154 THE FARMER AS A BUSINESS MAN, 



unquestionably, with the money of their consignors. In some 

 lines of trade there is much petty fraud. As the capital 

 required is small, the business is greatly overdone in all cities, 

 and among those who enter the trade there is certain to be 

 an undue proportion of dishonest men. This is inevitable 

 because dishonest men will seek to enter those lines of trade 

 which afford the best opportunities for dishonesty. For this 

 the commission trade has no equal. The consignors are not 

 business men. Many of them live far away. They have no 

 means of knowing what is done with their produce, and no 

 ability to prosecute if wrong is discovered. The field could 

 not well be more inviting to dishonesty, and there is dishon- 

 esty. At the same time there are as honorable men in this 

 trade as there are in any business. 



I think the fundamental trouble with the commission 

 trade is that public opinion permits the commission agent to 

 buy and sell, if not to speculate, in the products for which 

 he is agent. It affords the temptation to dishonesty, and 

 the means of covering it up. When my commission agent 

 returns me an account of sales, he does not usually say who 

 has bought the goods. He may have sold them to himself, to 

 be immediately resold at a higher price. It is done every 

 day in all markets. It is not considered fraudulent, at least 

 by the trade. The only remedy is a return to primitive cus- 

 toms. This can only be secured by the organized action 

 either by farmers or commission men themselves. It is not 

 likely to be done by the latter until organized farmers compel 

 it. The first step towards this is the adoption of " resolutions " 

 against the practice by the grange and similar influential 

 organizations of farmers. This educates public opinion, and 

 l)repares the way for other ste})S. Even this stage, however, 

 has not been reached. On the contrary, farmers are always 

 extremely eager to sell outright to their commission agents, 

 not uniierstanding that these men almost never buy except 

 upon almost a certainty of a rising market, and not reflecting 

 that a commission merchant who has this habit is a very 

 unsafe person to consign to, as the farmer may be doing in a 

 few days. I will not willingly put my produce into any 



