The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1914-06-27
FUNCTIONS OF A MIDDLEMAN
He Is One Of Necessary Parts Of the
Tragedy Of CiviIization-ThisI Is
striking" Age.


fairs of mankind depends upon men
working in harmony with each other.
1t is their duty to help themselves in
dividually first, and then to cooperate
and work for the whole. To do so each
one must perform a duty accepted or
assigned to him which he is qualified
to perform-in other words every man
to his business, writes J. S. Hoy in
Denver Field and Farm. II any per
son. company or corporation takes all
the profit without consulting the rights
Of others he wrongs everybody con-
cerned. Doing this is the cause OF
most Of our industrial troubles, but
| there are two sides to this subject;
the rich depend upon the poor to pro-
vide them with their necessities as
much as the poor depend on the rich
! for work.
The eye cannot say unto the hand.
| ! have no use for thee, nor again TO
| the feet have no need for thee" etc
/ The banker cannot say to the borrow
1 er / have no use for you-the accom-
mediation is of a nature reciprocal
! Society has placed us in a close de-
pendable relationship to each other.
Middlemen are made the scapegoats
upon which Is sought to place all the
| blame or odium for the high cost OF
living. AS we are all interested In
the matter it is proper for the least OF
us to express his opinion, so that per
haps in multitude of counsel we may
happily solve the problem. | can not
better explain what would happen TO
the producer who would resolve u
eliminate the middleman than by an
illustration:
Il will market my beef without the
odious interference of this robber mon
ster." First he would have to ship
his cattle to where the buyer, the con-
sumner lives. At present the most ex-
pensive middlemen are hired help. the
railways and the stockyard charges.
At the outset this benevolent farmer
would meet two unavoidable obstacles.
but he will find more and worse ones
before he finishes his work. Second
he is no longer farmer but has taken
upon himself the obnoxious work or
middleman, being butcher and distr1o-
utor. He comes in contact with mercl-
less competition and what is worse
tickle. censorious and fault finding ulti-
mate consumer. He will be compelled
to build a slaughter house, refrigera-
tor, a meat market, buy teams and
tools, hire skilled meat cutters and
sausage makers, In a few words per-
form the work now done by middle
men and thus he becomes a middle
man himself.
To carry out his desires to the end,
he would have to build and equip a
tannery, stores and shops to transform
the green hides into leather, thence
into shoes, harness, saddles and the
thousands OF other articles In which
leather is used and all these men
would be middlemen. This example
will apply to every branch Of business
in the industrial world-every man to
his trade. A millionaire would cut
sorry figure in an attempt to shave
dude or climb a steeple, but that
would be no sadder sight than to see
a LAWYER earning an honest dollar by
, cutting wood for a dollar a cord, or
Judge sweeping the street at $1.5O
day and many other incongruous mis-
fits. The middlemen are the spokes
: in the wheel. The chief business OF
. the world is in swapping, cheating
!. gouging. cornering. adulterating, false
. weighing and consuming all that Is
produced. To do away with the mid
dlemen is to obliterate nine-tenths Of
mankind.
All these men and women are parts
. of a gigantic whole as a single bee IL
: a part of the whole hive. They are al
= necessary parts of the tragedy of civil
lization. These nine-tenths are neither
drones nor parasites, the opposite o
tinhorns, pickpockets and gamblers
= who take legally or by force or Gun
ming without giving anything In re
!, turn. We read In newspapers. from
the men managing the nations bust
:, ness, that high prices have at las
. struck the toboggan, but taking 1t al
: in all-with federation strikes, th'
!, strikers striking for higher pay, thu
= hired man striking for more and bette
:. food, fewer hours Of work and NOR
b money, others striking the trail 70
), Washington-it looks as II the striker
have the right Of way with the deter
= mination to continue to strike till tn
!, millennium day. 1t strikes me that thi
!, is a striking age and in consequence
= there is an end to cheaper food 70
. man and beast.