The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-12-31
Words For The Middleman
He Is Largely But the Product of Our Wasteulness and
Cannot Be Abolished By Denupciation-W Why Do Peo-
pie Not Patronize Their Public Markets.

stocks. constantly replenished. thus
insurtng frequent turnover
In addition to this difficulty Of dis
tance to DO overcome, and b0stn ess
to be done on q small scale. the
manufacturer who attempts 10 do
serious troubles confronting him. He
must needs be equipped with a large
and expensive selling force to call
constantly on the trade. and he must
greatly enlarge his capital to meet
the new demands made upon him for
long credits- Tho Is especially true
in the West and Southwest. whore
the crops are the measure Of pros
penty. In these sections there are
years when the clouds drop fairness.
and years when the lean kline arc
abroad in the land. In these latter
days OF distress. when the farmer
has but little and cannot pay. he 10
carried by the retailer. who, IN turn,
Is carried by the jobber until good
times come around again. The
manu- facturers who have essayed this
plan OF going direct to the retail
err and thus eliminating the tobber
and most OF them have at one time
or another-soon find the plan too
expensive and too foreign to their
methods. DO that the retailer In the
end fails to buy from the manufact-
urer any cheaper than from the job
Der.
Another plan IL that OF the jobbsr
dispensing with the travelling sales
man. who Is a very expensive ele-
ment in distribution. and soliciting
the retail trade direct b. mail and
by means OF catalogues This plan
has not lacked Of success IN many
instances, but Il has not apparently
In auv ~nv aHnsxk>A ~ s4~Hs.o - 49,
jo0bAr who selh has Wareo thEough
travelling salesman. -------.-
Another svon moro SAd3cAl mo<hod
that Of ths catalogue o. mail
house-seels 70 roaoA the Consumer
direct by mail and % 0upsly away
with both wholesaler and Je<ailsr.
Some startling successes In th4s line
hovo ob0oured Z good many unno-
ticed failures. but still the 3ohbsr not
only continues. but enlarge his
bounds. Tharo n something moro
than the problem Of distributor In
volved in this latter plan. The life
upon the farmsrs trade. Should the
farmer buy solely from the mali or
der house. then the country town
would cease to exist, which 10 an I'M
thinkabls proposition. since the town
10 = source Of Inspiration and tho
center OF social life TO the farmer
Also It affords him = constant and
necessary market for much Of his
farm produce.
OF tho three methods Of distribu-
ton in question all that can be said
IL that each seems b have found Its
place without dispaActng the others.
and that on the whole the ultimate
consumer does not seem to have pro-
fted appreoiably.
Machine ways Of displacing the
human equation, the travelling sales
man. seem equally sxpensivs and
often less convincing. Again, the
great department store seshs to
cheaper goods to the consumer by
concentration and the matter Of buy
ing in large quantities. That they
have done 30 seems undoubted. and
yet in every large city the small re-
taller still does business within the
shadow of tho department stores
and gsts away with It. And all be-
cause. ~ every man Of experience
known. that contrary to economic
textbook theories. price u only one
Of the determining factors OF buy
ing and not always the most impor-
tant.. Ease. propinquity. the human
equation. count for much. ana SER
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