The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-12-31

The New York Tribune Of Deem
Der ~ prints the following logical
I article written by Archer w. Douglas.
with references to tho middleman and
rs high cost of living:
That the mtddleman Ia an unneces-
uAry and expensive COS In the machin-
cry Of distribution Is not new com
plant Only at present 1t Is accent
uAtod by tho high prices OF commodi-
1eA. especially food productA SO he
= made the scapexoat OF the undoubt-
"a wide spread between prices re-
cotvsd By the producer and those
paid By tho consumer. Also there 10
nothing In the argument that the pre-
oent method OF distribution In both
axpensive and inefficient and the only
reason that II persists Is because no
+ enc has yet found better way. 1t is
i somewhat analogous to our jury sys-
tam. Anyone oan shoot the latter full
~ holeA but no one has yet suggested
anything better to take its place. APP
parently, however. We are making q
determined effort to get producer
/ and consumer closer together, espe-
eaally since the government has got
Into the game. moro particularly in
The interest Of the farmer.
Unfortunately SO far for the sue
cossful solution Of the problem. 1t IL
messed up by amateur theorists,
who seok TO unravel II as though 1t
wers an equation containing un-
known quantities. whose values can
~ determined by critical analysis
There 10 no such thing as any gen.
oroi solution. and that 10 whore the
tnat1al mistake II usually made. Each
l1no Of business II separate study.
n nd often In the way Of distribution
~ bat small relation to any other
lanol Wharo the line = simpSA, the
oomponent articles few IN numbsr
md seAoas h demand. and vhsrs the
1oss1tosy - NOT too sxtanGiv~ It y
1niAe possible 10 bring about closer
1aDprooAAmsnt between producer end
eoasumsr. The Department Of Az
rleulturA, for inStanoA has suc-
4 aooAod IN some sectao0o In having
! fnxmsrs combine to bay carloads OF
B portatn fsrtilisers direct from the
but 1t u perfectly OBJ
v3ous tha& an attempt to apply this
y Z farmer buys will prove thoroughly
1smpsaoticahaA
The hardware trade 10 4 good illus
tsatton Of the dificulty Of any gen.
spraf1a&1on. 1t 10 q business Of I'm
Imense detail and completely. It
nuubers all sorts OF things In its
cufF3oulum until the items reach
Uneo many tnouoAno1- lA<8e xotau
II hardware dealer in . large city may
buy direct from the manufactures
such articles ~ are In sufficient bulk
and volume to warrant suoh conneo-
U tion. but he flnds It quite impossible
~ DO 70 In all cases. In many In
sofances the orders he places are 80
hmAll In volume ana value that they
Is 40 not pay . manufacturer to handle
them. This situation Is accentuated
IN the case Of a small retailer IN q
&analll city or small town remote from
manufacturing csnters. He may
seafry, anywhere from 5000 to 10000
sttoms In stock. and yet many Of tho
&1fAns are 80 small In value and
weight that 1t takes q number Of
thom to make enough weight for {
xffeight shipment. To order each
kSopArate item from some manufact-
%Ior hundreds and thousAnds Of
1Ies away II, Of course. impossible.
4 n must perforce supply his wants
1qm the nearest wholesaler or job
< who carries all these items In
~ and oan supply them promptly.
hitting goods quickly IL more and
- matter Of prime importance,
the real problem Of busineD-
o1 msrchandising-is seen to
- n tha ablliky 70 cASry small