6 10        Economic  Value  of  Wholesale  Druggist.    { Am' gepT*  1 9^9™' 
From  the  third  of  these  essays  the  following  abstract  is  given: 
"  The  economic  value  of  the  wholesale  druggist  is  primarily 
based  on  service;  therefore,  he  is  essential  in  direct  proportion  to 
the  amount  of  service  he  renders. 
"  It  is  the  duty  of  the  wholesalers  to  serve  directly  two  im- 
portant classes  of  business :  the  producer  or  manufacturer  and  the 
retail  distributor,  and  indirectly  the  consuming  public. 
"  The  large  producers  of  proprietary  articles  who  advertise 
nationally  recognize  the  fact  that  thorough  distribution  is  abso- 
lutely essential  in  any  advertising  campaign  to  make  it  successful. 
The  quickest  and  most  economical  distribution  is  undeniably  through 
the  wholesaler. 
"  The  facilities  of  the  wholesale  druggist  mean  for  the  manu- 
facturer: (1)  Widely  separated  distributing  points  for  the  manu- 
facturer's goods  subject  to  immediate  delivery  to  cities,  towns  and 
hamlets  everywhere.  (2)  The  opportunity  of  connecting  up  and 
keeping  abreast  with  an  advertising  campaign  in  any  section  of  the 
country  through  the  frequent  visits  of  the  wholesaler's  sales  force. 
(3)  The  responsibility  in  collecting  for  the  sale  of  merchandise  to 
the  retailer.  (4)  Concentration  and  economy  in  shipping  goods 
to  central  distributing  points.  (5)  Prompt  payment  of  the  manu- 
facturer's bill. 
"  These  are  all  of  them  positive  and  indisputable  benefits  to  the 
manufacturer. 
"  For  this  service,  the  wholesaler  receives  a  trade  discount  from 
the  manufacturer's  list  price  and  in  most  instances  a  discount  for 
prompt  payment  of  the  manufacturer's  invoice,  which  is  his  re- 
muneration for  the  handling  of  this  class  of  merchandise,  and 
from  which  he  must  pay  all  his  overhead  costs  of  handling  the 
goods  and  have  something  left  for  profit. 
"  Without  the  service  of  the  wholesale  druggist,  the  manu- 
facturer would  be  compelled  to  do  many  things :  ( 1 )  To  establish 
selling  agencies  in  various  sections  of  the  country  with  heavy  over- 
head costs.  (2)  To  employ  a  large  sales  force,  to  cover  the  entire 
country,  at  high  salaries,  and  heavy  traveling  expenses.  (3)  To 
carry  many  accounts  on  his  books  with  a  high  cost  of  collection. 
(4)  To  ship  small  lots  of  goods  to  all  sections  of  the  country  at  a 
big  expense  and  enormous  detail.  (5)  To  have  his  money  tied 
up  in  numerous  accounts  and  lose  the  advantage  of  ready  capital. 
