The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-07-14
p1LLoRY1NG THE RETAILER

l. Idlll1y Vic oSSAoSO Wy p0OSA 'N0SS AAo
tie to disabuse the minds of it's read
ers in this regard. Even if the city
paper tried to do so, results would be
SLOW. for the average city man takes
a hurried look at the front page.
skipping the chance statements by
Hoover or Secretary Wallace on food
matters, glances at the business news
and buries his nose in the sport sec
l ton. a.>
The city, housewife reads just as
narrowly, being principally interested
in the department-store ads. Prob
ably she wouldn't read an article
about farmers on bet.
But the farmers are not without a
remedy. Suppose for Instance, that
when the city housewife opened the
package of eggs just received from
the grocer she should read, stamped
on the side Of the egg, this message:
"From the farm of John Smith. Any
where. Any State, u. S. a. Note:
This egg was sold to the commission
merchant for two cents" The retail
err and the commission merchant
might fight it one among themselves
and cook. up all the alibis they could
think of. but forever and day the
housewife who had Just paid five cents
for that egg would have new doubt.
Or suppose another case: The
housewife picks up her morning pa
per and sees a new ad-ads are her
special meat-and reads with amaze
ment some such message as this:
"What are you paying for potatoes?
The farmers of this county are sell
ing them for approximately seventy
five cents bushel. This message is
| in the interest of truth and SO that
the consumers may know that the
farmer is not the food profiteer.
(signed) Blank County Farm Bu-
reau."
These are purely suppositional
cases. But if the retailers, many OF
whom continue to be our greediest and
most constituencies profiteers, keep
putting the blame on, the farmer, he
has a ready remedy along these lines
which will drive the retailer to cover
at the first blast. i# .
Many retailers are gluttonous swine
in their Unsuitable hunger for profits.
President Harding scored them harsh
ly, and former President Wilson went
so far as to suggest to Congress the
advisability of putting the cost price
on articles so that the consumer
might have the facts.
It's not likely that this will be done
Nor would it be wise, as general
policy. But as a last resort farmers
have this weapon. 4
In a general way farmers are be-
ginning to employ it. The Country
Gentleman's editorial, calling atten-
ton to the failure of organized farm
ers to get their message across to city
folks, has brought US specimen cop
les of number of advertisements
which local farm bureaus are run
ming
The Kentucky Farm Bureau put an
ad in the Courier Journal calling at
tention to the fact that there is bare
ly two dollars worth of wool in a
suit of clothes; that if the farmer
gave his cotton away it would reduce
the cost of cotton shirt only seven
cents; that $11.92 worth of farmers
wheat expands into $587 worth of
restaurant bread. and so on.
In the Fond du Lac Daily Reporter
of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the Coun-
ty Farm Bureau recently placed a
page advertisement. The ad had the
caption: "The Farmer Demands Low
er Living. Costs" and under it these
facts were succinctly stated:
"a year ago a bushel of oats bought
three gallons of gasoline; today it
buys only one.
"A year ago four bushels Of pota-
toes bought ton of coal; today it
takes fifty-seven. .o
"Hides and wool have been begging
a market for almost two years. It
certainly is time that such conditions
should be reflected in the retail price
of shoes and clothing.
"A dozen eggs year ago bought
two pounds of coffee. Today it will
take two dozens of eggs for only one
pound.
monday, good veal on foot sold at
Az cents pound; a, year ago it sold
for four times that amount. What is
the consumer paying today as COM
pared with year ago?
Cheese has dropped. in the last
three weeks twenty-five cents to six
teen cents a pound to the producer,
Ask your grocer his price on cheese
today. .1.
The ad winds up with an appeal to
support two legislative bills designed
to affect the cost OF, living.
All in all, it's a mighty strong ad.
And it may embarrass some profteers
to answer this question, which is ask
ed: "Why haven't the lower prices
reached the consumer? Who's re-
sponsible for the blockade?"
These farmers are going direct to
the public. They are appealing to
public sentiment, which is, after all
the greatest force in the world. If
driven to it, the farmer is going to
pillory some of our retail profteers
in manner that will be almost as con-
spicuous and unpleasant as the wood
en- necklace which the tern Puritans !
used to put on the offenders of their
day-Country Gentleman. ~