Economic and financial section > Agricultural crisis > Volume 1

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f^lLinnth^ P.roducer,s prices does not reach the consumer except very gradually
and with alleviations which almost prevent his feeling it. ~ 8 J
find the same thing with the prices of wool and raw hides, on the one
tWp ;an(? the pri5-« °f fab^lcs and shoes 011 the other. It goes without saying that
iTTa dlffprence between the prices paid to the producer and the retailer’s
prices , but the margin of the middleman’s profit — in the case of meat and wine for
example appears considerable. Similarly, when powerful organisations of’the
d stributors control the market, as in the case of milk in a number of countries, they
producer^1^6^61^ part’ ^ n°^ wh0le> °t any fall in prices on the shoulders of the
Frequently the consumer is compelled to pay dearly for a product for which the
agriculturist only gets an inadequate price, and the whole of the difference goes into
the middleman s pocket. In many cases, the price of agricultural products is almost
doubled on the way from the producer to the consumer. It is a common saying in the
Umte.I States that “ the farmer only gets a poor share of the consumer’s dollar ”
the view of the majority of the experts is that this margin is one of the essential
factors in present-day agricultural conditions. The margin is not the same in all
countries ; it varies according to wages, transport costs, rents, etc.
Enquiries have been made on the spot in various countries. The resulting reports
o not appear to have shown with sufficient clearness the process of causation in regard
to this margin, which it is extremely difficult to measure in quantitative terms. There
is no need to dwell on the complexity of a problem like this, in which so many elements
have to be taken into account. Who is the producer and, above all, who is the
consumer . Who are the middlemen and what part do they play ? What exactly are
the pnces on which the calculation is to be based, in view of the fact that both the prices
paid to the producer and the prices paid by the consumer vary very greatly in one and
the same region according to the time and place of sale ? What is the effect on the
margin between these two of such necessary operations as transport, handling,
warehousing and the like ? r >
A very large part of the margin between production and retail is attributable to
transport costs and the charges to which many products are subject. The public is
oo prone to attriPute all the profit to the middleman, ignoring overhead costs, which
really account for a considerable proportion of the final price of the product.
ladies as it is possible to undertake in this connection encounter the greatest
difficulties. Index numbers of wholesale and retail prices which are not compiled from
the same elements can hardly be compared with one another. Even when it is possible
to compile safe statistics, the interpretation is an extremely delicate matter.
-. ^ e same time, there can be no doubt that, in many cases, the links in the chain
of intermediary processes of distribution are excessive. They are more than they were
before they war. Innumerable middlemen working for their own profit make gains
at the expense of both the producers and the consumers. In this field the co-operative
organisations can play a big part by facilitating and shortening the passage of products
from producer to consumer. r . 1
Important agricultural circles are convinced that the middlemen take much too
arge a margin of profit, depressing the purchase prices to the producer and unduly
increasing the sale prices to the consumer. 1 he abundant documentary evidence collected
y t e aid of the agricultural experts has not, and cannot have, a strictly scientific
character ; but, if it does not allow of indisputable assertions, it at any rate draws
attention to genuinely disturbing features, in certain countries especially. The spread
between produceis prices and retail prices is very large, and it is certain that it might
be reduced. ”
From that to conclude, as certain agricultural circles do, that all private inter¬
mediaries should be eliminated is a long step. Some picture a dual system of