A Notice 
r. 
X-aiders who have been shippin.? produce to the 
Department of Foods and Markets for sale, must 
now find other outlets. It is not expected that this 
service will he continued, but Mr. Dillon lias made 
arrangement.s to care for goods now on the way. 
There are 200 claims filed against transportation 
companies over and above 500 that have been paid. 
If the new State commission does not look after 
these we will. In the ordinary course of shipments 
to commission houses these claims are never filed, 
and the shipper suffers the loss. The shipments to 
the Department this j-ear exceeded a half million 
dollars’ worth. It has been the largest receiver of 
fresh eggs in the City of New York. It was handi¬ 
capped by want of facilities* and never claimed to 
have solved the distribution problem, but it did ex¬ 
ert a wholesome effect hi the trade. 
Destruction of the Foods and Markets 
Department 
It Would Not “Be Good” and Do Nothing 
A SUCCESSFUL ATTACK.—The destruction of 
the Department of Foods and Markets is now com¬ 
plete. It was organized by farmers od their own 
initiative for a definite purpose. It w’as destroyed 
by Charles S. Whitman, the man whom farmers 
made Governor of the State. The first three at¬ 
tempts to destroy it by direct legislation were de¬ 
feated by the farmers who created it and wanted 
it, but where direct open attack failed, trickery and 
subterfuge and pi'etense succeeded. Three bills 
were introduced for three successive years to wipe 
out the Department created by the farmers for 
farmers and consumers of food, because it started 
out seriously to do the things that it was created 
to do. If it had been merely perfunctoi-y and re¬ 
frained from interfering with speculators’ and gamb¬ 
lers* profits, it might have continued, but when it 
seriously undertook to cheapen the cost of the dis¬ 
tribution of food in the hope of paying the farmer 
a little more and charging the consumer a little 
less through the savings, it was interfering with 
vested interests and political fortunes that depended 
on them, and the fight had to come. The first 
.skirmish they lost. The final result is yet to be 
recorded. 
AGRICULTURE AND rOLITIC.s'._Tiie original 
■\Vicks bill Avas the third attempt to destroy the 
department by direct legislation. The farmers’ pro¬ 
test against it Avas so emphatic, the politicians saiv 
the necessity of resorting to pretense and subter¬ 
fuge. They alleged they Avanted to take the Agri¬ 
cultural Department out of politics and they wanted 
to broaden and enlarge the scope of marketing laws. 
What they really Avanted to do Avas to destroy the 
Department of Foods and Markers, and make it 
impo.ssible for a department of the State to again 
take up a direct fight in the interests of farmers 
in the country or consumers in the city. The depart¬ 
ment W’as making headway. It had standardized the 
price of apples in the orchards. It had helped dairy¬ 
men to make a price for their own milk. It Avas in a 
fair Avay to save three to four cents a ipiart on the fur¬ 
ther charges for milk in the city. It Avas insisting 
on an honest quotation of eggs and other farm pro¬ 
duce. It AA’as holding railroads I'esponsible for dam¬ 
age to shipments, and it compelled the express 
companies to abandon their attempt to steal or 
destroyi 5% of their shipments Avithout responsi¬ 
bility to the shipper. It had prevented the sale of 
cold storage eggs as fre.sh eggs at fresh egg prices. 
These and other things it AA’as doing in the intere.sts 
of the producer and consumer of food on an appro¬ 
priation that Avas thought to be small enough to make 
the Department harmless. Naturally the speculators 
and manipulators and gamblers in food did not like 
it. If ■'■•iOpiitinued to grow it aa'ouUI be too strong 
for them. Hence the hysterical attempts to kill it 
off promptl 3 '. Direct attempts to destroy it having 
failed, trickery was resorted to with better success. 
PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE.—When poli¬ 
ticians proposed the Farm and Market Council Gov¬ 
ernor Whitman in open meeting promised farmers 
that they Avould haA'e the appointment of the mem¬ 
bers of the commission. Elon R. BroAvn promi.sed 
them the same thing. They were assured that it 
Avould be their commission; that they Avould have 
to select the members. After the bill was passed 
these farmers and their organizations pre.sented 
names, not a single one of whom Avas appointed. 
The commission does not contain a single representa¬ 
tive farmer of the State. The fai*mers’ confidence 
in the GoA’ernor of the State and in the leader of the 
Senate Avas abused. The promises made them Avere 
repudiated. The farmers and their organizations 
were tricked and humiliated. 
