C/ie RURAL NEW-YORKER 
383 
A “ Hearing ” on the Wicks Bill! 
It Turned Out a Popular Protest 
I-ROTECTIXG MILK DEALERS.—Judge George 
W. Ward threw off all disguise at the hearing on 
Wednesday last in Alban.v in presenting his claims 
fur the Wicks hill, and whether knowingly or un- 
conscious'ly made his claims for it on the one and 
onl.v ground that milk dealers in Xew York must 
he protected in their profits, and that farmers must 
he restrained from obliging the dealers to i)ay 
00(1.000 a year for the dirt in the milk. It is true 
that Mr. Ward claimed some other merits for the 
bill that he has been so long ])reparing. hut each 
and every one of the other things that he pro¬ 
posed to accomplish through the hill, and more too, 
already exist in the Agricultural Department and in 
the Department of Foods and Markets. We, of 
course, knew Mr. Ward’s .sentiments before. lie 
has expressed them before in the cit.v, but this was 
the first time to our knowledge that he gave voice 
to them in the hearing of up-State audiences. 
RIGHTEOUS IXDIGXATIOX.—When the men 
j»resent got their innings they gave the Wicks bill 
such a knock-out blow, and the framers of it such 
a chastisement as no other bill ever produced in 
.\lbany in our time received from the farmers of 
the State. This opposition to the bill developed in 
a hearing that was called on short notice. Few far¬ 
mers of the State even knew that there was to be 
a hearing, and yet the condemnation of it was 
abundant and emphatic. It was clearly pointed out 
that this bill showed no comprehension of the agri¬ 
cultural needs of the State. It showed no con¬ 
structive or definite policy for the benefit of the 
consumers of the city. Its only definite provision, 
and its only airiiarent puijiose was for the benefit 
of the milk distributors and other monopolistic 
dealers in the city of New York. 
rXJUST DISCRIMIXATIOX.—The farce and the 
frauds of scoring of barns, testing of milk for but- 
terfat, of standardization of milk on one basis for 
the country and another basis for the city, was left 
untouched. C milk at the farms could still be 
classified as B milk or A milk in the city. A hunch 
of contradictory, archaic, useless agricultural laws 
were dragged from obscurity and disuse and revived 
and reenacted into new laws that made the whole 
Itroceeding ndiculous and pitiable. Not a single at¬ 
tempt to revise and bring the agricultural laws in 
hainnony with the present needs, not a single etii- 
cient pi’ovision made to reduce the cost of distribu¬ 
tion. 
I’OWERS OF MONOPOLY.—In the city the mon¬ 
opoly is proposed for-a few large dealers who would 
have the power to divide the city into zones and 
I)re.scribe for this a monopoly of the distribution of 
milk in .such zone.s. The small dealers who by their 
patronage helped the producer last October to free 
himself from the bondage of the milk trust are to 
be wiped out of existence. In three months of this 
.system we would have a legalized milk trust and 
producers could .sell to them at trust prices as be¬ 
fore or go out of busine.ss. 
A STEP BACKWARDS.—The framers of the 
Wicks bill Avere reminded that their bill was a 
step backwards. It was an attempt to undo what 
the farm organizations and the independent far¬ 
mers of the State had done for themselves. The 
pre.sent Department of Foods and Markets was or¬ 
ganized on the initiative of the New York State 
-Agricultural Society, backed up and supported by 
lh(? Granges of the State, and by practically every 
oi-ganization and educational institution in the 
State. It was organized to help find a market for 
products of the farms of the State, and to help de¬ 
velop such a .system of distribution that through a 
saving in the co.st the farmer might get a little 
more for his product and the con.sumer might pay a 
lirtle less. The Wicks bill Avould wipe out the 
measures undertaken to accomplish this result. 
Pnder it the new department could not sell for the 
farmer a dozen of eggs or a barrel of apples, or a 
quai-t of milk. All it could do would be to regu¬ 
late. and investigate, and indict, and prosecute, and 
these processes never have and never Avill solve the 
Itroblem of the New York State farm.s, or of any 
<»tl or farms. 
RESENTMENT AROUSED.—Mr. Ward sneered 
in open meeting at the suggestion that it 
was possible to pay the farmer more and to 
•sell to the consumer for less. He even Avent so far 
as to characterize the attempt to do so, or the argu¬ 
ment that it could be done, as impossible and insin¬ 
cere. He went further than this and criticized every 
man and every person that opposed the Wicks bill 
as a faker and a crook. While Senator Wicks later, 
attempted to exidain that Mr. Ward did not mean 
what his language said, he did not deny it himself 
and every .speaker on the floor, and probably every 
man in the room, interpreted his language to mean 
what it said. When Mr. Truman of Kingston called 
attention to the fact in resenting Mr. Ward’s in¬ 
sinuation. the applause Avas universal from every 
corner of the house. 
