The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-06-23
A FAIR PRICE.

Mr.. Bryan, in his Commoner, this
week outlines in way what the DEM
ocratic platform, as he sees =, will be.
There are several issues on which he
thinks there will be a fight, but there
are others on which he thinks the
convention in San Francisco next
week will be agreed. Among the
planks which he suggests will surely
be adopted is one demanding profit
fixing in every line Of business.
We are not prepared just now to
20 the whole way with Mr.. Bryan.
He is after the profteer it is
true, and the profteer must be curb
ed in some way. There is reason in
his argument to be sure. He claims
that the railroads have their income
limited; that the telephones and 9TH
er public utilities have a price fixed
beyond which they cannot go; and
even the private money lender is con-
fronted with usury laws forblddmg
the lending of money at more than
a fair wage for it's use. He argues
from these facts that the man who
deals in the necessities of life should
likewise be limited in, the prices
which he charges the public-that his
profits should be regulated. We as
sumo that Mr.. Bryan is willing for
the broker and the retailer to make
a profit which will enable them to
live and prosper as other people live
and prosper, but he is not willing that
they should charge more than what
is reasonable in the way Of profits.
There is at least something to
think about along this line. In some
of the states, and in Georgia jus
now, there is what is called a Fal
Price Commission, which is fixing tn
prices at which many of the necessl
ties of life must be sold by the re-
taller. His profits are limited. Per
haps we shall come to the same thing
in the buying and selling of othe
things.
It seems to us, however, that re-
lief will come from the employment
of other methods. What the country
really needs is better marketing ia
cilities and better business methods
in buying and selling commodities
There is a cotton mill in New Eng
land, we will say, that wants all the
long staple cotton which will be pro-
duced the present year in South
Carolina, Why should this cotton not
be pooled and sold in a lss te TINS
mill by the people who raise It, Or
why should not each man sell his own
cotton direct to the mill? AS it is now
this cotton is bought on the street by
a local buyer. 1t is sold to broker
and maybe to dealer, and then to
speculator, and so on, and the price
which the manufacturer finally pays
for the cotton of necessity is greater
than the price paid to the man who
grew it. The people who handle the
cotton are not in business for their
health. Without these middle men the
profits which they have made might
go to the producer.
The above is but an illustration.
It seems to US that there is room for
great improvement and for men OF
real brains in the mercantile world
these days. There should be some
way discovered by the merchants to
bay the goods and get them to the
consumers better than that now prac-
ticed. Merchandising as now carried
on is entirely too expensive, we be-
lieve. We do not know enough about
i to suggest the remedy, but we have
merchants in Abbeville VINO are able
to solve some of the difficulties which
we have in mind. There should be
way by which the shoes and nats' and
other merchandise bought by the
merchants, should find their way
from the people who make them to
the people who use them less expen-
sive than handling them through the
present channels of trade. The mer-
chant who shall be able to discover
how it may be done will be wise