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Show H TOO MANY MIDDLEMEN S In many instances producers are re- B ceiving less for their products than be- K fore the war. Take for example pork, B mutton, beef, cereals, butter, eggs, Wool B and cotton the price of which to the pro- H ducer is in most instances less than the m pre-war period. . H "Why then has there not occurred a cor- fl , responding reduction in price to the con- H'i sumer? H ' There is but one reason and answer H betwee nthe producer and consumer H there are too many middlemen, too many" i-ehandlings, with' cost' fpr each rehandl- Iing and profits for each rehandler pyramided pyra-mided and added into the pice to the consumer. con-sumer. The situation is further aggravated by J the incerase in price made breach deal- H t er as "the commodity passes from one to H another on its circuitous pilgrimage to L I the-consumer, the cost and profits assess-H' assess-H' " ' ed. in each instance usually being exces- Hj sive. H Of the price paid by consumers but a H small part goes to the producer. Most of Hl the cost of the article is gobbled up by H' commission men, brokers, jobbers, whole- Hj salers, peddlers and what nots. Hl Brokers, commission dealers and job- H bers, to cover their trail, attempt to H blame it on railroad rates. i But on orange, lemon, head of lettuce, H pound of pork, beef, mutton, asparagus, H. ( butter, dozen of eggs or box of berries. H where at most the freight charges rarely H amount to one cent, the spread in the 1 i price between producer and consumer H " , makes it yery clear that the cause of low Hl i prices to the producer and high to the HJ consume is not the freight rates, H Instance the retail price of these com- H lnoaiuSS'Jn Pacific coast markets right H where they are grown and on much of H .which there is no rail haul and therefore H no freight charge by the railroads as H compared with the retail priQe in Chica- H go and New York after a rail haul of sev- ' eral thousand miles. Strange, isn't it, L that the price is the same. In other words H a "Sun-kissed" California orange retails M at five cents in New York after a rail H haul of four thousand miles. H There remains no doubt that failure to m adjust and coordinate our merchandising B system, resulting in too many rehandl- H I ings, excessive and unnecessary costs H ! ancL profits, with consequent pyramided B costs to the consumer, is largely respon- H sible for liability of producers to sell at a fair margin of profit as well as for the H inability of consumers to buy at a fair H Of course, industrial degression inci- H den- to v ar has lessened greatly the com- H mon buying power of the people, a result B bound to adverselv affect producers re- H if costs or pices, but the great H trouble is too many middlemen and too H much profiteering. |