BVic rural NEW-YORKER 
BIG APPROPRIATIONS.—An appropriation of 
.$l,.S00,0f)0 of State monej' has been placed in the 
hands of this commission to do the Avork for which 
5,000 was deemed sufficient in the hands of the 
Depajitment. All told close to five million dollars 
has been appropriated during the 5 ’ear. The mem¬ 
bers of^this commission hold these A’ast sums, and do 
not knoAA' Avhaf to do with them. Thej* have no 
moi'e conception of the needs of the State than so 
many schoolgirls. As a -matter of fact. hoAvever, the 
appropriations are not intended to relieve the food 
situation. The.v are intended to build uii the polit¬ 
ical fortunes of the aspiring Governor of the State, 
and if they undertook to make any efficient use of 
the money thej* would find themselves replaced by 
men who would take orders. The members of the 
Food Supply Commission were inclined to take 
their work seriously, and soon found that thej’ Avere 
expected to promote political fortunes, and that the 
protection and distribution of food Avei-e incidental. 
Failing to take political orders it Avas hamstrung by 
executWe dictation anti finally decapitated. The 
present commissioners haA’e, therefore, received pre¬ 
liminary instruction by the experience of others, 
and from their careful selection may be expected 
to take orders without protest. So far they have be¬ 
haved A-ery properlj* indeed. There isn’t a single man 
of them Avho pretends to knoAV anything about the 
ju-oblem that the.A’ are supposed to solve. The re¬ 
sponsible head of tlie commission is frank enough 
to admit it. It Avould take them no less than ten 
j'ears of practical experienc-e to qualifj* for the Avork. 
IloAA' much it Avill cost the State for their education 
is yet a matter of speculation. 
A NEW HEAD.—In harmony AA’ith Governor Whit¬ 
man’s purposes and by the authority of the new laAV’' 
designed for the purpose, the Foods and ^larkets 
Commission at its meeting last week passed a reso¬ 
lution to remove .John J. Dillon from the commlssion- 
ership of the new' division in the Department of 
Foods and ^Markets and nominated Dr. Eugene H. 
Porter for the place. Tliis in itself is a matter of no 
importance. The State work should have such organ¬ 
ization and momentum that it Avould not be depend¬ 
ent on any one man for its successful operation. It 
Avas Mr. Dillon's ambition to giA'e the department 
that kind of momentum and Avith proper support it 
could have been so organized Avithin less time than 
it has been in existence. The protest is not against 
individual changes, but against the policies of Avhich 
the individual changes are merelj' incidental. 
THE GOVERNOR’S ATTITUDE.—It would have 
been pleasanter and more to his individual liking 
for IMr. Dillon to haA'e resigned the p<»sition a year 
ago, Avhen it Avas evident that Governor Whitman 
was determined to force a nullification of the Foods 
and Markets law', but it became necessary to overrule 
the personal preference in order to make clear to 
farmers and to city consumers the influences that 
Avere Avorking against them in the interest of u.seless 
middlemen and harmful food speculators. During 
his electioneering campaign through the State in the 
Fall of 1910, immediately folloAving the milk light. 
Governor Whitman capitalized the influence of the 
Department, AA'hich he had previously done his best 
to discourage, and Avhich he has now destroyed, for 
his OAA’ii political fortunes. In attempts to refute 
accusations of partisanship he praised the Avork of 
the Department and pointed to ^Ir. Dillon as his 
friend and as the type of efficiency and ability and 
integrity and non-partisanship that he W'as proud 
to promote and encourage, but in 14 daj's after elec¬ 
tion he Avas found in secret conclave Avith George W. 
Perkins to destroy the Department, and to cheek- 
mate and circumscribe the line of Avork that Mr. 
Dillon had started out to do, and had done in the in¬ 
terest of the farmers of the State. The Wicks bill 
was defeated in a square open contest, and the plan 
to promote :\Ir. Perkins directly was frustrated. It 
is reported on good authority that Mr. Perkins paid 
.$96,500 “good dollars” to promote Mr. Whitman’s 
nomination alone. Hoav much he*paid toAvard the 
election is a matter of speculation. He is not directly 
on the Farm and Market Council, but he is repre¬ 
sented there. In fact farming seems to be the onlv 
interest not represented on that commission. 
