The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1915-04-06
Members of Merchants Association
Hear Lumber .nealer Tell How
Elimination v IL I'll Bemidji.
REFERS TO COST o. '0c xe< NC
Says It Is Most Widely Discussed
Topic of Present Day-Greater
Efficiency is Needed.

VI Clle neIdll Dedler ALL the Town,
w. z. Robinson, of the Smith-Robin-
son Lumber company, said:
"There is so much to be said on
this subject that it will be impossible
for me to cover the ground fully in
the time allotted for me to speak.
1.-THE most widely discussed topic
of the present day is the high cost
of living, and l suppose there are as
many opinions and ideas as to the
causes and remedies as there are peo-
PIE who talk about it. The most
popular idea or misconception pre-
vailing is that the middle man or re-
taller is the principal cause, and,
therefore, his elimination would re-
duce this high cost of living.
II am of the opinion that to elm
mate the retailer would not reduce
the cost of living-but I do believe
that the utilization of waste by
manufacturers and the increasing Of
the number of producers of farm pro-
ducts will result in cutting down the
cost. When manufacturers, jobbers,
retailers and all producers attain a
greater efficiency we may look for
reduction in the cost of the neces-
stiles Of life and not before.
Greater Efficiency.
"The advocates of the elimination
Of the retailers idea point with
pride to the success of the public
markets in some of our larger cities,
which results in the reduction of the
cost of meats, vegetables and other
food stuffs. However, even here the
retail grocer and butcher is not elm
mated. The house wife merely
takes his place; she goes to the mar
ket and purchases quarter of beef
or bushel of onions; she takes it
home, and cuts up the beef or stores
the onions as the case may be; she
merely performs the service rendered
by the retailer. The only difference
is that the house wife figures her
time and money invested, worth moth
ing. She concludes that the service
of the retailer is not there because
she does not pay for it. The truth
of the matter is that although she
has performed the services of the re-
taller, she might better have put her
time to better use by striving to at
tain to greater efficiency in her
housekeeping.
Are Necessity.
1.-THE middle men, retailers and
jobbers are essentially necessary.
They are the go-betweens that con-
meet the producer and the ultimate
consumer; and they exist because
they tighten the burden of BOTH
Zone hundred and twenty years
ago this state was vast wilderness.
Our forefathers lived entirely with
out middle men at that time; it was
a struggle to get bare existence
Now we expect living as a natural
course of events; but we expect more
than a bare existence, we are con-
cerned in making living easy. We
are not content with just enough of
the necessities of life to live; we must
live we'll.
1.-THE retailer helps us to live we'll
and we cannot get along without
him. The place of the middle man
is securely fixed in our economic life;
he is absolutely essential to our vel
fare and the welfare of the commu-
nifty at large. Certainly to elimin-
ate the retail merchant would be to
revert to what our fathers had to
endure 100 years ago.
The Mail Order House.
Il suppose the subject, Will the
elimination of the retail merchant
kill the town. should be worded,
Will the elimination of the retail
merchant by means of mail order
competition kill the town. to bring
in discussion in which we as retail
merchants are vitality interested. TIC
illustrate this phase of the subject
let me relate to you story which
appeared in the Saturday Evening
Post under date of Nov. %, 1913
This story is told by merchant ir
western town as follows:
"'About ten years ago-perhap!
more than that-the wife or one o.
our farmers happened to get holt
of mail order house catalogue. On
of it's specials caught her eye, ant
she sent in her order. it was a move
experience-this shopping by mail
and when a neighbor woman callet
she displayed the bargain she hat
captured. That was the match il
the hay stack. The news went from
one house to another ....e ...-- .
LIVERY woman wanted to try, tn
new way of shopping-and, besides
there was a certain distinction in thi
long distance shopping that Mrs
Bright, as 1 shall call her, could no
be left to enjoy alone.
One Drew Others.
First, there was the lure Of tn