Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-10-04

good solicitor gets a good salary
and the commission merchant can
not afford to send him to each
small farmer. Moreover, the COM
mission merchant does not want
| too many apples He is not inter
ested in preventing economic
waste, he is only interested in max
| ing a living like you and l. If he
puts too many apples on the mar
ket, the price will go down and
he may lose money and even go
/ bankrupt. A commission man has
even been known to buy crops of
apples from orchardists and then
refuse to pick them or to allow
anyone else to pick them, because
he was afraid that too many apples
would come to market and glut it
and lower the price. He has got
to keep the price up or bust and
he keeps it up. You can't blame
him.
1t is no wonder that he does not
go around gathering the apple
crops of the small farmers. He
can't afford to do it.
Why doesn't the farmer hitch up
his wagon and drive to town with
these apples and sell them direct
to consumers? He could sell them
for half the retail price and still
make big money.
Once more we come to the typ
ical American city which we are
studying. In this city some farm
ers do drive to town with loads of
apples. They go to market, back
their wagons up to the curb and
prepare for business. But as soon
as they get there, the word is
passed along the line that the
price of apples for today is sO-and
so. That price is the same as the
price in the retail stores, or only
a few cents different. It has been
fixed by men, who control the
market by agreement with the
other local retailers. Suppose this
farmer, in order to get rid of his
apples, undertakes to sell them for
less than the agreed-On price. If
he does this, the next time he
comes to market, he will not be
able to get space at the curb. This
space is controlled by the market
it, and who wants to please the
majority The farmer who wants
to undersell the rest of the market
will be showed off into an undesir-
able place where he cannot do any
business. Furthermore, he will be
hazed. He will be treated as a
renegade and a traitor. He will
have violated the first rule Of all
business, which is to keep the price
up whatever happens His friends
and fellow traders will turn upon
him like wolves upon a bOb-tailed
wolf They will drive him out of
business. And you can't blame
them. Their livings, the livings of
their wives and children, depend
upon keeping the price up, and
they keep it up.
The only other thing this farmer
could do would be to drive about
the streets from door to door try
ing to sell his apples. If he is go
ing to farm. he cannot do that. He
hasn't got time And furthermore
he would find himself up against a
combination of street hawkers who
would go after him numerically
for trying to break the market.
Feeds to Pigs.
So the farmer stays at home and
feeds to pigs apples which you and
would be glad to have and lets
apples rot. Often he says to the
passerby: "If you want some ap-
pies, help yourself"
Why don't you and I accept the
farmers invitation, go to the coun-
try and pick up apples. can them,
and have a winter supply?
We are not used to doing it, we
never though of doing it. We are
slaves OF habit And besides, we
are too stuck-up to go out and pick
up apples of the ground. We have
30-cent incomes, but millionaire