Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1913-04-17
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE is
PRINTED TO AID IN UPBuIID-
ING OF OUR TOWN.
THERE ARE TOO MANY MIDDLE MEN
More Economical Marketing of Farm
Products Is Receiving Greater At
tention-Home Folks Should
Buy Home Products.

securing for the farmer working cap
ital at a low rate of interest and
prices for his produce that will ade- ,
quately recompense him for his labor :
and his investment are of vital i'm
portance.
There is undoubtedly too much
waste between the farmer and the
consumer. This is not the fault of any
one factor in the game but rather of
all. Not only are the transportation
interests and the various middlemen
partly to blame, but even the produc-
ers and the consumers are also to
blame.
In many instances transportation
charges on perishable produce amount
to as much as the producer receives
therefor.
The complexity and inter-depend-
ence of the modern business world
has necessitated large number of So
called "middlemen" who perform the
necessary work incident to distribu-
ton. These middlemen generally OPP
crate on a percentage that is reason
ably small according to the volume OF
DuSlutSS QOuc IL 10 nOI ltdoOhdOlC W
assume that the middleman can be
eliminated. Those who attempt to do
this invariably find that they have
merely taken over the work he has
been doing succeeding him and be-
coming middlemen themselves) and
that it costs them just as much to per
form the required services as it did
him. 1t is very likely, however, that
in many lines of distributive work
there are too many engaged and that
a smaller number might perform all
the work satisfactorily and by reason
of larger volume of business on a
smaller percentage.
The consumers are partly to blame
because of the increased demand for
high quality in goods and more elab-
crate service from tradesmen.
And the producers are partly to
blame because as a rule they are not
well organized and are not shipping in
the right quantities, in the right quail
tiles and to the right markets. The
producers must come to keener real
ization of the fact that raising the
stock or growing the produce is not
all there is to farming. OF equal i'm
portance is the finding of economical
and profitable markets for the output.
The citrus fruit growers OF California,
growers of deciduous fruits in some
sections of the northwest and the
Rocky mountain states, growers OF
vegetables in the southwest and pro-
ducers of canteloupes in the middle
west and Rocky mountain section
have accomplished much, but there re-
mains much to be done, generally, in
the improvement of farmers selling
organizations.
Here is a recent statement by h.
Baackes, vice president of the Amer
lean Steel G. Wire Co.: 'It strikes
me most forcibly that the time has
come for farmers to organize them
selves into selling associations. These
associations should have in the prin-
cipal cities representatives In con-
slant and intimate touch with the
market so that when a center is glut-
ted. or threatens to become so, ship
ments can be diverted to other points.
The secret of selling is equilibrium OF
distribution. But this sounds simpler
than it really is. BusineSS-like diStri-
button requires a high stage of devel-
opment and the closest kind of coop
erative systems"
The more economical marketing OF
farm products is receiving greater at
tention all over the country and it is
up to us" in this community to "get
busy" But instead of embracing Wis
ionary schemes for the elimination OF
any of the established and legitimate
factors in the business world, let's all
work together for mutual benefit and
the up-building of the community
The merchant, banker, lawyer and
doctor should be concerned just as
much as the farmer in the working
out of better methods of marketing
farm produce. Whether it is a ware
house. elevator, cannery, creamery OF
something else that is needed, let us
all cooperate to secure it's establish
ment and operation on right lines.
Cultivate the Local Market.
Much has been said about the need
less handling of goods and the amount
it adds to the cost of products of the