Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/483

Rh. That a system of this sort is in contrast to the market idea needs no further explanation. It tends to the building up of large private fortunes, for the benefit of which the citizens—the consumers—are taxed. Bad as this is, it is, however, not the worst feature of the system, for its degrading effect is accompanied by a lowering of the general quality of the products, thus menacing the city's health. Fruits, for instance, have to be picked in a half-ripe condition in order to withstand decay during the longer time it necessarily takes to reach the consumer through these sets of middlemen. It is not only the green banana that has to "ripen" in the cavity under the stone sidewalk of the commission house, but all other fruits have to be gathered before softness from maturity makes them difficult to handle.

If, then, in the city was a market-place through which a larger part of the producers could reach the consumers directly, we should have a means of regulating the standard, in regard to both price and quality, of our necessaries of life which would be of benefit to the community. The idea of a market-place is that the products offered here are disposed of immediately on a cash basis for what price they will bring; while the forestaller's idea is to keep the product in a salable condition as long as possible. It is not sold the same day it comes in, some of it not even the same week. What sort of a market price can we expect as a result of the limited competition among a number of business firms, keeping a part of their customers in the credit bondage? Of course, some remnants of the market idea will also be in evidence here; perishable products, for instance, will have to be disposed of before marks of decay are visible. But immature vegetables or fruits kept stored in warehouses until this stage is reached are not the sort of products on which the masses of a large city's population should be fed. The well-to-do classes have other, more direct, means of reaching the producer.

In spite of these precarious conditions, it must be admitted that there is a market in most of our cities and towns, in common farm products, as vegetables, poultry, butter, eggs, and certain