The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1918-01-03
MILLIONS WASTED
ON NEEDLESS ARMY
Commended to Attention of Pub
lie Economists
DRUM MERs UNNECESSARY
Editor Adams of the Manatee
Banner, Endorses The Herald's
View-Traveling Salesmen n
Should be Dispensed With

In a recent issue of the Punta
Gorda Herald, Col. A. P. Jordan
published a splendid editorial re-
garding the high cost of living and
suggested as a remedy the doing
away with the thousands of high
salaried travelling statesmen and
the enormous selling expense at
tached to their maintenance. We
intended to reproduce the edi-
torial mentioned, but some one
got away with the paper, there
fore cannot do so.
Throughout the United States
there is a vast army of travelling
statesmen, maintained at an enor-
nous cost. They are about as
necessary to the conduct of busi-
ness as is the second caudle ap-
pendage to a fea-bitten canine.
The elimination of this vast army
of non-producers would increase
the ranks of the producers many
fold and relieve thousands Of men
now required in agricultural and
industrial pursuits for the more
serious work of fighting in the
trenches or upon the open battle
fields. And more than that, a
large per cent of the money saved
by the manufacturers, wholesalers
and distributors could be Topped
off the retail prices of food stuffs,
clothing and other every day ne
cessities Of the people of the ma
ton.
The great mailzorder houses of
the United States do not employ
travelling statesmen. They create
a demand for their goods by adj
vertising. They use magazines,
the country newspapers (where
they will accept mail-order-house
advertisements and catalogues.
For a few cents Uncle Sam carries
their "sales talks" right into the
home of the purchaser. Paying
the travelling expenses of a
drummer" adds large percent
age to the cost of the goods. His
salary would more than provide
for an advertising campaign in the
territory he covers. And the re-
suit would be just as satisfactory
to his employers, as well as mate
rally reducing the cost to the con-
Sumer.
If anyone will show us where
there is any necessity of from a
dozen to twenty travelling sales
men coming to Manatee from
Tampa every week to sell our mer-
chants their weekly supplies,
which could just as well be order
ed by mail or telephone, we will
consider ourselves under Obliga-
tionS.
1T is conceded that after the
war, conditions will have to be re-
adjusted. 1t occurs to us that the
time to begin readjusting is right
now, while there is an unprece-
dented demand throughout the
land for men in all branches OF
business. 1t is the logical time to
do away with this useless army of
travelling salemen, while there is
opportunity for them to secure lu-
crative positions in other lines of |
endeavor.-Manatee Banner.
Supplementing what the Banner |
says, we will state that, while |
these travelling statesmen are good |
and capable men, for which reason
they draw fine salaries, their trav-
cling expenses will average $3.50
each per day and this, added to
their salaries, will bring their cost
to consumers up into millions of
dollars a Won" Of course the -'''
mate consumer pays their salaries
and travelling expenses.
And it may be well to add, also,