THE EXCHANGE AND THE MARKET 213 



These exceptional sales are always noted and discussed 

 when many sales of independents which average lower than 

 exchange sales are unnoticed. Because of its policy of even 

 and regular distribution, exchange sales are apt to conform 

 more closely to the general average of prices at any specified 

 time, while non-exchange shippers are likely to receive both 

 the highest and the lowest prices. 



The important point is that non-exchange shippers often 

 have the advantage of being able to report spectacular 

 prices. And since it seems to be a characteristic of human 

 nature to prefer the chance of securing exceptionally large 

 gains, though incurring the risk also of exceptionally large 

 losses, to more moderate gains and less risk, even when 

 moderate gains can be proved to total more than large gains 

 plus large losses, some people are going to choose specula- 

 tive instead of merchandising methods of marketing. Co- 

 operative marketing on a large scale is not a spectacle, it 

 is a business. Extraordinary prices could only be obtained 

 by manipulating shipments so as to bring about scarcity 

 prices, and the attempt to do this would be the direct an- 

 tithesis of sound marketing policy. So adventurers and 

 Romanticists who want to "take a chance" prefer spasmodic 

 to regular distribution. They see possibilities of large gains 

 here and there and fail to see at what cost to the industry 

 these gains are purchased. 



It is the old difficulty between individual advantage and 

 the general welfare that arises. One grower or shipper 

 might profit by chaotic and fluctuating markets but nothing 

 more disastrous for the industry as a whole could be sug- 

 gested. The very possibility of obtaining these exceptional 

 prices at all depends on the existence of the industry, and 

 the existence of the industry is dependent on stability of 

 marketing methods. As long as ignorance or selfishness 

 or speculative mania cause certain individuals to seek per- 



