56 



Ex-President H. 0. Mead, Lunenburg: 



"I wish to say that the man who succeeds in this world 

 fits the conditions around him and the man who doesn't fit 

 those conditions will make a failure. 



"I know that the fruit growers of California are at 

 the mercy of the packers but the conditions there do not 

 correspond to ours. The man three or four hundred miles 

 from a market has not the same conditions as we have here 

 where the market is right at home. The average man can 

 take care of his products better than it can be done by any- 

 one else. 



"I wish to say that I don't believe in any legislation to 

 regulate the grading or packing of our fruits either for the 

 home or the foreign market. I look upon such laws as class 

 legislation for the benefit of the buyers and shippers of ap- 

 ples. From the best information obtainable regarding the 

 practical working of the Fruit Marks Act its enforcement 

 has resulted in putting the packing and shipping of apples 

 into the hands of the large dealers and shippers in that fruit 

 and driven from the export business the small grower who 

 formerly shipped directly to the foreign market. Such laws 

 almost always help the few at the expense of the many. 

 Each grower must accept not the price he asks but the price 

 some one is ready to give him. This matter has been re- 

 ferred to as similar to the pure food act and its effect on 

 canned meats, as a reason why the government should in- 

 spect fruits. Would the government be willing to furnish 

 free inspection of fruits, as in the case of meats, to add to 

 the profits of dealers and growers of fruit. The average 

 business man will do his business better than some crank 

 legislature will do it for him. 



"The foreign buyer does not need government inspec- 

 tion of apples for they are now sold on their own merits in 

 the foreign markets and receive a satisfactory and fair in- 

 spection. Every market demands a share of cheap goods 

 and business methods will regulate such matters better than 

 legislation. I do not believe that any man who will put up 

 square goods will fail to receive what those goods are 

 worth. I believe that the fruit growers of this section 

 should stand up for their rights that they now have so far 

 as the packing of their own goods is concerned, and we have 

 the right to pack them as we choose. 



"I would be in favor of certain laws, viz: To prevent 



