Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1914-06-05
.RYAN'S PUBLIC MARKET
WILL SOON Be OPENED
Big Building on South Commercial St.
Nears Completion and VIII Be
Factor in Business Life.
INSTITUTION FLoURIsHED
YEARS BEFORE THE WAR;
Plan Is Being Successfully Carried Out
in Various Cities OF the County
Producer Meets Consumer.

As the big building erected by r. R.
Ryan for a public market nears COM
pletion, it is well to call attention to
il and to the success OF such markets
in other places. In years gone by "be-
fore the war;" public markets were
feature Of every city and town in the
United States.
One of the writer's earliest recol-
leetions is being permitted TO so to
market with his uncles back at Ian.
and it was made on the first occasion
remembered by him on foot. The
uncles were young fellows of II and
10 and the product they took to the
market was wild nGckleberries picked
in the edge Of the Hooking hills, and
sold for what in these days would not
be considered enough to pay for the
picking. However, the uncles each
owned a squirrel rifle Of about "l00
to the~pound," and they had to earn
the money to buy ammunition. The
public market made this possible for
them, and we helped pick the berries
and got up at an Internationally early
hour TO help carry tnem to market for
the inestimable privilege of going with
them on their hunting expeditions after
the bushytailed squirrel and carrying
the same, CORY record of nimrodic
rowess.
Waned After the War.
Somehow, after tho war the public
market waned, faded and died of inani.
tion. As all things travel in a circle,
it seems the cycle has completed itself
and the public market is again becom-
ing popular. Tacoma, Seattle, Portland
and many of the smaller cities have ac.
quired them and in most they are pro-
nounced success and an accommoda-
tion to both farmer and consumer. The
plan does away with the middleman
only to small extent, for the great
majority Of Americans who can afford
it prefer to buy at the grocers and
have their stuff brought to them. TIC
the working people whose income i;
not large it offers an opportunity tc
make the hard-carned dollar stretch Q
little further, and the table to bt
spread little moro abundantly. Will
Mr.. Ryan the matter is an experiment
but tnat he has confidence in it /!
shown by his putting so much money
in it. In this connection here is wha
the Telegram says Of the market il
!, Portland:
"The public market has already dem
onstrated itself. From an idea it ha
become an institution, and from al
experiment is has become an estab
lished fact. 1t has grown because i
has justified itself. 1t has met a con
dition that has benefited the creates
two elements of our population-th,
lprodueers and consumers. 1t aas me
it as no other agency could meet it
The producers on their side find
ready market at living price for al
their produce. This means for then
the difference between profit and tn,
lack of it, between progress and retro
gression Furthermore, it means a sta
bility to land values which otherwis,
would be lacking. We must fix what
price we will on land, and sometime,
get it, but the price that is justified
and warranted is is the price which i,
based on the productive value of the
land and tine net money realized iron
its products. Continued to its ultimate
development, the public market idea
viii mean not only stability in lanC
prices, but a wider diversity of pro3nct
and greater; it will likewise mean
that further and greater areas of land
now unimproved will be brought under
careful cultivation, thus adding to the
private wealth, while it contributes tC
the taxable wealth of the surrounding
country.
No Wis Chance.
"On the other hand, there is now a
chance for the producer and consumer
to meet face to face, with the enormous
advantage of the producer getting more
for his produce, and by and large
very much more, while the consumer
pays less. This will mean "A higher
standard Of products and that the con
sumer will get them at the acme OF
their freshness, which is an element
the general purchasing public has hith
erto had little cnance to appreciate.
with such combination of cir
eumstanees in its favor, it is not sur
prising that the public market should
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