The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-08-28
MR.. MIDDLEMAN


Middleman 2 has been a red-rat
! word to the followers Of the pillow
+, for generations. Senator Brookhar
reached the actual thought of mil
| lions of farm folk when he proposed
| in Minneapolis a league Of blocs
against the middleman.
The industrial employees have lately
heard something of this middlemar
person. 1t appears that he raises the
cost Of their food and clothing. Some
of them may take kindly to the doc
trine of the senator from agricultural
Iowa and join up with the anti-mid-
dleman army.
What then has this Mr. Middleman
he live and carry on business, says
the Yakima Daily Republic. The
farmer will reply that the grain ware
house man, the vegetable commission
merchant, the cotton banker stand
between farm and consumer, and take
an inordinate profit. But Mr.. Mid
dleman's business extends beyond
that, for good or evil. He deals in
cotton goods as we'll as in raw cot
ton He markets shoes from Haver-
hill, as we'll as hides from South
America. Both farm products and
frxo 81 .oJc fo al
output, pass through his hands.
One who knows the meanings of it's
two component words can readily see
for himself that middleman sig
nifies the man in the middle of an
economic process, the man between
any producer and any consumer. All
persons in this position work more
or less to common end that of
supplying the consumers with what
they want when and where they want
it, and when and where the producers
cannot supply it.
A party of farmers came here two
or three years ago, ate simple lunch
in restaurant, got their checks and
figured up how many times the farm
cost Of the food their bills came to.
If they thought of the difference as
due wholly to middlemen they went
too far. The abolition of Mr.. Middle
man would certainly not have pro-
vided free cooking, or restaurant rent, |
Dr. clean plates and cloth. But the
of Mr.. Middleman did include
the food to eating places, |
it in storehouses, refrigerat- |
ng it, transporting it by rail or wat
sr, underwriting the risk of it's spoil |
ng
And how many persons work at all |
,hese tasks in Mr.. Middleman's en- I
oloy? Farm, forest, animal raising, |
mining and manufactures, according
o the 1920 census of occupations, en-
rage nearly 60 per cent of our en-
,loyed persons. Some thus classified 7
nay have to do with marketing, stor-
ng or transporting products, and SO
'elong to the middleman group. But
side from them, persons engaged in
transportation, trade, and clerical
work. from over 25 per cent of the
Employed population. Most of that Is
Ter cent make living by handling
.oods on the way from producer to
onsumer
In addition to providing the pay of
oughly quarter of our workers Mr..
operations call for the
York OF many producers. His receipts
aust pay for rolling stock, refriger-
tors and storage rent After he has
aid reasonable wages and incomes to
hose engaged in distribution, and
aid for what goods the processes
f distribution themselves require,
nd footed losses on perishable or
ncertain goods handled, he naturally
harges much in excess of the factory
+ farm cost
Those familiar with distribution
ill doubt whether political action
an ever much reduce the spread in
osts. Marketing experts have been
usy for a hundred years reducing
hem and have covered the field pref
' we'll.