
for 165b cents. An i'm
ported linen fabric which cost the re-
aller IS cents the Reporter asserts. I
5 being sold for 80 cents a yard It is /
'lalmed that figures like these without (
nj might be produced. and that they
rove beyond question that the manu- I
acturer has no hand in the high price
IA that exists today.
High Cost of Selling.
3. F. Yoakum. the big western rail- 3
Dad president. pins the blame for high |
'rices onto the middleman in almost
very field. He says it is a matter OF
the high cost OF selling" and cites
ome striking figures to prove it. I
mong them the financial history of a I ,
arIoad of WatermelOns grown in Okla I
iona The farmer who loaded the car !
aid that the melons were sold by him |
4 cents eacn. or S52-50 for the car
Dad of 1850 melons. 1t cost the buyer I :
rs to haul these melons 500 miles to
It. Paul The retail price of those
Melons in St. Paul ranged around so / 3
ents each. so that the carload would q
ring about $3.50 at consumers prices &
IF course. it is reasonable to suppose
hat the case cited by Mr. YOakum is 4
n unusual one but the fact does re-
Jain that there are practically three 2
/ four people who must levy their liv- {
ny and their profits on the goods and