USELESS EXPENSE.-If it is true, as Mr. Ward 
contends, that it is impossible iuid nonsensical to 
assert that a saving can be made in di.stribution by 
which the producer and the consumer can equally 
profit by the .saving, Avhat is George Ward doing in 
-HbanyV What is the Wicks Committee for? What 
is the Wicks bill for? If we are condemned for¬ 
ever to live with the 3o-cent dollar, where is the 
good in paying the Wicks (’ommittee f25,0(X) last 
year for investigations to prove it, and Avhy .should 
we give them .$.32,000 more to prove it over again 
» 
next year? If Mr. Ward’s contention is correct, 
there is nothing left for him and the Wicks Com¬ 
mittee to do but to tear up their bill, pack their 
grips and go home. 
TOO MUCH PROOF.—In proving his case for the 
milk distributoi's, Mr. Ward has gone too far. He 
has proved his case too Avell. He himself and his 
committee and his bill and the expenses of them 
are justified only if he can reduce the cost of dis¬ 
tribution and divide that saving fairly between the 
producer and the consumer. 
' A FURTHER HEARING.—But it is not worth 
while to kick a corpse, and if there Avas any life 
in the Wicks bill it Avas not manifested in the liear- 
ing on Wednesday. At the same time an attempt 
will undoubtedly be made to revive it. Another 
hearing is scheduled for the afternoon of March 
20th, and in the meantime every farmer, every farm 
organization, and every assembly in the State, either 
l»roducers or consumers, should write their Senator, 
their Assemblyman, and the Governor in no un¬ 
certain terms that they Avant none of the Wicks 
bilks, and that they will have none of it. This is 
important. This is an agricultural crisis. On the 
j-csult AAdll depend Avhether farmers can have what 
they want or whether they Avill quietly submit to 
have things they do not Avant jammed down their 
throat. 
Investigation Provides No Food 
The shortage of food and the high prices of it 
have resulted in bread riots in New York city and 
all sorts of legislation and inve.stigations have been 
pi-oposed to correct the conditions and relieve the 
people. 
Investigations never did, and never Avill perman¬ 
ently reduce the cost of food. Elaborate ueAV hiAvs 
are not necessary. We simply need one .short sta¬ 
tute directing all dealers and speculators to refioi-t 
to the Dei)artment of Foods and Markets the kind 
and amount of food products they have bought and 
now hold to be sold now or later, together Avith the 
places paid for same, and the cost of storage and 
other legitimate Charges. The Department should 
he authorized then to take over such food products 
as needed, paying therefore the original cost 
chaiges and a reasonable profit, and to sell it at 
cost. The Department should be authorized to buy 
food products of the producers and sell them at cost 
to the public so long as abnormal prices prevail. A 
capital fund of $500,000 Avould be needed for the 
work, but the returns Avould be jiaid back to the 
.State Treasury Avith little, if any, permanent loss to 
the .State. 
This is no time to rush thx’ough a bungling and 
exten.siA'e system of new hnvs. The present De¬ 
partment has the general authority now. It needs 
only the appropriation and the special authority 
to take over .speculative food products Avithout in¬ 
jury to anyone, in the interest of the i)eople. With 
these provisions, Ave could have food moving Avithin 
a fcAV hours imstead of waiting Aveeks for commit¬ 
tee reports; and the total cost to the State Avould 
be less than the cost of the average investigation. 
Constitutional Objections have been raised against 
this plan. The comstitution is a very convenient in¬ 
strument for gentlemen aaJio want to do anything 
that Avill interfere Avith special privilege, and, of 
course, food speculators belong to this cla.ss. It 
is generally admitted, however, that this plan would 
solve the food pi’oblem; if speculators and gamblers 
Avere not allowed to hold food for 100% profit, but 
Avere obliged to sell at a reasonable profit on the 
investment, there Avould never be any food famines 
in this country. The producer avouUI get a reason¬ 
able share of the price paid by the consumer. 
The food riots in New York and other cities, and 
the distress of the poor of the cities because of 
tbe high price of food, is a result of the policy pur¬ 
sued by the city interests of this country during the 
last 50 years. That policy has Ixeen to build up the 
city and the commercial intere.sts at the expense of 
the country districts. This system of speculating, 
manipulation and gambling in food products, and 
its extravagant and Avasteful system of distribution, 
has been a continuous influence to discourage ])ro- 
duction on the farms. Under normal conditions it 
has kept the farmer iti’oducing food at a i)rice l>e- 
loAv the actual cost of production, and it has jain- 
ished him for ))roducing a large crop b.A' i)aying 
him less for it than he avouUI get for a half cro]). 
