Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-07-05
BOTH ENDS Agree
MIDDLEMANGET
Whole Country Being Organized in Ef-
fort to Abolish Needless Pro
fits in Business.
SOME FACTS CONCERNING
THIS FEATURE OF COST
Progress Is Being Made in Encourag-
ing Producer and Reduce
Consumers Bills.
By Elliott Flower.

By Elliott Flower.
Who gets the money!
Why, the middleman, of course. Al
most anybody will tell you that. He
may be trifle hazy as to just whom
he means by the middleman, but he is
quite positive that the middleman is
largely, if not altogether, responsible
for the increased cost of living.
Literally speaking, every one who
intervenes between the producer and
the consumer is a middleman. The mil.
Ter is a middleman, but the consumer
has not him in mind, Of course. The
miller is also a manufacturer, and he
performs necessary service. If he is
paid or exacts too much for his service,
that is an unjust tax upon the cost of
living for which the. consumer pays.
The packer is also a middleman, and so
is the railroad, but both are quite neces-
sary. If they take undue profit for
their handling of foodstuffs, they are
to that evtent responsible for the in
creased cost, and the consumer, speak
ling generally, is quite certain they do
lay a heavier tax than is necessary
upon his necessities, but they are not
the ones he has in mind when he
speaks of the middleman. Exactly
what toll they take and what they give
for it will appear later. They render
a necessary service and are entitled to
reasonable profit, but the middleman
who is the real bugbear to the con.
sumer is parasitical individual who
does nothing but take the money. He
renders a service-he must do that as
an ~~cuse for taking the money--but
it is not a necessary service, and he ex
acts large return for tin the Ian
guage of the railroads, "all that the
traffic will bear"
Nor is the consumer the only one
who attributes practically all the trou
BILE to the middleman; the produce
also complains that the middleman get
too much of the money When he sub
tracts what he receives from what tn,
consumer pays, the producer finds to,
large a difference to please him. Th
consumer thinks he pays too much, an,
the producer thinks he gets too little
so they are both fighting the middle
man.
The producer was the first in tn
field in this fight-that is, the first t.
go into it upon any sort of a compre
hensive scale. Neighborhood associa
tions of consumers have been organize
in order that, acting jointly, the.
might purchase in large quantities an
upon the most favorable terms. Som
of these have been successful and re
port that they have materially reduce
the cost of living, while Others hav
proved complete failures. Individua
householders are too accustomed to &C
ing their own ways to be easily hel
together in such an organization, espC
cially if the organization attempts to
much and leaves too little to individua
discretion. Anyhow, the consumers et
forts along this line have been nothin
like as comprehensive or as successfu
as the producers in the few instance
where the producer has gone into tn
matter earnestly, as, for instance i
the cooperative marketing Of thei
products by the orange growers Of Cal
fornia.
Now, however, an effort is bein
made to organize the consumers Of tn
whole country for the avowed purpos
Of practically wiping out the middle
man. It is an eastern movement, tn
company being incorporated in Delt
ware, and the magnitude Of the unde
taking almost deprives one of breatl
although prominent New York men, a
well as the heads Of various agricultu
al organizations, are interested in it
> such men as John D. Crimmins, banker
Colonel G. N. Whistler, presider
Army and Navy Club, and DR.. Charlie
H. Parkhurst. 1t is described as "
comprehensive plan for the eliminatio
of the middleman, the encouragement
of the producer and the reduction {
the cost of living to the consumer" "
That is certainly going some, and
more explicit statement Of its pla
shows that it intends to "get after
all middlemen, including even IL
o packers, for its purpose is "to reta
o meats, their usual by.products and gel
eral farm products, at prices Stripe
: Of the profits Of trusts and middleme
in its own retail shops in the larl
o cities; to establish cold storage plan