The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-02-19
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HASKiN. Director.
Washington, d. c.
THE RETAILER AND THE FOOD
ADMINISTRATIONS
d. c

building mere which is nearly 1l1leO
with pasteboard boxes containing
pledge cards signed by about a quar-
ter of a million retail dealers in food
stuffs. Each of these pledge cards is
represented in the window of some
store by a big striking poster which
announce to the public that the man
inside the store has so1emnly sworn
to sell food at the lowest price that
will leave him a fair profit, and to
cooperate with the food administrator
for the elimination of waste and the
increase Of efficiency.
This pile of promises is growing
daily, and will soon contain the name
of every one of the 100000 retail
dealers in the United States. 1t rep
resents a remarkably interesting eff
fort to control a vast and scattered
business. without the exercise of arbi-
trary pSwer, by organizing it in a
great cooperative effort. The orators
tell US that in this war the United
States stands for individual liberty
autocratic domination. The method
which the food administration has
adopted for the control of the retail
trade is a thOrOgoing test OF the e11l->
cheney of that theory of government.
The relation of the retailer to the
food administration is little under
stood. People know that the whole
sale dealers and the manufacturers
have been licensed by the federal gov
eminent, so that it has a direct power
over them, and may put them out or
business, permanently or temporarily.
if it sees fit. They know, too, that
this punitive power has been exercised
on occasion, that control of the big
dealers is a reality. But the question
is often asked: OF what value to me
Is this control of wholesalers and
manufacturers if the corner grocer is
70 I'll,
The answer to this question is. in
general, that to perfect the control
of such a multifarious thing as the
American retail trade would be long
and difficult job even if arbitrary
methods were used. To obtain that
control by developing spirit of CO.
operation is necessarily a still greater
task. But it is going forward apace.
and a great deal has been accom-
plished. The growing pile of pledge
cards is evidence of that. And the
letters in the food administration files
from retailers in all parts of the coun-
try, telling what they have done to
save food and cut down prices, are
still better evidence. Then, again, the
average consumer does not realize
what conditions he would have faced
if there had been no control. It is
stated by those who are in a position
to know that sugar would now be
selling for 80 cents a pound if it had
not been under government control
from the plantation to the corner
grocery store. That may be taken as
a sample of what uncontrolled war
prices would be.
The food administration has one
way of bringing punitive pressure to
bear upon the retailer: it NAV forbid
the wholesaler or manufa cturer to sell
to him. Such d measure is in it's very
nature one of last resort. The food
administration is not approaching the
problem in that spirit. 1t believes that
pliShcd by enlisting the retailer on its
side than by holding threat over his
head. For the retailer can do great
deal more than reduce prices. He is
an expert in matters of food He can
be- if he will, a valuable adviser to
ms patrons. He can save the nation
time, money and men in the way he
CONDUCTS his business. He is worth
vastly more as a patriotic assistant
than he. possibly could be as man
with no motive for good behavior ex-
cept a threat of punishment hanging
over his head
In addition to keeping prices down.
as more than half of the retailers in
the country are already pledged to do.
the grocer as a patriotic assistant 70
his government can do a great deal
IN the way OF cutting out waste. espe-
claIiy in matters of credit and deliy-
cry Ihese are two of the biggest
items in the American high cost of
liVlng. GrocerS all over the country
acting thru their associations. are
working on this problem in a wav
That Will not only go a long way to-
ward cutting down the cost of food in
war time, but will surely put the re-
tail food business in America on n
mere economical basis for all time
The big idea in all of the Schemes
that are being put into effect for cut
ting down delivery and carriage costs is
that the customer may have both de-
livery and credit if he is willing to nav
for them, while the customer who is
willing to dispense with these things
shall thereby get his food at lower
prices.
AS everyone Knows. the food admin
istration. publishes in the newspapers.
in every city in the country, lists of
fair prices for foodstuffs. 1t has been
suggested two lists should be pub
lished: One for s"cash-and-carry''
stores and another for "delivery-arid-
credit" stores.
Few people realize what large items
delivery and credit systems are in the
cost of food. Many large &tores spend
thousand dollars month for deliv-
cry service alone. This, under the old
system, now passing, must be taken
out in the cost of goods. The store
that does not deliver or give credit
can and commonly does advertise
lower prices. But both the retailer
and the public would be safeguarded
if two sets of prices were regularly
published.
The way prices vary according to
service offered is exemplified by the
history of a carload of oranges de-
livered in New York. 1t was found
that these oranges, all of the same
grade. were sold by various dealers
ranging from push cart peddlers on
the East side to Fifth avenue groeers
at no less than five different prices
The lowest was rs cents dozen. The
highest was s1-05 a dozen And none
of these dealers was making an ex-
cessive profit. The variati was ac-
counted for entirely by the overhead,
and chiefly by rent, delivery and
credit.
large and we'll known grocery