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B 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 4»