COMMERCIAL TRAVELER. A repre sentative of a wholesale or jobbing house, sent throughout the country for the purpose of selling goods to smaller Imases in the same line of trade. The commercial traveler is the legitimate suc cessor of the old peddler, though his Operations are on a larger scale. and his manner of doing business quite different. In former days, in addition to the peddler, who carried his stock of wares with him, producers frequently came into contact with the purchasers through the great fairs which were held throughout the year in the different commercial centres, and which were a means of drawing sellers and buyers together from great regions of country. The commercial traveler sells by the aid of samples. price-lists, and the like, and carries with him no goods for sale. The system of employing commercial trav elers is a natural outgrowth of the localization of interests in particular places, and of the ex tension of the markets for particular commodi ties. It is estimated by the commercial travelers themselves that their class numbered in the States in 18.90 some 300,000 persons. It is claimed by them that since that time their number has decreased, largely through the con centration of capital and the concentration of the management of business in the hands of the so-called trusts. It is claimed by the man
agers of trusts that one of the chief advantages of their organization has been the saving in the cost of distribution, notably in that of selling goods. It is represented that the various fac tories and enterprises each employ commercial travelers, whose main duty is not to induce the would-be purchaser to buy, but to persuade him to buy a particular make of goods. As the com petition between the different sellers of the same goods ceases by the combination of interests, it is obvious that, instead of sending several sales men into a district, one can transact all the business it offers. The commercial travelers in the United States are organized in various asso ciations for the purpose of promoting their in as a class. Of these, perhaps the most important is the Commercial Travelers' Protec tive League. Consult: Testimony of 1'. F. Dowe before the United States Industrial Commission, in vol. iv. of the commission's Report (Washing ten, 1900) ; also Jenks, The Trust Problem (New York, 1900).