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Author: 
 
 Miller, Cyrus C. 
 
 Title: 
 
 Municipal market policy 
 
 Place: 
 
 New York 
 
 Date: 
 
 1912 
 
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 i'iilier. Gyrus Chace, 1866- 
 
 ilunicipai market policy, by Hon. Cyrus 
 Hiller. . . Hew York The City club of Wei^ 
 1912 • 
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 Municipal Market Policy 
 
 By 
 
 HON. CYRUS C. MILLER 
 
 President, Borough of The Bronx 
 
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 THE CITY CXUB OF NEW YORK 
 1912 
 

 
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 Municipal Market Policy 
 
 By 
 HON. CYRUS C. MILLER 
 
 President, Borough of The Bronx 
 
 
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 THE CITY CLUB OF NEW YORK 
 1912 
 
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 FOREWORD 
 
 The efficient distribution of the food supply of New 
 York City is a problem today not only largely unsolved 
 but just beginning to receive its due attention. Presi- 
 dent Cyrus C. Miller of the Borough of The Bronx has 
 given the matter his serious attention, and his speech, 
 herewith reprinted, embodies valuable information not 
 at present available in other form. 
 
 The City Club has appointed a Special Committee 
 on Market Policy, as follows: 
 
 Laurence L. Driggs, Chairman 
 
 Porter F. AtLee 
 
 Richard C. Harrison 
 
 Burdette G. Lewis 
 The Committee's preliminary investigation de- 
 velops the following facts and tentative conclusions: 
 
 1. Administration of markets is divided among 
 Borough Presidents, the Department of Finance and 
 the Sinking Fund Commission. The City as a city 
 can scarcely be said to have a market policy. 
 
 2. Not one of the regularly housed retail markets 
 conducted by New York City brings in a profit. The 
 City is acting as a charitable landlord at an annual 
 loss of from $2,000 in Jefferson market to $40,000 in 
 Gansevoort market. 
 
 3. These markets do not bring consumer and 
 
 producer together. 
 
 4. The wholesale exchange of food supply is 
 largely regulated by the steampship and railroad 
 companies. 
 
 5. Such wholesale m.arkets as the City has estab- 
 lished are conducted at a profit. 
 
 6. The institution of properly located wholesale 
 markets controlled by the City would seem to be the 
 policy for the future. By such proper location to 
 transit and transfer facilities, the cost of handling 
 can be reduced, one or <nore sets of middlemen made 
 unnecessary, and the City's food supply be more 
 adequately collected and inspected. 
 
 Criticisms and suggestions will be welcomed by, the 
 Committee. 
 
 The City Club of New York. 
 May I, 1912. 
 
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 MUNICIPAL MARKET POLICY 
 
 by 
 Honorable CYRUS C. MILLER, 
 
 President, Borough of The Bronx. 
 
 During the past twenty-five years the world has ' 
 progressed with discoveries of all sorts to benefit the 
 human race. Much has been done in the science of 
 municipal government; much has been done in the 
 physical upbuilding of our city, and yet I venture 
 to say that little, if anything, has been done in that 
 time to improve the distribution of farm products 
 quickly and cheaply among consumers in the City of 
 New York. The City has outgrown its distributing 
 facilities. To the first cost of farm products must be 
 added the unnecessary cost of crude methods of dis- 
 tribution. This adds to the cost of living and tends 
 to under-consumption of products. The more a man 
 must pay for his food, the less he uses of it. With 
 better distributing facilities our citizens could get 
 their food more cheaply and therefore have more 
 of it and greater variety for the same amount of money 
 that they now spend. The middleman, who is blamed 
 for much of the increase in the cost of farm products, 
 is the victim of a bad system. To the profit which 
 he must make to enable him to live, he must add all 
 the cost of trucking, storage and various other charges 
 which are not a profit to him, but which go to make 
 his toll higher. 
 
