PLAN No. 898. BUREAU OF MARKETS
This is a very interesting department. It has in its employ two telegraphers, receiving $1,400 per annum; three stencil cutters and persons who can run the mimeograph, who receive about $1,200 per year each. The person in charge must be able to decipher codes. One stenographer, one office boy and two general office workers are also employed. The General Chief Clerk, and his immediate subordinate receive $2,200 and $1,800 per annum respectively. There is also a special man sent out from Washington, D. C., who is on the road most of the time. This department issues a market report giving the price for farm produce at certain points where the farmer sells. It also gives the cost of handling the produce at other points and the price retailers ask. This shows the farmer the difference between his selling price and that of the retailer. A pamphlet called the Confidential Apple is also published and sent to all apple growers twice a week. This shows the price that apples are being sold for; also what the various farmers receive for the apples they dispose of. Since the Confidential Apple has been established, there has been only a few cents difference in the sale price of apples. Prior to that time there was frequently a difference as high as 50 or 60 cents which shows the great advantage of this service to the farmer.
This department also sends out a Post Card Reporting Service for Washington, Oregon and Montana. All carload shipments are recorded, showing the point from which cars are shipped. If a carload of apples was shipped last week from a certain town, it is indicated by a certain red pin on a map, and one can from this pin, find the entire history concerning that shipment of apples. Or if it is potatoes that have been shipped from a certain district, the clerk has that information at hand. All of this information is furnished to the farmer by the department and is of great assistance to him. It is also helpful to those buyers to whom it is important to know just where the crops are produced.
The man in charge of this department must make inspections when any question occurs as to the produce received by the wholesale houses or other persons who purchase from the farmer. This service is of great value to the farmer, because if he has sent in a load of good potatoes and the market has changed in the meantime, the inspector has to examine the potatoes, and if they are as good as represented by the farmer when they arrive, he will recover for any loss. Or, if a bad quantity of apples or other farm produce is shipped to the wholesale houses, they can call upon the government inspector and show what was forwarded to them, and this inspector’s opinion is a basis for settlement.
PLAN No. 899. HAY AND GRAIN INSPECTORS
There are two employees in this department—one clerk and one manager, both being subject to the Civil Service and receiving from $100 to $150 per month. A letter, called a Market Letter, is issued. The inspectors see to it that the rules governing hay and grain are lived up to by the farmer.
PLAN No. 900. SEED INSPECTOR
There are two employees in this department—the man in charge and the clerk or stenographer. A letter is also issued by this department, which will also furnish all desired information as to seeds and their value.
PLAN No. 901. CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT
This appointment is made by the Federal Judge. Four officials are also employed besides the clerk, serving out of the city. Salaries run from $2,500 to $5,000 per annum fixed by the United States Attorney General.