The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1919-10-31
MAY BE A BOOMERANG

The Southern Wholesale Grocer's
Association is greatly concerned in re-
gard to the Kenyon bill, now before
the United States Senate, which seeks
to impose unreasonable and unfair re-
strictions upon the live ,stock and
dairy markets of the country. The
author and supporters of this bill of
course claim that it will improve pres
ent conditions vastly for both producer
and consumer of such products.
How it will accomplish this we are
at a loss to understand, because the
Federal Trade Commission was un-
able to find that the several factors
at the live stock markets were making
enormous profits, while it is well
known fact that dairy manufacturing
concerns invariably operate upon
small margin of profit. On the other
hand, they did find that the profits
earned by these factors in most cases
amounted to only very few cents up
on each dollar of sales.
Most folks will be moved to inquire
why the grocers are so deeply con-
cerned with the passage of this law
to restrict live stock market enterpri-
ses. Here is the traditional cOlOred
gentleman in the wood pile. 1t seems
that owing to the small profits the
packers have been earning, especially
during the past two or three years,
they have cast around for some means
of reducing overhead costs, with the
result that the manufacturing and dis
tributing of other food products aside
from meats has come within their
range of vision, offering them the
double opportunity of earning more
profits besides supplying the retailer
with various foodstuffs at prices a
little lower than he has heretofore
been able to obtain through the whole
sale grOcers. sf
The wholesale grocers fear that they
will be driven out of business IL this
sort of thing continues, so tits not
upon any economic grounds that they
are pleading. They wan? the packers
confined to the handling of meats
alone and restricted in various other
ways, not because they are interested
in seeing the high cost Of living re.
duced, but because this lower priced
competition threatens to show the re-
taller and the consumer that their
system is wasteful and that an eff
GENTLY operating distributing system
like that of the packers will eventually
put them out of business.
The chief trouble with the wholesale
grocery business is that it is over
done. There are twenty four whole
sale grocery concerns in Jacksonville
These concerns probably maintain q
hundred or more city and country
statesmen and the duplication of their
selling efforts means an enormous ex.
pense which comes out of the retailer
and who in turn makes the consumer
pay the bill with interest. There il
enough duplication of this sort by the
meat packers branch houses. but we
doubt if it compares with that Of the
Wholesale grocers.
AS matter of fact, in these days
of five and ten cent stores, big de
partment stores and numerous mai
order houses, it is really a question al
to whether or not the wholesale gro
Gerry is very necessary institution
Certainly, if it has to plead with th'
public for laws that will restrict lowe
priced competition in order to main
tain its existence, we had best worr.
along for while without its service
In any event, if it is well to restric