 In the Borough of Manhattan from iioth Street 
 north to the Harlem River there are 810,000 people; 
 in the Borough of The Bronx there are 450,000 people; 
 and in New Rochelle, Mt. Vernon and Yonkers, there 
 are approximately 130,000 more, making a total of 
 1,390,000 people, and this number is increasing 
 rapidly. Within this thickly populated territory the 
 facilities for distributing food supplies are little short 
 of absurd. For instance, quantities of fish are brought 
 in every day from New England to the freight term- 
 inal on the Harlem River, and because of the lack of 
 marketing facilities there, must l)e loaded on a barge 
 
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 and taken down to the fish market, to be sold there 
 and carted back uptown. This is typical of the local 
 condition that we hope to remedy by establishing in 
 the lower Bronx, on the Harlem River, at a point of 
 convenient access to the railroads and to comniunica- 
 tion by water, a municipal market or distributing 
 depot for food products, that will bring the farmer and 
 the consumer a step closer together and eliminate a 
 few of the intermediate expenses that are increasing 
 the cost of food. A similar wholesale distributing 
 market probably will be necessary for every Borough, 
 and perhaps two for Manhattan. Markets, to be of 
 real value to the people, must be near the centers of 
 population, as the present New York markets are not. 
 This is not a "muck-raking" movement directed" \ 
 . against the middlemen. In the natural development 
 of the organization of business the middlemen have 
 attained their place in the distributing system, and 
 in the complexity of modern conditions, they are a 
 necessity. We cannot buy fresh fruit and vegetables 
 directly from the producers in the middle of winter, 
 because we are too far from the source of supply. 
 There must be intermediate dealers, (i) and our only 
 complaint is that their expenses are too high. One 
 authority gives a number of instances of the piling 
 up of intermediate charges, such as, Arkansas apples 
 sold by the farmer last year for $1.50 a barrel and 
 retailed in New York for $1.25 a dozen, or $35 a 
 barrel; cauliflower sold by the farmer for one cent a 
 head and retailed here for 15 cents a head, etc., etc. 
 Whether we think that many of the middlemen are 
 making too much money or not — and in spite of the 
 popular outcry there are still many of us who do not 
 think this— almost all will agree that for us here in 
 New York food would cost less if passed through 
 fewer hands and that prices would more easily ad- 
 just themselves to their proper levels if there were a 
 central receiving and distributing depot where a 
 steady supply of goods could be received in large 
 quantities and all grades be sure of a market. 
 
 (i) "Co-operation Among Consumers", by A. P. Hitchcock in 
 Country Life in America, September 15, 191 1. 
 
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 Recent publications on the question of municipal 
 markets for farm products may give the impression 
 that such markets will remove the middleman. A 
 person might gain merit for a minute in announcing 
 that he had discovered a method whereby he could 
 eliminate the middleman, but business is an un- 
 emotional thing full of hard facts, one of which 
 is that the middleman will be here doing a middling 
 (and perhaps first-class) business long after the voice 
 of the person who has eliminated him has ceased to 
 attract notice. Certain services of middlemen are 
 necessary and in so far as they perform services, their 
 existence will continue. For instance, the middlemen 
 of New York finding that the potato crop last year 
 was short, did not wait until prices soared to ])ro- 
 hibitive figures in New York, but sent to Europe for 
 supplies to fill the deficiency and imported a great 
 quantity of potatoes, which have kept the market 
 here somewhat near the normal. This is a distinct 
 service which entitles the one performing it to reward. 
 The shipper's agent who goes into the country and 
 offers spot cash to the farmer for his products is like- 
 wise a middleman who under some circumstances per- 
 forms a service. The farmer needs cash and is un- 
 willing to take the chance of sending his goods to 
 market so he accepts the offer of the shipper's agent. 
 It may be that when a large market is established to 
 which the farmer can send his produce direct, that 
 the shipper's agent will be eliminated, but the prob- 
 ability is that cash will be just as potent in the y(?ars 
 to come as it is now. 
 
