1912. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
IQS 
“PRODUCERS’ AND CONSUMERS’ MAR¬ 
KETS.” 
A Plan for Large Cities. 
Part I. 
While there are so-called public markets 
in New York City, they are in no sense 
producers’ and consumers’ markets. The 
city owns the property, but it is rented to 
private retailers or jobbers, the same as 
any private property would be, and they 
conduct their business solely for their own 
profit without regard to either producer or 
consumer. At the Gansevoort Market in 
Manhattan and at Wallabout Market in 
Brooklyn there is outdoor space allotted to 
farmers with their teams and wagons, but 
farmers here do not trade with consumers. 
They have to deal with retailers, jobbers 
and middlemen. The locations are not suit¬ 
able for retail markets, and they in no de¬ 
gree solve the question of how to bring pro¬ 
ducers and consumers into direct relations. 
The system, such as it is, is full of tempta¬ 
tions for favoritism, graft or the boycott. 
The producing areas are too far removed 
from the City of New York to permit of 
marketing any considerable amount of prod¬ 
uce by wagon. You must go twenty miles 
or more out in every direction before com¬ 
ing even to market gardening on a large 
scale, and these products constitute a very 
small part of the family food supplies. 
Practically everything to feed the five mil¬ 
lion inhabitants of New York City and 
about as many more transients, comes by 
rail or boat, and the high cost of living 
with poor return to the producers is a tre¬ 
mendous problem now pressing for solu¬ 
tion. Let me enumerate some of the causes 
for the high cost of living and the poor re¬ 
turns to the producers: 
1. High rates of transportation, espe¬ 
cially by express. 
2. Inadequate and poorly located termi¬ 
nals and receiving facilities. 
3 . Cartage, storage and repeated han¬ 
dling. 
4. Commission men, jobbers and middle¬ 
men generally. 
5. The multiplicity of retailers, and the 
unnecessary expense of retail delivery. 
0. Waste, delay and deterioration. 
7. Bad debts. 
8. Improvidence of consumers in methods 
of procuring household supplies, baDd to 
mouth. 
9. Glut in the market. 
10. Poor market information. 
11. Unreliable quotations. 
12. Speculation, “corners,” cold storage. 
The Remedy. —Bring the producers and 
consumers into direct business relations, by 
the establishment of public markets under 
the control of producers and consumers, 
eliminating the commission men, jobbers 
and speculators. Save trucking, handling 
and storage. Inaugurate the system on a 
scale commensurate with the population 
and the demands of a district, city or town. 
The field must be occupied from the first, 
or a “freeze-out” will be certain and effec¬ 
tive. Collect and disseminate reliable mar¬ 
ket information and quotations. How can 
it be done? 
The Flan. —The State should do what is 
important for the public welfare, it it 
cannot be done adequately and effectively 
by private enterprise and capital. The 
State has the power of eminent domain and 
may acquire private property for public use. 
Individuals and business corporations have 
not this right. It is practically impossible 
for private persons to acquire suitable 
property for the markets that would meet 
the requirements of New York City, and 
if they did, the enterprise would be only 
private business on a large scale. In order 
to establish public markets of sufficient 
number and size to supply the demands 
of the consumers of New York, it would be 
necessary for the City or State to provide 
suitable property, and buildings, located in 
districts within reasonable distance of the 
population to be served. This would re¬ 
quire at least one district market for every 
100,000 of population, and without counting 
the outlying districts with more or less 
scattered population, would mean about 10 
district markets in the Borough of Manhat¬ 
tan, 10 in Brooklyn and two or three in 
the Bronx. Queens and Richmond for the 
present might be omitted. These district 
markets could be established for sums vary¬ 
ing from $50,000 to $150,000 each, for land 
and suitable and substantial buildings. In 
addition to the district markets, it would 
be necessary to have two or three large 
receiving terminal warehouses, with cold 
storage equipment, and at least one manu¬ 
facturing establishment to do canning, pick¬ 
ling and preserving, to take care of the 
surplus and what would otherwise be waste. 
The expenditure of the large sum of money 
required to provide the land and buildings 
for an adequate chain of district markets 
and other important adjuncts, need not be 
an unprofitable investment for the State, 
but if it were, the benefits derived by the 
whole body of producers and consumers, 
comprising practically the entire population 
of the State, would justify the expenditure. 
An Operating Company. —With the plant 
provided, how shall it be operated? A pro¬ 
ducers’ and consumers’ market company 
should be incorporated with a capital stock 
of, say five million dollars, divided into 
shares of five dollars each to be subscribed 
and paid for, in cash, no person being per¬ 
mitted to hold more than 20 shares. This 
company should lease for a term of years 
from the State all the market property and 
appurtenances at a yearly rental not to 
exceed five per cent on the total investment. 
