| Show CUT THE MIDDLEMEN the matter of food conservation under government control contral brings up some interesting statistics to show how low necessary it is to rearrange our system of distribution for instance in 1912 the food producing crops of this country were valued at at the farmers yards when the people secured the foodstuffs they paid just tor for them the years harvest harvest or nearly double the flie amount which they would have to pay could the crops have been delivered to the consumer direct from the producer without any midd lemens profit to make the example more concrete A local tomato grower once delivered to a shipper a wagon load of tomatoes for 22 cents per bushel while the grower was unloading the tomatoes a customer stepped into the produce store and asked what tomatoes were selling for he was informed 45 cents per bushel and forthwith bought a number of bushels right from the gr growers wagon load which the produce man never touched in other words the produce man made over one hundred per cent on the transaction and the goods which he sold had not yet been delivered to him by the grower undoubtedly there are great quantities of wheat and flour stored la in elevators and warehouses throughout this country which are being held for speculation purposes by parties who contribute not a single iota to the production of the commodities by storing staring these great quantities the market can lie be controlled and the price regulated by the middleman to the detriment of both the producer and the buying public did you ever stop to think how hard a I 1 farmer armer works for the little he gets and how little the middleman has to do to become wealthy the middleman in every line of commerce throughout tile the land I 1 is becoming wealthy while tile the producers continue to grind away to make an lion hon est living I 1 if the control of these things by the government will rectify this great national evil and eliminate the who is exacting the profit from hunger and want then perhaps the war will proxye a L blessing after all |