 When money is scarce in this country so that our 
 manufacturers find it hard to get it in order to carry 
 on their work, the banker buys money in Europe, 
 brings it here and sells it to our manufacturers, there- 
 by relieving the strain on business. This is the work 
 of a middleman and is a service for which the banker 
 is paid. Theoretically there is nothing to prevent 
 the borrower going directly to the lender, but it is 
 not the rule of business. Brokers are necessary. 
 
 Middlemen also are necessary to select from the 
 miscellaneous supplies in the market the grades and 
 qualities needed by retail dealers and other large 
 
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 buyers, such as hotels, railways and steamship lines. 
 A prominent hotel man here told me recently that 
 every morning his men go to the markets with ten 
 thousand dollars to buy the day's supplies. It is 
 obvious that these men have not the time to select 
 from the miscellaneous supplies in the market the 
 things they want. They probably will deal with the 
 middlemen who will perform that service. The buyers 
 for the large steamships probably will deal through the 
 middlemen and it is not improbable that even the 
 retailers themselves will find it more economic to 
 have agents in the market who will buy at auction 
 for them and distribute to them the quantities and 
 qualities they need. 
 
 Where then is the saving to be made from the large 
 municipal market? It is in the fact that all the un- 
 necessary lighterage, trucking, handling and jobbing 
 would be eliminated and a direct line made between 
 the farm and the consumer. Also if the farmer is 
 assured of a steady demand for his products at a fair 
 price, he will raise them in greater quantijty and will 
 be able to sell them at a reasonable rate. The small 
 toll which each man will impose for the necessary 
 service which he renders is little indeed compared 
 to the amount which is imposed now unnecessarily 
 by reason of bad handling facilities. I believe that 
 an average of forty-five per cent is added to the cost 
 of the goods between the time they reach the City and 
 the time they get to the consumer. In some instances 
 this percentage is much larger. The prices of the goods 
 in the market will be fixed by the auction sales, at 
 which the retailer may buy if he wishes. But when 
 extra services are rendered by the middlemen such 
 as I have described, the buyer will pay an extra per- 
 centage for such services. In the complicated life 
 of modern cities some middlemen are necessary. All 
 that we can hope to do is to cut out the unnecessary 
 ones and to limit the expenses of handling the goods. 
 (i) In an investigation into the cost of living made 
 under the U. S. Department of Agriculture recently, 
 comparative studies of price levels here and abroad 
 show that prices at the present time are not as un- 
 
 ( i) Address of Mr. G. K. Holmes. 
 
reasonably high as is commonly supposed. The>' are 
 high as compared with fifteen years ago, but at that 
 time they were unusually low — it was a period of 
 industrial depression. It is undoubtedly true that 
 if there were less "unproductive consumption" — less 
 money spent for momentary pleasures and unneces- 
 sary appliances of all kinds, many incomes that now 
 barely cover running expenses could be made to cover 
 those and an annual saving besides, and there might 
 be less complaint about high prices. Those too who 
 used to buy crackers from a barrel and now buy ihem 
 wrapped in paraffin paper and put up in a pasteboard 
 box, must remember that they are demanding more 
 now than formerly in safeguards against unclean or 
 unwholesome food, and that they must pay for such 
 safeguards. 
 
 But even granting this, it is still true that the retail 
 prices of many of the necessaries of life are too high. 
 The eagerness with which pelple all over the country 
 are supporting the various co-operative efforls to 
 reduce prices in one line or another, show that they 
 are realizing this. Last year an enterprising woman 
 over in Brooklyn undertook to do the buying for six 
 families, and found that a great saving could by made 
 by more direct buying, — i.e., by eliminating one 
 middleman. And only last week a plan was outlined 
 in a newspaper, of some enterprising residents of 
 Flatbush who are planning to start a co-operative 
 ^tore. Co-operative buying, however, is a superficial 
 (remedy. The real trouble is in the marketing of 
 products. That is where the greatest loss comes. 
 
