The Washington herald., 1914-10-29
SAYS Wholesale
MARKETISOLATED
Supt. Sherman Recommends
to Commissioners 1t
Be Moved.
BENEFIT TO CONSUMER
Too Far from Railroad and Water
Transportation. He Says. in
Urging Change.

Declaring that Washington's Wholesale
district is so isolated from railroad and
water transportation that the city does
not get as much benefit from it as IL
should, John Sherman. superintendent Of
weights, measures, and markets, yester-
day recommended to the District Com
missioners that the market be moved to
a more suitable location.
He commented on the situation as fol-
lows:
Washington is almost unique among
the larger cities, in that the wholesale
market district here is isolated from
either railroad or navigable water. In
the days when Washington lived mainly
on the products of the Immediately sur
rounding sections brought in on farm
ers' wagons this condition was not seri-
Gus. But under modern conditions, with
the vast majority of wholesalers draw
ing their supplies in large quantities from
distant points by rail or water, this i'm
proper location necessitates a tremen-
dous amount Of expensive transporta-
tion and rehandling, with accompany
ing increase of waste through spoil
age and other losses, all of which
must be regained through higher prices
to retailers and ultimately to the con-
Stunning public.
Savings Through whOIesaIer.
The average citizen, when he thinks
Of the city's market problems at all
thinks Of retail markets, since the retail
business is the only form Of marketing
with which he comes into contact, yet
II Is the consensus of opinion among all
who have exhaustively studied this prob
lem, that the greatest savings to be ac-
complished are to be made through bet
TannR -E@~1.@
kets, and Improvement Of the facilities
for receiving, storing, refrigerating, and
distributing wholesale quantities of food
products at the terminal stations.
Washington is doubly unfortunate in
that the wholesale business is not only
badly located, but is also badly disor-
ganized. The competition that exists is
the wrong kind Of competition. Cut
throat methods exist, which while legal,
and perfectly good according to business
ethics, and exactly what the average
citizen not a student OF the subject wants,
nevertheless result in actual losses OF
products, and greatly increased prices
TO the consuming public.
Would Move Wholesale Business.
The wholesale business should be
moved to some location where both
water and railroad transportation are
available. Here should be developed a
union freight terminal with modern mar
keting facilities Refrigeration should be
provided for both temporary and long
storage, and there should be refrigerated
rooms into which refrigerated cars could
discharge their contents without change
Of temperature and consequent injury TO
the goods Separate parts OF the mar
kcts should be devoted to the sale OF diff
ferent products, but the market should
be so arranged that a dealer could buy
Ii
far. Efficient means Of delivery Of goods
sold, not by individuals but by the mar
ket, should be developed as part OF the
general improvement.
Until the public can be made to recog-
nize that this is the really fundamental
problem, and that its solution lies in
guiding and helping, rather than criti
Cising and cOercing. the dealers, we will
make but little progress toward funda-
mentally better conditions"