New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-07
ARE THERE EXCESSIVE PROFITS?
A Consumer Describes Them All Along
the Line.
To the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: In very courteous letter to The
Tribune Mr. j. R. Morley, president Of the
Minnesota Cooperative Dairie, Association,
answers my suggestion that it s high time
the consumers of this country got together
by forming unions in the shape of CO.
operative societies.
VIII you allow me space for a few COM
ments on Mr.. Morley's arguments?
And at the outset let me say that | am
not as yet, even in theory, a socialist. Nor
am | an anarchist. | am just one of many
millions OF consumers who know very well
that they are being robbed and cheated, and
worse still--very often poisoned Chiefly
with formaldehyde), in order that greedy,
ruthless minority may own houses and autos.
Incidentally, | am a writer-a plain news
paper man-of wide experience, trained to
see and hear, to think and form conclusions
in many lands Ny vision is less marrow
than my courteous but misleading critic
thinks. This by the way.
In his letter to The Tribune of to-day Mt
Morley says:
"A consumers union must, if it gets the
desired results. G., reduced cost of living
work Numerically opposite to the trades
unions All trades union people are cor
sumers. II is reasonable, then, to assume
that if a proposed consumers union would
reduce the cost Of living it must reduce the
cost of production
The falacy in Mr. Morley's argument Is IN
the tail.
In my opinion-which is based on facts
10 reduce the cost of living all that Is neces-
sary is to reduce the iniquitous, cruel prof
its of the trusts, the middlemen and the re-
tailers, who stand between the consumers
and the producers of such things as wheat,
milk, fruit, meat and vegetables.
TO begin with, there are far too many
middlemen. Next. the trusts are utterly con-
scienceless Lastly, the retailers have been
corrupted by the example OF much richei
men. They have grown greedy.
| have not one word TO say against trades
unions. or even against producers unions
All do say is that they should both be made
-bv law. if we cannot have cooperative So
cietes COR consumers unions TO earn
only fair profit on their investments. 1t is
a disgrace to the community that such for
tunes as we know of should exist, when there
are mothers and children literally starving
here. Only the other day we read of one
such case in the New York newspapers.
At another point Mr.. Morley makes this
statement:
"a six.cent loaf is no harder to earn now
than a three-cent loaf was in 1896
without wishing to be anything but tenn
nerate. | am compelled to reply that Mr.
Morley knows his assertion in this instance
is-wcll broadly inaccurate. There are sew
eral million persons in America who make
money now quite easily. The rest, like my
self are victims of the trusts, the middle
men and tho retailers.
Another point. Mr.. Morley surely does
moi help his argument when he draws atten-
ton 20 the fact that at costs more TO run
strcctcar now than IL did formerly"
That may be true. Yet it is still found
possible for the great public to use street
cars at the old price,. C.. five cents. ana
woe betide the trust that would try to raise
il by so much as single cent while the diVi-
dends of certain companies are what Wa
know them TO be.
What we all long to hear from an authori-
tativc source is the real cost to the trusts
the retailers and the mddlemen of food and
milk
Two days ago | was in n milk producing
district in Connecticut. On inquiry ] was
told there by consumers that they were nav
ing pure milk with honest cream on II
supplied direct to them by the farmers Tor
five cents IA quart. The farmers IN that DIS
trict were getting ono and hait cents
wholesale for the same milk
Tho dairymen ara being undcrpaids Bus