The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1919-07-24
Middle Man Here to Stay.
William Il. lneersotl, il, the National Civic Rexiew.

V"a" 10 bhSS'~O '' SS
Granting that costs are too high and that particularly it costs too
much to distribute our goods, we then proceeded to examine the AIMS
and efforts of those who would accomplish a reduction through tie
elimination of the middeman.
We studied the operations of those great retail Institutions: the
department store and the chain store, which aim and claim to eliminate
the wholesale. We found that instead of eliminating him they substh
tuted a icy one. The department store requires the establishment OF
wholesale warerooms by the manufactures as well as a continuation OF
the regular wholesaler, while the chain stores set up their own central
and subdivded and distributed among their stores, precisely in the
manner followed by the customary wholesale house to its retail Gus
toners, involving all the labor of receiving goods in bulk, opening,
subdividing, 1epacking, forwarding and accounting, with resulting dis
advantage and expense rather than gain.
In each chain store we found a substitute proprietor in the person
of a hired manager, requiring additional safeguards and expense
against dishonesty, indifference and inefflclcncy.
Similarly, when the manufacturer essayed to establish his own
retail. stores and eliminate the retailer and wholesaler, we found that
functions, operations and labor of the ordinary distributing system.
Again, when we examined the great cooperative societies of Great
britain, We found the same distributing elements, and we were forced
to the conclusion that in the nature of the consumers needs and his
geographical distribution over wide areas, the machinery Of dNribu-
uon require three Indispensable elements-naney: the producer, the
wholesaler, and the retailer, and that no effort to eliminate any OF
these units had succeeded in reducing the amount Of labor to be
performed, n in doing more than to change the name of the function
AIRY performing it.
The mail order system was found to be a retail institution combined
with wholesale wurerooms, and in some instances factories, and to
tation in that it involves the carrying of retail packages eve long
distances instead of carrying goods in bulk to the community where
dlv1d!.ng ana delivering through a retail establishment to the consumer
Individuals.
1t was left to us to inquire, therefore, in view of the fact that
elimination OF the middlemen could not be achieved, whether ID Of
these methods OF distribution succeeded in performing the inevitable
labors at a lower expense or in relieving the consumer of paying exorhj-
tant or unearned profits, and whether in the event that these homes
from the high costs which are admitted to be greater than they should be
In our preceding article it was set forth that three and only three
eliminating useless labor; ~ eliminating unreasonable IF unca1uea
profit; (c) increasing the efficiency of our distributors.
lhefe is no opportunity for. saving L the motions, processes or
labor OF the produeer.wholesaler-pataile system without substituting
more expensive methods.