The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1915-05-15
His Refusal to Conform to
Demands Brings Covert
Threat to Overbid His
Sail May "a.
POINTS TO INSTANCES
Owners of Stands, He AL
leges, Agree to Boost Pro-
duce Prices at Stated
Times.

Claiming that he is the object Of an
attack by marketmen who have form
I'd an alleged combination to uphold
prices on garden truck in the city
market a gardener has made pointed
charges.
The gardener, who is spending his
first year as an occupant OF one OF
the stalls in the city market, asserts
that his competitors in the sale or
lettuce, spinach, cabbage, onions and
other garden truck. are led by three
or four ringeaders who dictate prices
and are conducting rule or ruin
propa ganda.
His refusal throughout the winter
to conform to their will has led them
to make preparation to overbld him
in the auctionir2 OFF the stands on
Nav "a, 10 prevent him from renting
a stand for the ensuing year
Keeps Name Secret.
For fear that a stronger and more
aggressive fight will be forced upon
him, he desires his name to remain
secret until after the stalls are rented
this year.
The gardener CLANS that practical
ly every grocer in the city is support
ing the practice of maintaining high
prices by patronizing only the market
men who are in league In selling gar
den truck The grocers, according to
ne gardener are almost given the
tuck since most of the retail market
men do wholesale business in con-
junction, and at the same time nlgn
Price is held in the market.
A raise of prices, he says usually is
made whenever scarcity OF the
nd no c
occasions dates have been set In the
future, he claims when all were to
make general advance.
In listing examples of the differ
cncas between his prices and those
set by his competitors of the so-called
combination, he said that while he
was selling onions six for dime the
o.hers were selling them five for
dine.
Tells Of Inflatons.
During the winter lettuce was sell
- for ten cents a pound He claims
TT two or three of the marketmen
no are acting as the leaders ap-
.roached his wife who had charge of
he stand at the time and told her to
?sll 1919 cents a pound and on the
following Saturday to boost tnat
price to IS cents a pound.
Al the present time he says that he
i. selling lettuce for five cents a
pound and all of his competitors are
asking ten cents a pound.
On such garden truck as spinach
which has no extraordinary sale, he
saws his price agrees with that OF the
other dealers.
He asserts that the ringleaders come
70 him periodically and seek to have
him to raise his prices to meet those
maintained by the others, through in
situations and covert suggestions
ather than with open and straight
forward requests.
Fixes Own Prices.
Since he is alone in his determina-
ton to fix his own prices, he says that
lie has no proof which he could offer
the prosecuting attorney that a COM
bination exists in restraint of trade
other than the supporting evidence OF
his wife. He is willing to make affl-
davit to whatever valuable testimon
he and his wife possess.
The gardener heartily endorses the
suggestion that the present method OF
bidding for the stalls in the market.
be eliminated and a different way of
renting the stands be substituted to
permit of free and open competition.
He says that because of the present
arrangement, one marketman has
three stalls and two have two stalls
each because they were financially
able to overbid prospective tenants at
the last auction. On May "a, when
the stalls are auctioned off for the fol
lowing year he expects his competitors
TO make every effort to dispossess him
Of his stand.