]46 



ly is not influeiieed by the best motives but rather by 

 money. They know that when this business is in full blast 

 that the growers, the producer and the consumer will not 

 l)ay over 2% or 21/.% to have their goods sold" Avhere 

 formerh^, under the old system, the whispering system, for 

 }'eople in our city seldom gave out a price above a whisper, 

 lut after the sales were over and the little price currents 

 were out, the^ talked right out loud, they did not hestitate a. 

 minute; "an awful sick market, the stuff was pretty bad 

 too, most of it was rotten." 



And then they wrote something to the shipper and told 

 him they Avere very sorry but they could not get any more 

 for it on acconnt of the condition of the stuff. Occasionally 

 there was a shipper who had the temerity to pay his fare to 

 New York and had seen his own goods and doubted their 

 veracity or else doubted his owiT eyes and then after calling 

 on an occulist decided his eyes were all right. 



I don't knoAV that this thing happens in Boston but we 

 do knoAV there is a system whereby we can save the con- 

 sumer and producer about 20% in the handling of foodstuffs 

 in New York City. We know it is not an experiment. It 

 has been tried out for years and years by people in thos^ 

 tar-away countries. AVe know there is a check system in 

 {Imost. every business. Eailroad conductors a few years ago 

 were very careless and the company put on a check system 

 ;uk1 some of the conductors went to farming or ^ome other 

 labor. The saloon-keepers thought they Avere being de- 

 frauded and they bought cash registers. The old system wa;s 

 that the l)ar-keeper would flip a silver dollar and if it stuck 

 to the ceiling it Avas the proprietor's but if it hit the floor it 

 Avas the ])ar-teuder's ; noAV they put it in the cash register, 

 {■nd let ns see Avhat some of the other big successful concerns 

 have done. Avhat your big concerns do, don't they bond the 

 employees? Don't they haA^e some. sort of insurance system 

 so that if an employee defrauds them they are reimbursed? 

 Don't they feel that the insurance company can prosecute 

 them Avhere they might, through charity or love or sym- 