 (i) There are throughout the country a great many 
 farmers' co-operative associations and their number 
 is increasing every year, especially among the fruit- 
 growers in the West. They combine for the purchase 
 of supplies used in production and for standardizing 
 the various processes in producing and shipping their 
 crops. They have brought about great improvements 
 in the methods of grading and packing fruit for mar- 
 ket, but that is as far as they can go with their 
 
 (l) "Co-operation in the Handling and Marketing of Fruit", by 
 G. H. Powell, in the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture Yeari)ook, 
 1910, p. 391. 
 
 8 
 
 organization. The next step is to provide distributing 
 centers to which they may ship their produce and be 
 assured of a market. 
 
 Up to the present time New York has been far 
 behind many other cities in this country and almost 
 every large city in Europe in her handling of the mar- 
 ket situation,— in fact, she has not handled it at all. 
 The markets that we have are far from the present 
 centers of population and have gotten so out of repair 
 and been so badly managed in recent years that they 
 are of small service to the people of the City. At a 
 hearing (i) before the Governor's Food Investigatmg 
 Commission held on March 12th last, it was reported 
 by the Superintendent of our markets that last year 
 the City had a deficit of more than $80,000 on its 
 markets. \ 
 
 As contrasted with our $80,000 market deficit last y 
 year the conditions in other cities are interesting. No / 
 American city has markets that will compare m 
 careful organization and operation with the better 
 ones of Europe — only a few have market buildings at 
 all— but the reports show that Boston, for instance, 
 nets a profit of $60,000 a year; Baltimore, $50,000 a 
 year; and New Orleans, $79»c>oo a year on their 
 markets. The (2) Superintendent of Markets of 
 Buffalo reports that for the last fiscal year the 
 receipts of their markets exceeded disbursements by 
 $46,000. The City of Buffalo has just appropriated 
 $100,000 to reconstruct one of its markets. 
 
 In some of these cities no attempt is made to operate 
 the markets in such a way as to reduce prices to a 
 minimum. Stalls are sublet at rentals greatly in 
 advance of what the City receives and this of course 
 tends to raise the prices of products. This is not 
 allowed in Buffalo (3) markets; there any lessee found 
 subletting his stall is deprived of his lease, and the 
 stall is taken by the City and leased to another holder. 
 The City of Madison, Wisconsin, a city of 25,000 
 
 (i) New York Times, March 13, 1912. _ 
 
 (2) "Municipal Markets", by Don E. Mowry, in Municipal Jour- 
 
 nal and Engineer, October 23, 1907, p. 462 
 
 (3) Letter from Supt. Bergmann, March 6, 1912. 
 
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 people, has (i) recently attacked the problem of the 
 high cost of living by erecting at an expense of $55,000 
 a municipal market to which farmers or their represen- 
 tatives may come and sell their produce directly to re- 
 tail dealers and consumers. The>' have put up a two- 
 story concrete structure of attractive appearance, 
 containing offices, retiring rooms, and lunch tables, 
 besides a large open display floor and stalls for the 
 marketmen,for the use of which small fees are charged. 
 As a result it is said that pricCvS have been lowered 
 all over the city. Speculation in food products is 
 prevented by a rule forbidding any one to sell in 
 the market who is not a producer or who has not 
 bought outside the city. 
 
 (2) In Fort Wayne, Indiana, they have built a 
 "farmers' market" consisting of a colonnade 450 x 27 
 feet, extending along the front of two blocks, with 
 pavilions at the ends for offices, etc. Between the 
 columns are built concrete tables five feet long for 
 the use of the marketmen, who back their wagons up 
 to them. The buyers use the passage down the colon- 
 nade. 
 
 In planning such a municipal market as we have in 
 view, much may be learned from a study of some of 
 the systems in foreign cities. Most of the cities of 
 Europe have market systems carefully worked out 
 and efficiently administered. 
 
 (3) BERLIN — ^The city of Berlin has 14 public mar- 
 ket halls, substantial brick buildings of one or more 
 stories, located in difi^erent sections of the city, the 
 first of which was opened in 1886. A report of the 
 markets for 19 10 gives the total value of the land, 
 buildings and equipment as over $7,000,000. The 
 trade in the markets is both wholesale and retail. 
 The point of greatest interest for us is their central 
 market hall. This is mainly a wholesale market and 
 has direct connection with the Berlin City Railway, 
 which has extensive sidetracks and unloading plat- 
 forms and sheds. The trade there is in meat, fruit 
 
 (1) "A Small City's Market Place", by Don E. Mowry, in the 
 American City for July, 1911. 
 
