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TTEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN. ATLANTA, 0A„ SUNDAY, JULY 27, 1013.
Middleman Is No Parasite,
But Producer, Says Broker
Crop Diversification and Related
Topics Fill Program for the
First Day’s Session.
Problems of the keenest interest to
merchants of the South will be dis
cussed ably at the convention which
opens In Atlanta Tuesday, August 5.
Never before In the history of these
meetings It Is said, has the program
been so "live,'’ and never before have
the speakers been so able to deal
■with everyday, practical questions.
The policy has been to make It a
genuine convention of merchants, and
the retailers will be given every op
portunity to conduct the delibera
tions. Besides, they will take the
lead a* speakers.
Assignment of topic* 1* not com
plete, except for the first day The
principal subject on this day will be
"How Can Merchants, Landlords and
Bankers Best Direct Their Influence
Toward Securing a Greater Diver
sity of Crops?"
J, W. Vaughn, of Cartersvllle, Ga.,
will lead this discussion.
Related Topic*.
Related topics are "The Marketing
A
FREE
TRIP
To Atlanta is avail
able to the mer
chant who buys an
adequate bill from
the members of the
Merchants' Asso
ciation.
Write to
H. T. Moore
SECRETARY.
Rhodes Building,
Atlanta.
>
”Vr« hear much abuse nowadays
directed against the middleman,”
says W. M. Burke, of H. H. Whit
comb <fc Burke Co., Atlanta’s fore
most grocery brokers.
"Atlanta’s prosperity Is largely due
to Its pre-eminence as a Jobbing cen
ter—It might he called a city of mid
dlemen -and It seems to me that some
reply should be forthcoming to these
critics.
"We hear fulmlnatlons to the ef
fect that the producer gets the small
end of every bargain, while the Job
ber and the retailer get the biggest
•hare of the profits of nearly every
thing sold to-day.
"In my opinion, commission men
and retailers are, In most cases. Just
as Important as the man who pro
duces, considering the present scope
of business. The middleman per
forms a function for modern society,
and an indispensable function. I have
been using the word ‘producer’ In
the popular sense. I think it ran be
proved that all of us are ‘producers ’
“Now', our firm stands In the posi
tion of middleman, and In the strictest
sense. We do not touch the original
producer on the one side or the ac
tual consumer on the other. To make
It clear, we. handle lard, tinned meats
and canned goods, among a quantity
of other things. Yet we do not deal
with the man who grew' the fruits,
the hogs or the rattle from which
these products came. We get these
things from the Chicago packers
whom we represent and from facto
ries. Take lard, for example. It ‘s
quite likely that some broker or buyer
staiiuw between farmer and packer, so
that, passing from farmer to hog
buyer, from hog buyer to packer, an i
from packer to us, we are the fourth
to handle our goods.
"We do not sell to retailers, In anv
rase. So wholesaler and retailer
stand between us and the consumer.
Five men, then, stand between the
farmer who bred the hog and the
housewife who buys a pall of silver
leaf lard.
All Have Real Use.
"This inakes our position clear.
Now, I think the existence of every
one of these men can be Justified.
First, the man who buys up live stock.
Unless he is In business on an excep
tionally large scale, no farmer can
ship a solid carlot of hogs, and It is
evident It would not pay him to ship
less to the Chicago stockyards. The
buyer who gives him a fair price for
his hogs, pays cash down and hauls
them away, then, performs a useful
service for the farmer. The buyer
serves the packer also, for without
him the packer must employ buyers
of his own to scour the country for
hog/i. make them up in carlots and
attend to all the details of getting
them to the Chicago market.
"Now, neither the farmer nor the
hog buyer can make lard either well
or economically. I think the exist
ence of the packer is justified so
plainly as to need no argument.
"But the packer can not profitably
maintain a selling department large
enough to deal direct with the con
sumer—Imagine Swift & Co. filling
mail orders for single palls of lard*
Nor cad tb" packer afford to deal
with the hundreds of thousands of
retailers all over the country—that
would be almost as bad. For the
same reasons the packer can not dedl
direct with the wholesale grocer—
that would necessitate installing, for
one thing, a credit bureau of national
scope and maintaining a gigantic
force of salesmen. Profits are too
narrow for such methods.