It should be limited by its charter to net 
earnings not to exceed 10 per cent on its 
cash capital. It should be under the super¬ 
vision of a “Markets Commission” to be 
appointed by the Governor of the State. 
It should have a representative board of 
directors and an expert executive commit¬ 
tee. A general manager of wide business 
experience and recognized capability should 
be employed to manage the whole enter¬ 
prise. Each district market should have its 
superintendent and general working force. 
The supplies in each district market should 
comprise all food stuffs. Shipments by 
producers should be made, as directed, to 
the various district markets or to the ter¬ 
minal warehouses, and other supplies should 
be purchased, as nearly as possible, at the 
initial point of production. Prices would 
be fixed and quoted daily by the market 
management according to the general state 
of the market with information regarding 
supply and demand. A system of cash dis¬ 
counts on the amount of goods purchased 
by consumers should be arranged to attract 
trade, to be paid upon the presentation 
of purchase checks in amounts of $25, more 
or less. A purchase check, showing the 
amount purchased, should be given each 
customer with each purchase. A charge for 
delivery should be made to encourage the 
carrying home of supplies. Prices should 
always be fixed at the lowest possible point, 
consistent with fair returns to producers, 
fixed charges, operating expenses and not 
to exceed 10 per cent per year on capital. 
Prices should be uniform at all markets, 
and deliveries should be made only within 
specified district boundaries, to avoid dupli¬ 
cation of delivery service. Minor refriger¬ 
ating, canning, preserving and pickling 
equipment should be installed in each dis¬ 
trict market. 
Capital of Operating Company. —The 
capital of the operating company should be 
furnished by producers and consumers. It 
does not seem appropriate at this time to 
go into details regarding the method of 
raising this capital, but when we consider 
that more than $500,000,000 of food stuffs 
are consumed each year in the City of New 
York, and that one per cent of this amount 
would furnish sufficient working capital, 
and that producers will be saved about 10 
per cent (the usual commission) besides 
receiving a higher price for their produce, 
and that consumers will save at least 10 
per cent on the cost of food supplies, it 
seems feasible to devise some way that shall 
be workable and not burdensome, to secure 
from these two classes the necessary work¬ 
ing capital to conduct a business established 
and managed by them and for them. I 
would charge all shippers five per cent on 
gross sales and all purchasers five per cent 
on all purchases for account of capital stock, 
until every producer and every consumer 
was the owner of one share of stock, there¬ 
after the purchase of capital stock, to the 
limit of 20 shares, should bo encouraged 
but made voluntary. By this method pro¬ 
ducers of food stuffs in every part of the 
country would become interested, and every 
consumer doing business with the markets 
would also become a co-operator in the en¬ 
terprise. There would be no danger of 
keeping either producers or consumers from 
doing business with the markets, as it would 
result in a financial benefit of from 10 per 
cent to 30 per cent to each party. 
EZRA S. TUTTLE. 
(To be continued ). 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
THE CARELESS GROCER 
Blundered, and Great Good Came of It. 
A careless grocer left the wrong pack¬ 
age at a Michigan home one day and 
thereby brought a great blessing to the 
household. 
“Two years ago I was a sufferer from 
stomach trouble, so acute that the effort 
to digest ordinary food gave me great 
pain, and brought on a condition of 
such extreme nervousness that I could 
not be left alone. I thought I should 
certainly become insane. I was so re¬ 
duced in flesh that I was little better 
than a living skeleton. The doctors 
failed to give me relief and I despaired 
of recovery. 
“One day our groceryman left a pack¬ 
age of Grape-Xuts food by mistake, so 
I tried some for dinner. I was sur¬ 
prised to find that it satisfied my appe¬ 
tite and gave me no distress whatever. 
The next meal I ate of it again, and to 
be brief, I have lived for the past year 
almost exclusively on Grape-Nuts. It 
has proved to be a most healthful and 
appetizing food, perfectly adapted to the 
requirements of my system. 
‘‘Grape-Nuts is not only easily digest¬ 
ed and assimilated, but I find that since 
I have been using it I am able to eat any¬ 
thing else my appetite fancies without 
trouble from indigestion. The stomach 
trouble and nervousness have left me, 
I have regained my plumpness and my 
views of life are no longer despondent 
and gloomy. 
“Others members of my family, espe¬ 
cially my husband (whose old enemy, 
the ‘heart-burn,’ has been vanquished), 
have also derived great benefit from 
the use of Grape-Nuts food and we think 
no morning meal complete without it.” 
Name given by Postum Co. Battle 
Creek, Mich. 
“There’s a reason,” and it is explained 
in the little book, “The Road to Well- 
ville,” in pkgs. 
Ever read the above letter? A new one 
appears from time to time. They are genu¬ 
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