 (2) American City, IV:247. 
 
 (3) "Municipal Markets and Slaughterhouses in Europe", pub. 
 by U. S. Dept. of Commerce and Labor, 1910. (Authority 
 for most of what follows). 
 
 10 
 
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 and vegetables. It is a main distributing center 
 where producers may sell their wares directly or 
 through one intermediary to the retail dealers or to 
 consumers. 
 
 The Berlin markets are administered by a muni- 
 cipal market hall deputation composed of five mem- 
 bers of the City Council and ten selectmen. They 
 have jurisdiction over the care of buildings, fixing 
 and collecting rentals and appointing the principal 
 managing officials of the system, sales commissioners, 
 etc. Their chief executive officer is a managing di- 
 rector, under whom are eight inspectors. There are 
 also in each of the halls an overseer, watchmen, 
 janitors and mechanics. The municipal sales com- 
 missioners, six in number, are bonded officials who are 
 forbidden to be interested directly or indirectly in 
 the trade that is carried on. They have offices in 
 the main market hall and are allowed a certain fixed 
 percentage of all sales made. They issue daily reports 
 of prices and in this way act as a sort of check on the 
 entire wholesale business. 
 
 The markets are maintained by the receipts from 
 the rent of stalls and the income of a fund for their 
 completion and maintenance. For the year 1910 the 
 total receipts of the markets amounted to about 
 $838,446, and the total expenditures for administra- 
 tion, interest and sinking fund amounted to $763,468, 
 leaving a surplus for the year of $74,978. Every day 
 they receive at the central hall from 50 to 150 car- 
 loads of produce. To meet the expenses of maintain- 
 ing the unloading connections there is collected a 
 municipal railway tax of about $1.50 per carload from 
 those who receive the goods. The stall rents are the 
 greatest source of income. In the cellars of some of 
 the markets are refrigerating plants. 
 
 The sanitary regulations are strict and a careful 
 police inspection is maintained to ensure their being 
 carried out. The halls are ventilated by windows 
 inside walls and roofs, no ventilating machines being 
 used. All marketmen must unpack their wares at 
 least once a week and decaying products are destroy- 
 ed. One room in each hall is set aside for a sort of 
 
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 hospital room for persons suddenly ill or injured, and 
 one or more of the employees in each hall are instruct- 
 ed in the German Red Cross Service. 
 
 It has been found in the city of Berlin that while the 
 demands of the wholesale trade are ( onstantly increas- 
 ing, so that now extensions of the main market hall 
 and of the railway facilities are being planned, the 
 local retail markets operated by the city are not so 
 successful. This is due to changes in the character 
 of neighborhoods from residential to business streets, 
 and to the competition with street \ endors, co-opera- 
 tive associations, and retail markets kept by private 
 individuals. From 1900 to 1910 in BerUn the business 
 of the city's local retail markets has steadily decreased 
 and two of them have been closed. 
 
 COLOGNE— In the city of Cologne they completed 
 in 1904 their first market hall, a one -story cement and 
 stone building with a cold storage plant. It covers 
 8500 square yards and cost over a million dollars. This 
 too has direct connection with the railways and does 
 a large wholesale business, — a benefit to the retailers 
 because of the possibility of direct buying. It is so 
 far, however, from the centers of population that its 
 large retail section is not very prosf)erous and the total 
 return on the amount invested is small. 
 
 BUDAPEST~The market system of Budapest is 
 in some respects model. It consists of a large central 
 establishment devoted principally to wholesale opera- 
 tions, and six branch markets where the trade is 
 generally retail. Produce reaches the city by wagon, 
 boat and train. The central market is a large two- 
 story fireproof building. In spite of the fact that very 
 low rents are charged for stands, the receipts for 1906 
 (the atest figures available) exceeded expenditures 
 by over $100,000. 
 