“Here we are justified—in effect,
we act as agents for Swift & Co., t
mention only one concern. We serve
the packer well in marketing his
goods, and we 9crve the wholesaler in
being able to All his order for any
reasonable quantity of Swift’s prod
ucts instan’er.'
"The wholesaler, havin ' intimate
acquaintance with- the retail trade,
with his salesmen on the road, and
because he assembles evei*ything the
retail grocer wants, gives It to him
promptly on demand, and extends
proper credit for it—performs a use
ful service. If we, on the one hand,
had to maintain such an organiza
tion ot sell our special lines, we would
have to take the wholesaler’s profit to
pay for the service. If the retailer,
on the other hand, had to go to a
dozen different places to get his stock,
he would lose. In time, labor and ex
pense, enough to eat up his profit.
"The wholesaler, then, is necessary.
And, I take it, there can be no argu
ment necessary- to prove the need of
the retailer.
“All this might be gone into much
more deeply. But It Is easy to prove
that everyone who assists in the
economical marketing of any product
is a producer. In the old days the
farmer raised his hogs, slaughtered
them, made larff himself and sold it
himself at the grocery, or perhaps
even direct to families. He then was
THE producer. But now- that he has
delegated seven-eighths of this work
to others, are they not also producers?
And the producer needs no apology
for hia existence.”
of the Surplus of Grain,” "Cattle
and Hogs as a By-Product” which
will be dlscused by W. H. White, Jr.,
of the White Provision Company, and
“The Greater Stability of Credits Re
sulting,” which will be discussed by
Joseph A. McCord, vice president o!
the Third National Bank. Yancey
Hill, of Montezuma, Ga., and W. A.
Brannon, of Moreland, Ga., will par
ticipate 1n the "Open Parliament,”
which is to be a feature of every ses
sion.
Bolling H. Jones Will call the con
vention to order, and Bishop Warren
V Candler will deliver the Invoc ation.
Governor Blaton and Mayor Wood
ward will deliver addresses of wel
come. R. O. Crouch, of Griffin, Ga.,
will respond.
Thursday, August 7, R. O. Crouch,
of Griffin, Ih to speak on "When and
How to Buy.” J. M. Roberts, of Wil-
laeoochee, Ga., will follow- with a talk
on "Benefits of Buying Often and Ac
cording to Active Needs"
Norman Johnson, editor of The
Merchants’ Journal and Commerce,
Richmond, Va., will deliver an ad
dress on the “Benefits of Buying in
the South."
C. R. Pollard, of the American Au
dit Company, is to speak Friday on
“Proper Accounting Methods a Prime
Factor In the Success of a Business.”
H. E. Choate, vice president of the
J. K. Orr Shoe Company, will have
for hl« text “Can jl Merchant Afford
to Imperil His Capital by Failure to
Insure His Stock Properly?”
Receive 1,600 Replies.
At this early date the Merchants
and Manufacturers’ Association,
w-hich Is acting us host to the con
vention, has received more than 1.600
replies to the Invitations sent out a
week ago. More than twice this
number are expected within the next
few days.
Entertainment features, already
provided, include two vaudeville per
formances, for which the entire For
syth Theater has been engaged; a
reception at the Piedmont Driving
Club, a barbecue, and the Chatta
nooga-Atlanta ball game, for which a
big block of seats at Ponce DeLeon
Park has been reserved.
The convention will continue from
August 4 to August 16.
V0LLMER MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
Moore Building
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
MAKERS OF FINE JEWELRY
Special Designs in Platinum
Engravers Diamond Setters Watchmakers
Specialists in Jewelry Repairing
WE HAVE MOVED
To temporary quarters at 32
& 34 South Pryor Street,
awaiting completion of our new
building.
Our new Fall Goods now on dis
play. You are cordially invited to call
and inspect our line.
Dougherty = Little = Redwine Co.
Wholesale Dry Goods and Notions
Write for our latest Catalogue. The leading merchant* are adding
the 5c and 10c departments. Why not one for your town?
McCLURE 10c CO., 47-49 S.Broad St.
