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J^i~^'^W>-W^.^W- ■ 



108 



TENTH ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE 



plied; while there is still another man 

 who has to dole it out in a smaller 

 quantity, and he finds himself in a 

 like predicament. If the producer Is 

 spared the time of marketing his honey, 

 and seeks to do it through some other 

 sources, he must necessarily pay for 

 that privilege. I don't know that there 

 is any objection to the man who sells 

 honey between the producer and the 

 consumer telling whom he sells the 

 goods to, with this exception — the pro- 

 ducer would not need him next year, 

 or next time he has honey to sell, and 

 that law which is universal comes into 

 play, which is that the dealer must 

 protect his own interests. The produc- 

 er does so as far as he can, and the 

 consumer buys just as cheap as he can. 

 Now, he may have a friend in busi- 

 ness who sells honey for 25 cents a 

 pound, but there is a man a little way 

 from him that sells it for 22 cents. He 

 would like to deal with a fellow who 

 Is a member of his church and lodge, 

 and so on, but the fellow who sells it 

 the cheapest sells the honey. 1 see Mr. 

 Wheeler here, and I know that he 

 knows a great deal more about this 

 business than I do, and he can tell just 

 how it is done, because he comes in 

 between me and that other fellow. 



Mr. Wheeler — I have not been listen- 

 ing; I have been thinking about some- 

 thing else. 



Mr. Burnett — I am very sorry that 

 my remarks were so quieting. But (he 

 will know. 

 ' Mr. Wheeler — I don't know. 



Mr. Smith — I think I stated today 

 that I thought when honey sold for 

 40 cents, the producer ought to get 20 

 cents out of that, and I think a good 

 many thought I was making a wild 

 statement, that it was not nearly 

 enough for the producer. The retailer 

 must pay big rent in a city like Chica- 

 go: he must deliver that section of 

 honey or the pound of honey that the 

 customer orders, and he must deliver 

 it at the back door of the house. He 

 must heat his room where he keeps his 

 store; li.e must pay the clerks, the 

 bookkeeper, the cashier; and by the 

 time. that he gets through, I believe you 

 will find that the producer, at 8 cents 

 a. pound, in a good year, makes more 

 clear profit on that honey than the re- 

 tailer does, after he pays the whole- 

 saler a profit, pays the railroad com- 

 pany a profit — the railroad has some- 



thing on it; then the commission man 

 has to have something; the man who 

 hauls the honey from the commission 

 house to the retailer's store has to have 

 something on it; and the retailer has 

 to pay his rent and deliver it. So, I 

 say, I don't believe you will find any- 

 where, except on a few articles they 

 advertise specially to draw trade in the 

 large cities, but what the producer 

 gets ICT-s than half. I believe Alexan- 

 der, the great New York producer, stat- 

 ed ho could produce extracted honey at 

 a cent a pound. He sold it at 7 cents. 

 That is several hundred per cent profit. 

 No retailer ever made that. No jobber 

 ever made that. I don't believe it 

 could be produced in this part of the 

 country for a cent a pound. But there _ 

 is more work to the honey after it 

 leaves the extractor than there is be- 

 fore it goes to the extractor, if you con- 

 sider the time it takes to get it to the 

 bat-k door in 'the city, and I am speak- 

 ing of the city, not where the house- 

 wife goes to the grocery and buys the. 

 hoaey and takes it home All the goods 

 are delivered in the city, sometimes 6 

 miles from where you buy them. You 

 can go to the Fair Store, or Siegel & 

 Cooper's, order a cake of honey, and 

 they will deliver it at Hyde Park or 

 Englewood. _ - 



A member — Or Ravenswood. 



Mr. Smith — Yes. And I don't believe 

 they are making any more off it for 

 the time they put in than the bee-keep- 

 er is. I believe if the bee-keepers 

 want to get to the consumer through 

 an organi2;ation, they get a warehouse 

 somewhere, put a man there to take 

 care of the honey, and build up a trade; 

 keep samples there, keep a clerk there 

 to sell it to any one who may call, and 

 to those who want it In large quanti- 

 ties, and they can make more than they 

 do now. If j'ou get the housewife to 

 come and buy a gallon of honey and 

 carry it home, you have to make it 

 cheaper than her retail man does, be- 

 cause very often she will call up her 

 retailer and have it sent. The; retailer 

 is a convenience that is worth money 

 to every one in the city. 



Pres. York — It was said this morning 

 that we have too many middlemen in 

 this city. Mr. Burnett is one of the 

 middlemen, and we have heard from 

 him. Mr. Moore is a middleman too, 

 and we would like to hear from him. 



