The sun., 1916-10-22

VII NO SAsS AAAaAN uAn u
by the refusal of the dairynen to ship milk
until the owners of over 200 900 cows had
their full demands accepted not a: individuals
but as an organization in control of the greater
part of New York's milk supply. On this point
we invite the public to observe the attitude of
the parties in the proceeding before Referee
Dlykman.. and to draw their own conclusions
from such observation. As evidence that there
is a conspiracy among the milk dealers of
New York, Commissions Dillon makes quite
a point that these dealers own practically all
Of the pasteurizing plants available for this
district. and therefore the producers must
patronize them or forego the New York market:
1t will doubtless impress many as not unusual
that all of the milk dealers have equipped them
selves with pasteurizing plants in view of the
regulations Of the Board of Health on that
subject, though it may come as a shock to
some that most, if not all, of the dealers like
wise own milk wagons, horses, milk bottles
and other paraphernalia necessary to their
business, and, what is still more sinister, very
few people outside Of the milk business have
any Of these things in quantities sufficient to
supply satisfactorily New York's milk require
ments.
Having mentioned the prejudice against
the "middleman" without attempting to dis
tinguish between the middleman who renders
q necessary service at a fair profit and the mid
dleman who renders no service or exacts an ex-
orbitant profit, and having mentioned the milk
Trust" bogy. we would now ask consideration
OF the more serious aspects OF the situation.
First. is milk distributed as cheaply in New
York as possible, having regard for quality and
service! This involves two main points as far
as the distributor is concerned, costs and
profits. Ever since we have been in business
we have been subject to the keencst compete
tion. and in spite of all our efforts our costs
have constantly increased, and to a greater
extent than the advances in the retail selling
price. with the result that there has been a
gradual reduction in our profits from this
branch of our business. We will be glad to
receive and adODt anv reasonable Su0Uestion
that will cut down our costs, but most sugges-
tons made thus far involve trade agreements
are not allowed under existing Antitrust
laws. We have already published our profits
for the year ended June 80, 1916. We briefly
repeat this statement,- one -quarter Of one
cent upon each quart of milk handled during
that year; or, put it another way, a return OF
about 80 on the gross business done; or. put it a
third way, about Sc on the cash investment
in this branch of the business. In other words,
if our stockholders had had this investment,
for example, in Anglo-French bonds, they
could have avoided the risk which is incident
to any commercial enterprise, and ~particu-
larly SO in the case of a business which handles
a perishable food product, and still have been
better of. We also repeat the figures showing
what becomes Of the difference between our
paid the dairyman. These figures have been
certified to by Haskins & Sells, Certified Public
Accountants:
On all the milk purchased by our Farm Products
Division from producers during the last f.esI
year and sold to the public either as fluid milk.
cream Or in the form of butter or cheese, we
realized an average selling price per quart of
milk Of ......... ......... S .O8O3
COST:
Paid for Milk S .O369
The cost. Of handling and selling
such milk during said period were
Factory Expense ....... s .0l26
Freight ...,.. ........ .OO72
Selling & Delivery Expense .o2oi
General Expense ..... .OOO9
Total Cost 5 OFF,
The net profit per quart OF such milk during said
period was approximately only cent .... s .OO26
Percentage of Profit on Net Sales ........ BPS
We are told by some Of our friends that while
they believe the truth of these ngures, most
people discount them as coming from a partial
source, and we read in an evening newspaper
an editorial in which the writer theoretically uses
the short and ugly word and publishes the fact
that we have a preferred capital stock of 81, 500. 900
on which we pay s. p, and S2l 900 600 of common
that the statement we made as to our profits
is not to be relied upon, ignoring the question
as to whether there we're any profits from the
other branch OF our business, which includes
the making and selling Of condensed and
evaporated milk and other products. The two
branches are as separate and distinct as If they
were owned and operated by separate corpora
tions. The markets are different. the prob
lens are different. the channels and processes
Of distribution are different, the management
and operating personnel are different, and
separate books and records are kept. The