THE FOOD SHORTAGE.—^This countrj* is a i)arty 
to a Avorld Avar. The situation is critical and seri¬ 
ous. The w'orld is short of food. It is looking to 
America for it. We have the laud, the farms, the 
equipment, and the farmers skilled and intelligent 
to produce it, but farmers were never so uncertain 
and so discouraged as they are today. They are 
Avithout confidence for the future. Supplies are 
high. Labor is impossible to get, and they find it 
difficult to make ends meet. Arbitrarj' prices are 
placed on their products, and men Avithout knoAvl- 
edge of their needs or experience or sympathy' are 
placed in positions over them. In the'r pul>lic meet- 
1445 
ings they are praised and glorified for their sturd.A' 
independence and patriotic sacrifices. The hornj' 
hands and overalls are pi-aised as emblems of pa¬ 
triotic service, but kid gloA“es and Avhite collars are 
the emblems found on the '^mmittees that make 
prices for farm products. Money by the million is 
being deA'oted to food administration purposes, and 
the one efficient result so far is the protection of 
middlemen and food speculators. The farmer is 
more uncertain of *his market and more \incertaiu 
of his price todaj', AA'hen the cost of production is 
doubled, than he probabl.v eA'er was before in the 
history of the countiy. His purpose is right. He 
wants to do*his partito produce food for the AA-orld. 
for the soldiers abi’oad, and the people at home, but 
he is discouraged and handicapped bj' these condi¬ 
tions, and faces a neAA' year of planting Avith uncer¬ 
tainty and concern. 
THE PROFITEERS.— We are not alarmists. We 
are not pessimists. Hope in the future and confi¬ 
dence in our country is the dominant note in the 
hearts of the plain people of this country, both in 
the cities and on the farms, but we haA'e built up 
here in recent years an aristocrac.A’ of big business 
and big business has found a fertile field in the dis¬ 
tribution of wealth after it has been dug out of the 
ground and out of the mines by human labor. The 
distributors haA-e become rich and powerful Avhile 
the prodxicers have remained poor, and big business 
has used and is using the instruments of government 
to maintain their po.sition in control of distribution. 
The war crisis lias emphasized their position and 
their advantage and has made clear their position 
of danger to the public. The.v are profiteering today 
in the distribution of food as they iieA'er did before, 
and the positions that the.A' have secure<l in goA'ern- 
ment places have made .them a greater danger than 
ever before. 
DISTRIBUTIVE FACILITIES NEEDED.— The 
food that is needed most comes from the farms. 
There is noAvhere else to get it. If the money that 
is Avasted on commissions and administrators Avere 
used to take the food from the farmer’s hands after 
he has created it. to assemble, pack and grade it. 
and Ciirr.v it straight to the consuming centres and 
la.v it down at tiie consumer’s door efiiciently and 
economically, cutting out speculators and u.sele.ss 
middlemen, and returning tlie farmer his just share, 
there Avould be an encouragement of production and 
a confidence on tlie part of the farmer that AA'ould 
stimulate production to feed the AA'orld, and AA’e AA'ould 
haA'e food to si»ai-e. An.v other polic.v is subterfuge, 
and if this war lasts, as it promises to do, this pol¬ 
icy Avill have to come sooner or later, ff’his AA'ord of 
Avaniing is given in the hope that etficient measures 
of eucouragemeut to the producer and hope to the 
consumer may not be dangerously delayed. 
Work for the Federal Milk Commission 
The Federal !Milk Commi.ssiou that is to fix the 
price for milk for January, February and Marcli. 
has returned from taking testimonj- up-State and 
is noAV taking testimony from distributors in the 
cit.A'. The newspapers of the city report this differ- 
nece in methods. Tliere is no ijrovision made to 
suppl.A' them AA'ith the testimon.A' given b.v farmers up- 
tState as to the cost of producing milk. The papers 
could get it onlA' b.\' .sending men to the countrj' and 
taking the testimonj' as given, Avhicli thej' do not seem 
to haA'e done. In the citj', hoAA'ever, the.v saj' that 
the commission has proA'ided them Avith a tran- 
scx'ipt eA'ery night of the testimon.v given b.v the 
dealers during the day. Of cour.se this testimony is 
very carefully prepared, and is in good shape for 
distribution and publicity by such papers as wish 
to use it. 
In the meantime in utter indifference, not to say 
contempt of the Federal Commission, the big compan¬ 
ies are conducting a Avar on the dealers Avho have 
been bujing milk direct from the milk producers' 
company which is operated by the Dairymen’s League 
officials. They have folloAA'ed the independent 
Avagons from customer to customer, and sold milk 
at a cent and a half beloAv the price that they were 
charging in otlier sections of the city, anil they 
threaten openly through these methods to drive the 
dealers avIio handle the independent milk entirelv 
out of business. It Avould seem that this record and 
open threat would be proper subject of inquiry by 
the Federal Committee, but it does not appear 
that the committee has j'et learned that this form 
of competition or suppression is yet going on. 
A Chapter on Sugar 
The monopolies of sugar furnish an example of 
the profiteering that is going on under regulation in 
the distribution of food. The International Su^ar 
Refiners’ Committee is (Continued on page 14.VS1 