 The markets are under the contro' of a municipal 
 commission which formulates the regulations, sani- 
 tary and administrative, governing them. These are 
 admirably adapted to develop the highest degree of 
 hygiene and efficiency. The commission also pub- 
 lished a daily report of wholesale prices. 
 The low rentals charged for the stands enable the 
 
 12 
 
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 marketmen to sell goods at a lower rate than that 
 charged in the shops. One regulation forbids anyone 
 renting a stall who has an outside shop for the sale of 
 similar goods. The stocks of the marketmen are 
 gratuitously insured against fire, but not to their full 
 value. 
 
 VIENNA — ^Vienna has seven market buildings and 
 about forty open-air market places. The buildings 
 are large halls with stone floors and stalls partitioned 
 off w th wire screening. The market halls are kept 
 scrupulously clean and all goods sold are carefully 
 inspected. The markets are regulated by municipal 
 ordinances and are under the general supervision of 
 market commissioners appointed by the municipality. 
 The choosing of market places and market hours is 
 done by the Board of Aldermen. The profit on the 
 markets in Vienna in 1906 amounted to $61 000. 
 
 PARIS— There is probably no better organization 
 to be found in any city than in the markets of Paris. 
 Their market system is one of the most extensi\e and 
 carefully administered institutions in Europe. One 
 authority states that notwithstanding the large corps 
 of officials necessary for such administration and the 
 large profit that the markets annually yield the city — 
 in 1906, it was $1 ,498,241 — the work is all so efficiently 
 done that the food prices are lower than in London, 
 where the markets are not centralized, and contracts 
 are let to individuals who act independently. 
 
 The Paris system includes 33 small public markets 
 located throughout the city, supplied by a large central 
 establishment known as the Halles Centrales. This 
 consists of a group of ten buildings or pavilions, 
 partly connected by roofs extending over the inter- 
 vening streets, the whole occupying an oblong plot 
 22 acres in area. Their construction was begun in 
 1854 and they have cost for ground and buildings 
 about $10,000,000. A majority of the pavilions are 
 reserved for the wholesale trade. Underneath the 
 pavilions are immense cellars for the storage of pro- 
 duce, which are divided into sections and leased to 
 vendors. Goods are received, inspected, weighed 
 and sold under constant official supervision. In the 
 
 13 
 
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 year 1906 over 350,000 pounds of meat, 54,000 dozen 
 eggs and large quantities of other provisions were 
 seized and condemned by the inspectors as unfit for 
 food. This is an indication of the vigilance with which 
 the sanitary regulations are carried out. The volume 
 of the wholesale business done at the Halles Centrales 
 is mdicated by the fact that in one year there were sold 
 there over 113,000,000 pounds of meat, 47,000,000 
 pounds of poultry and game, 28,000,000 pounds of 
 butter and 36,000,000 of eggs. 
 
 The market is administered under a decree issued 
 by the President of the Republic in 1897, and is under 
 the direct supervision of the Prefecture of Police In 
 order to be permitted to carry on a wholesale business 
 m the Halles Centrales a man must be a French citi- 
 zen, must never have been convicted of any oflense 
 reflecting on his integrity, and must have his name 
 placed upon the approved list of the Tribunal of 
 Commerce after investigation by the Prefecture of 
 Police, and must deposit at the municipal treasury 
 a guaranty or bond equal to the rental of the space 
 during the preceding year, such guaranty to be in 
 value not less than $1,000. The requirements for the 
 retail dealers are simpler. The auction sales in the 
 market are conducted by persons called "representa- 
 tives of the shippers", who are appointed by the Pre- 
 fecture of Police. They receive a percentage fixed 
 by law of all sales made and are forbidden to have a 
 personal interest of any kind in the trade carried on. 
 Their books and records are always subject to in- 
 spection by the proper authorities. The market [>rice 
 in Paris is the price for the whole surrounding country . 
 Special agents are engaged in reporting these prices to 
 the neighJDoring districts. If a producer cannot go to 
 market himself, the representative whom he chooses 
 will ensure him the market price minus the small fee 
 which he charges for selling. 
 