The fir.st disturbance or unusual demand has cre¬ 
ated a shortage, and the s))ecM)lators haA^e picked up 
tlie aA'ailable sui)i)ly, but the specailators represent 
A'ested interests and the constitution protects them. 
I’he vested intere.st in tlie fai-m does not count. 
GiA-e the fai-mers of the .^latt' of Ncav Y'ork 5% on 
their InA'estinents and the locomotive fireman’s 
Avages. and they Avill produce food enough to feed 
eA-ery other city in the .'<tate. including the ('’ity of 
XeAv York. Avliich uoav gets al)ouf 5% of its supply 
from the State. 
A Chance for the Dairymen’s League 
I’he Dairyim'n’s League has an opportunity noAv 
that it never h:ul before, and Avhich may never 
again be reiH'atcsl. Milk has been scarce all Win¬ 
ter. It Avill be scarce yet. There is likely to lx*, 
a short suiiply during the greater part of the Sum¬ 
mer. if indeed not during every month of the .A'ear. 
He!)) is scarce and Avages high. Feed is hard to 
get and ])rice.s have continued to increase. Every¬ 
thing that go(>s into the production of milk has ad- 
A’anced in pidce. and the farmer is obliged to dte 
m.and i)rices foi- future contracts that at other times 
Avould seem extravagant. 
When the October contracts secured an increase 
of a 'cent a (piart to the producer, the deahu-s 
promj)tIy charged the advance to the consumer. La¬ 
ter on they added another cent to the consuni'er, so 
that today the dealer is getting a cent a quart more 
for disti-ihuting the milk than he received last .A-ear, 
and most of us thought that he receWed too much 
then. It is time that compared Avith other things 
milk is yet one of the cheapest foods available to 
city people, .A'et if Ave go on permitting the dealer 
to add 2c to th(‘ cost to the consumer for every cent 
advanced to the producer, consumption of milk Avill 
be restricted and production discouraged. 
fl'lie I.eague has an opportunity on April first, at 
I he ex])iration of the present contracts, to dev’elop a 
trade Avith local stores throughout the city that are 
Avilling to distribute the milk in bottles at the cost 
of le a quart. The stores arc obliged to carry this 
milk to accommodate their customers. Some of the 
large companies sell 25% of their product to the 
stores noAv, but charge the store 11c per quart, the 
same price that is charged the family. The stores 
are obliged to sell this milk at 12c a quart in order 
to make their one cent profit, and it can be readily 
seen that they Avould be tickled to death to buy 
milk at 7c a ((uart and sell it at Sc, or to buy it 
at Se and sell it at 9c. There is an opportunity here 
in the development of this trade to pay the farmer 
one cent a quart above any price that the big dis¬ 
tributor Avill pay, and at the same time to .sell the 
milk to the consumer at from one to tAvo cents a 
(piart less than she can buy it of the dealer. This is 
the opportune time for the Dairymen’s League to 
deA’elop this trade. A neAV and cheap pasteurizing 
apparatus is now coming into use that*Avill make 
it possible to receive raAv milk direct from the coun¬ 
try and distribute it in the city £or this stoi-e trade. 
This Avill be the solution of the milk problem, and 
if properly developed will be the solution of the 
milk-producing farms. 
Notes from Department of Foods and 
Markets 
204 Franklin St., New York City 
M.ARCTI 1, 1917. 
EGGS.—With increased receipts egg market declined 
by jumps. Prices fluctuated four to eight cents per 
dozen. At this writing, fancy State and nearby hen¬ 
nery Avhites sell for .35c to .37c. State and nearby 
gathered whites .32c to 34c; fancy State au(l nearby 
hennery browns 32c to ,34c; State and nearby hennery 
broAvns and mixed gathered 32 to ,33c. 
BUTTER.—Butter market lower than last week. 
Fancy Western creamery 42c; prime to fancy 38c to 
411/^c; best Eastern dairy, in tubs, .35c to 40c; East¬ 
ern dairy in prints 3Sc to 40c; Eastern dairy in mixed 
packages 32c to 3Gc. 
CHEESE.—Prices continue firm. NeAv York State 
AA'hole milk flats, held specials, 25c to 2(3l^c; flat.s, 
jirime to fancy, 24c to 251^c; fresh Avhite and colored 
flats, 22c to 25c; held tAvins 24i/^c to 25c; Cheddars, 
fresh and held, 2,5e to 25%c; fancy single daisies 25c to 
251/^c; State skims, choice and specials, 19l^c to 21c; 
loAver grades 12e and 19c. 
UVE POULTRY.—Express receipts of nearby live 
poultry in moderate supply. Prices loAver than last 
Aveek. Chickens 19c to 20c. P''oav1s 18c to 19^c. 
Roosters firm at 15^/4c. (Continued on page .391.) 
