Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 March 1891 — EQUAL TO THE NATION’S DEBT. [ARTICLE]

EQUAL TO THE NATION’S DEBT.

The Enormous Cost of ths Grand Army of Traveling: Salesmen. "The money used in a single year to foot the salary and oxpense bills of the traveling salesmen of the United States would pay off the entire national debt and leave a few dollars over.” This rather startling statement wae made by a junior member of one of the large dry-goods houses' 6f this city, says the Philadelphia Record, who ha* a force of about fifty travelers under his immediate charge. As proof of his assertion he presented these particulars: “There is hardly a wholesale, jobbing, or commission house in any line of business in the United States that does not have at least a single traveling representative, an d from one lone man the traveling force ranges up as high as 125 or 160 men, and there may be one or two houses with even more. The average of the most reliable estimates places the total number of commercial tourists in this country at 250.000, and, mind you, this does not mean peddlers, but only those who sell goods at wholesale. “The railroad fares, charges for carrying sample baggage by freight or express, hotel bills, and numerous incidental traveling expenses of these men will range between $4 and sl2 per day, but some men will spend $25 in a single day for these purposes without resorting to any extravagance. Take, for instance, some of the carpet, clothing, or fancy-goods men who earry ten to fifteen trunks full of samples, take a packer with them, and hire a hotel pallor to display their goods whenever they open their trunks. But the number of these men is compartively small and $6 a day will fairly represent the average expenses of the 250,000 men. There you have $1,500,000 per day for expenses alone. Multiply this by 365 and you have $547,500,000 as the amount expended in one year.

“The item of salaries is nearly as large. Few men are paid less than S9OO a year. The largest number receive between $1,500 and $2,500, Bitherißsaia®leSTsP“commissiona. A lesser number are paid from $3,000 to ss,ooo—those receiving the latter amount being comparatively few. But theme are traveling salesmen who are always in demand at SIO,OOO to $15,000 a year; but they are few and far between. The lower-salaried men predominate, as might be supposed, and an average of SI,BOO per year is not far out of the way. Figuring 250,000 men at an average salary of SI,BOO per year gives a total of $450,000,000, according to my arithmetic. To this add $547,500,000 for expenses and you have $997,500,000 for these two items. “But there are other items to be charged against the salesmen’s account. It is impossible to give any accurate estimate of the cost of trunks, samples, and other requisites of the traveling men, but the items as we figure them in our store will give something to judge from. Our fifty mep require 250 trunks, costing $8 each, or $1,200. These men require two sets of samples yearly—one in the spring ahd one in the falL The cost of these two setsof samples is about SI,OOO per man. Oi this $50,000 worth of goods which are required for samples every year a considerable portion is lost, while most of it is so soiled and damaged by constant handling that it has to he sold at a heavy reduction from the actual cost or else given away. To cover this depreciation we make an allowance of 33LJ per cent upon the cost of the samples, or about $17,000 per year. Trunks do not need renewing every year, but repairs and replacing lost ones form quite an item of expense. From these figures it is evident that the similar expenses of greater or lesser amount borne by every wholesale house will swell the salary and traveling expense item of $997,500,000 far beyond $1,000,000,000 per year.”