 The results of this system are beneficial in every 
 way. Regularity of standards of price and quality 
 are ensured, exchanges are for cash, and the products 
 are guaranteed by good sanitary regulations efficient- 
 ly carried out. 
 
 14 
 
 In Paris as in Berlin, it has been found that the large 
 central market does a business that is increasing every 
 year, but the local municipal retail markets are stead- 
 ily decreasing in popularity. They are well supplied 
 and well managed but it is found that the convenience 
 of customers is better served in the small markets kept 
 by private individuals. The people no longer go to 
 market and carry their provisions home with them. 
 There as here, they prefer to go stores that will de- 
 liver the goods for them, and the custom of marketing 
 by telephone is getting to be more and more prevalent. 
 One of the local market buildings has been leased for 
 a steam laundry and another is used as an engine 
 house by the fire department. Parts of other market 
 buildings have been leased as garages, storehouses, 
 etc. 
 
 LYONS—The city of Lyons has a large central 
 market building of fireproof construction, covering 
 38,000 square feet of ground. It was opened in 1859. 
 There are also seventeen smaller markets in different 
 parts of the city. 
 
 The central market was built by a real estate and 
 building company. The contract for the building 
 gave to the company all the rent for stalls and auction 
 space for five years, the city guaranteeing an annual 
 minimum income of about $32,000, with the proviso 
 that receipts in excess of $42,000 should be divided 
 equally between the city and the company. The con- 
 cession to the company was fixed for fifty years, but 
 the city bought the market for $887,000 a year after 
 it was opened. 
 
 There are in the building over 200 stalls and a space 
 in the rear of the hall is set apart for auctions, which 
 are held each day. Meat, vegetables and provisions 
 o all kinds are offered for sale at these auctions, and 
 always m wholesale quantities. For the protection 
 ot the people who rent stalls in the market, it is pro- 
 vided by law that all products sold at auction must 
 come from outside the city. In proof of this the 
 presentation of a certificate from a railway or steam- 
 boat officer is required before goods may be offered 
 tor sale. This prevents speculation in food products 
 
 15 
 
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 by the local dealers. The auctions are always public. 
 They are a great boon to the poorer people as it is 
 possible for a number of famiHes to combine and auc- 
 tion off a bunch of game or fish and divide the expense. 
 This brings within their reach luxuries which they 
 otherwise could not enjoy. Sales at retail are prohib- 
 ited. 
 
 The auctioneer or auctioneers are given by the city 
 a monopoly of the auction market for ten years, dur- 
 ing which time the city binds itself not to make any 
 other like contract. They are licensed after making 
 proofs of solvency and they bind themselves to pay to 
 the city in monthly instalments a sum equal to 2% 
 of the total auction sales, which sum cannot be less 
 than 10,000 francs ($1980) a year for one auction stand 
 nor more than 50,000 francs ($9650) for the four auc- 
 tion stands. The auctioneer is forbidden to buy any- 
 thing at auction for his own business or to have an 
 agent buy for him. 
 
 The auction market of Lyons is quite famous; 
 dealers in other cities will often avail themselves of 
 it to get rid of overstocks of provisions. 
 
 ENGLAND — In England there are thriving market 
 systems in many cities. The City of Liverpool has 
 wholesale vegetable, fruit and fish markets that are 
 distributing centers for all the surrounding country, to 
 the mutual benefit of producers and consumers. For 
 the year 191 1 the Superintendent of Markets reports 
 that the profit on the markets which was applied in 
 relief of the city rate was over $85,000. The Super- 
 tendent also reports that the open-air markets held 
 in certain streets which have been in former years and 
 are still well patronized by the public in spite of the 
 discomfort caused by the lack of protection from the 
 weather, may in (i) the course of a few years be 
 crowded out by the progress of public improvements 
 "and with them will disappear the only remaining 
 examples (in Liverpool) of the type of market which 
 commonly existed before modern demands called 
 for greater comfort and convenience." 
 
