Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 72, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 December 1910 — ENRICH MIDDLEMEN. [ARTICLE]

ENRICH MIDDLEMEN.

New York Farmers Got $8,000,000 Last Year of $60,000,000 Paid for Potatoes. Pittsburg, Pa., Dec. 14.—That the farmers of the state of New York received 58.000.000 for their potatoes last year, but that by careful juggling by middlemen the same potatoes cost the consumers $60,000,000, will be one of t'he strong arguments produced before the Pennsylvania State Grange when it meets in Butler to take steps toward eliminating at least some of the middlemen now standing between the farmer and consumer. E. B. Dorsett who is slatrd for the position of master of l Ee State Grange, is authority ■f ar these figures. He said: “If there is any person in the wide world who believes tha f the farmer is responsible for the present high cost of living he ought to get the idea out of his head. The farmer is merely existing. There is no profit for him in most of his products. It is a case of laboring to break even. The farmer is held up as the man who is causing the excessive prices asked for farm products..

“I will cite one instance to illustrate the injustice done the farmer. Last year the potato yield of the state of New York was sold in New York city for $8,000,000. The potatoes eventually were sold and resold to one dealer and another. It is an outrageous case of juggling. The consumer finally paid $60,000,000 for the potatoes which the farmers had originally sold for $8,000,000.” Dorsett says the same condition is now found in Pennsylvania, yet ifot so well defined, and the grarge is booked to take some drastic action against the middlemen.