Give Your ‘-DIMES” a Chance
Attention, Merchants
Since coining to the South to find a broader
market for our products, this company’s business
lias grown so rapidly that we have found it neces
sary to open a sales office and warehouse in At
lanta to facilitate prompt service for onr cus
tomers.
We are now carrying a complete stock of our
Famftus Miami Valley Winter Wheat Flours. Our
warehouse at 149 Madison Avenue is a model of
the “Down to the Minute” flour storage, where the
Pure Food Idea rules supreme. Our flour is un
touched by human hand from the time it leaves the
rolls until it reaches the customer.
NO DIRTY HANDS
resacking in filthy warehouses and rehandling rooms. We
are here to stay and to servo you. Don’t buy flour again
until you see us and get our prices.
THE ALLEN & WHEELER CO.,
TROY, OHIO.
WARREN & HOWELL, Sales Agents
149 Madison Avenue.
Atlanta 395. Atlanta, Ga. Main 2249.
Buy Your
SCHOOL SUPPLIES
OF THE MANUFACTURER
and get better goods at the
same price or the same goods
for less.
We manufacture Tablets
and School Stationery in our
own factory—the only one of
its kind in the South.
Get our new 500-page cat
alog and buy by mail. We
ship mail orders in 24 hours
from their receipt.
MONTAG BROTHERS
Maniilacturers—Importers
10-12-14-16-18-20 Nelson St. ATLANTA
DOMESTIC OLIVE CROP.
It is estimated by the California
Olive Producers’ Association that that
State will produce this year 1.128,000
gallons of pickled olives and 1,000,000
gallons of oil, which will be a record
output.
DIXIE PICKLE AND PRESERVING CO.
Manufacturers of
Pure Apple and Distilled Vinegar, Catsup, Pickles, Mustard, Pepper
Sauce, Sauer Kraut, Jelly, Etc.
CANNED GOODS
364 to 378 Marietta Street, Atlanta, Ga.
See the Inside
A good doctor must have absolute
and accurate knowledge of every in
ternal organ of the human body. He
must know at first hand the facts and
functions of every innermost detail of
man s anatomy.
The law requires that he spend
years of study where he can learn these
things from actual observation and
experiment before he is licensed to
practice his profession.
Now, some merchants sell shoes
from year to year without knowing
any more about the construction of
their goods than they can see from the
outside.
In merchandise, as well as medi
cine, it is the “inside knowledge” that
is most valuable.
During the Southern Merchants’
Convention in Atlanta, beginning
August 5th, we’d like to have every
visiting merchant take a trip through
our Red Seal Shoe Factory.
Whether you sell Red Seal Shoes
or not, a visit to this modern factory,
where you can see every process and
detail of construction, will make you
a wiser buyer and a more convincing
salesman
Come by the offices, 30-32 Auburn
Avenue, where wq will be glad t o have
someone take you through the factory.
J. K. ORR SHOE CO.
RED SEAL FACTORY
Atlanta
tir-
%
To Our Visitors
It’s almost time for the BIG AFFAIR. We hope you’re as keen
about coming as we are about havin g you here.
Have you scanned the Program?
Merchandising in all its phases will be discussed—Credits, Collec
tions, Crops, Management, Slow Stocks, Special Sales, Buying—all big
questions for YOU.
Men Who Know Will Talk. Open discussions by everybody with
anything to say. All to the point.
You’ll have opportunity to inspect Factories and Stores, to see
systems and methods, to find out lots of things you’ve been wanting to
know.
FUN, too! All the vacation you want, with lots of recreation and
wholesome, jolly fellowship for every hour of your stay.
Be on hand. We’re counting on you!
ATLANTA MERCHANTS &
Southern Merchants Convention,
To the Locals
MANUFACTURERS
August 4 to 15,
Gentlemen, it’s up to you. You’ve helped to plan and prepare for
our guests. You want above all things that they shall have One Good
Time.
Coats off now, and at it!
Spend a good deal of your time this week thinking how much real
pleasure you can crowd into the Convention for our guests.
The kind of time You have is the kind of time you help to make
the other fellow have. Get busy and let us show every man jack of the
visitors that Atlanta is in dead earnest about making this a whole-
souled and splendid occasion.
Everybody to the oars and a g ood time for us all.
ASSOCIATION
Atlanta
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