 GLASGOW— The city of Glasgow, Scotland, has 
 
 (i) Report of Supt. of Liverpool Markets received March, 19I2. 
 
 16 
 
 
 Operated for many years an admirable system of 
 public markets for all kinds of produce. Their whole- 
 sale fruit and vegetable market is the principal dis- 
 tributing center for the west of Scotland, most of the 
 merchandise being sold there by public auction. In 
 all the Glasgow markets the tendency is to lessen the 
 retail trade carried on and to increase the wholesale. 
 For 1908 the city's profits on the public markets was 
 about $14,000. 
 
 URUGUAY — Even from the city of Montevideo 
 in Uruguay, S. A., comes a report that the constant 
 complaint of the high cost of living there has induced 
 the municipal government to establish a public mar- 
 ket. The Bureau of Markets fixes the prices, lists of 
 which are posted in conspicuous places. The at- 
 tendance has been all that the markets could accom- 
 modate and the movement has proved a great benefit 
 to the poorer classes. 
 
 What can we learn from this view of the conditions 
 in other cities and what should be the direction of our 
 effort here? 
 
 In almost all of the cities where there are municipal 
 markets the tendency is found to be to make them 
 centers of wholesale trade, — clearing houses for large 
 districts. The day of the retail public markets in 
 large cities is passing. They do not pay. They do not 
 meet the demands of the customers, who want to 
 market by telephone and must have prompt delivery, 
 — who want the service that the enterprising private 
 retailer is ready to give them. But at the same time, 
 they want lower prices and the retailers must take 
 advantage of every means of giving them lower prices, 
 if they would keep their hold. Many people are try- 
 ing throughout the country to reduce the cost of food 
 by forming what are called "co-operative assr»cia- 
 tions". The name is very alluring. In many cases 
 these experiments are tried by people without the 
 necessary business experience and it is found that 
 after all, the regular dealers can serve them better; 
 but in the trying of the experiment the regular dealer 
 may have been forced out of business. This is a 
 condition that the dealers should take every means 
 of preventing. Clean markets, food attractively 
 
 17 
 

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 arranged, and prices as low as they can be put, will 
 hold customers and scare off the co-operative chimaera. 
 The distributing depot that we propose to estab- 
 lish in the Bronx will be one of the means of reducing 
 prices and if the retail dealers will embrace the op- 
 portunity which it will offer, they should be able to 
 effect a very material reduction in the cost of food to 
 the people they serve. 
 
 In brief, the following are the main features of the 
 plan: 
 
 FACTS. Wholesale and retail dealers are 
 necessary parts of the distributing system. 
 Householders nowadays have no cellars for 
 storing quantities of supplies. They live from 
 day to day and the retail dealers must supply 
 them in small quantities at the times they wish. 
 The City should not establish municipal retail 
 markets and compete with its citizens already 
 in the retail business. The work of selling by 
 retail can be done better by private dealers. 
 Such municipal retail markets have been failures 
 in other cities. 
 
 PLAN. To establish a large distributing depot 
 for farm produce, fish and flowers for both whole- 
 salers and retailers, the same to include a cold 
 storage and a canning and preserving plant. 
 
 LOCATION. On the waterfront in the south 
 Bronx where it may be reached by boat, rail and 
 car floats. 
 
 SALES. To be made by licensed auctioneers. 
 DELIVERY. By the buyers' wagons or by 
 automobile trucks belonging to the market. 
 
 EFFECT. A large distributing depot will 
 reduce the cost of farm produce by cutting out 
 unnecessary handling expenses. It will ensure 
 also a large and steady supply of such products. 
 Because of the lack of supply and high cost there 
 is a marked under-consumption of farm products. 
 The steady supply at moderate prices will result 
 in larger sales and more profits for the dealers, 
 as well as more food for the same money for the 
 consumers. 
 
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