Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-11-19

them others, like potatoes and apples
may be kept I'm cooled chambers reserved
| Tor future delivery; while other products
that are semi-perishablc by nature, llt,
butter and eggs. must be kept In colo
storage Under these conditions, there j.
a large amount Of waste to which tn,
products are subject; and the greater tn,
risk undertaken by the above classes oi
distributors the greater must be the profit
which should be allowed upon their bust
ness transactions Moreover, MS a result
of their desire to recompense themselvc,
for this risk taking, and to shift the re.
sponsibility for its assumption upon 9th
crs 1t is but natural for them to either
| reduce the amount paid to the producer
| or increase the price to the consumer. BY
adding to the aforementioned % per cent
an additional amount to cover the greater
risk Of handling these products, it is not
difficult to understand how the utimat
consumer pays prices which are 15O or 2OI
per cent higher than the prices received
by the producer In the year 1871 the fed
cral department of agriculture. under the
leadership of the Hon. ames Wilson. made
am investigation at that time and found
that, on the whole, the producer obtained
only from 80 to i6 per cont. Of the amount
paid by the consumer; and in the same
year careful examination of this sub
jcct in one Of our New England states
and another in New York state led to the
conclusion that out of the consumers
dollar the producer received on the aver
age from 80 to 30 cents. From these facts,
it is evident that the cost Of distribution
amounts to GO to 20 per cent of the prices
paid by the consumer In making this
statement, we are not considering those
farmers whose sales are large enough to
enable them to deal directly with the COM
mission men, for the number of this class
Of farmers is very small. but We are re-
fcrrng to the conditions for the average
farmer, whose sales are not large and
who usually sells through some inter-
mediary who in turn sells to the commits
sion house.
NO STATE y DETACHED ENTITY.
But, in this dstributivc process, it must
he clearly borne in mind that no State IS
a separate and detached entity of itself
Even those products, like dairy produces
and maple sugar which are especially dis
unctive of Vermont, come into compcti-
tion in the great markets with the same
products from other States so that even
in these things our own State may have
no superiority over others. The fact is
that the prevailing prices on the most i'm
portant of the farm produce are deter
mined by national and sometimes inter-
national forces SO that, barring the ex-
penSe of transportation, which on large
shinn,.n+s l. ,...,. ,,,.,l..a.o -,
mereI, local n,,o.,,,,ta,. "'''' any
throucbo,t .h,. r-,t.a,
,niforro co.. oae,. - 90 .'l'.
- ", io' e"'H Vi 'he great
conditions ,,hi,,, -, ''''
tberaforo anti, ms go
fly tho rotin,,-,,.,.,. ...i.., ,o'' " i''0''
,.,rt,,,l,,. ,,,,lsI 800 90" Mp ''ie4'i
tho 1.,,io,, WI. ''i' O"1i.'
.orso ri. ,,,..., '"VSe az
bo,di,os ~ '''''oi i'"'
rho Gr,. f,,...- =. at,
wide price on farm nrodfco +. tba roIa-
lively small cost Of interstate tr,,sror,,
ton The average cost of ba,,li,., ,,r,d
uce from the farms to tba .bin-t,,~ ,li,,,.
over the whole the United states ,.a,.ieg
from seven to "A cents nor 100 nou,1s with
an average of II ccnts Rut croin ao,,,
and provisions can mo SOM cro,, ,,hi.,,,,,
to LIVERPOOL if carried b,. 1.l,, ana vol
to the seahoard and tbcuco bv s+,,,,,..,
to LIVERPOOL. for II cents NOR 1oo ,,o,,,d,
In other words If costs hint r,u, 80.
per 100 mounds moro to 90, fam, ,,ro,,,,,,.
from Chicago TO IfyernnoI 4o,h ,,,ua.
than to carry Il from tho earn,
cal station II &c +ho.o,o,,.
tbc dieadyorto-r. 8 ~, -