52 THE HIGH COST OF I.TVING 



and England, has public abattoirs. We have left 

 this industry, like distribution, in private hands. 

 And the cattlemen, like the wheat-growers of the 

 Northwest, have come to believe that the only way 

 out of the uncertainties and exploitation under 

 which they suffer is through government-owned 

 terminals and packing-houses.^ 



Here again we find the middlemen destro)dng an 

 industiy. They first discourage the raising of cat- 

 tle, sheep, and hogs in the East by the monopoly of 

 slaughtering, and then, having subjected the indus- 

 try to their control, they create such uncertainty and 

 pay such low prices that they discourage the indus- 

 trj'^ in the West as well. The meat supply, like wheat 

 and other staple foods, is now not controlled b}^ the 

 producer; it is controlled by the middleman. And 

 he has put an end to the operation of the law of de- 

 mand and supply by destroying all competition. 



* Later chapters containing a description of the public-owned abat- 

 toirs of Australia, Germany, and Denmark show the effect of public 

 ownership in this field. It frees the producer from monopoly, on 

 the one hand, and the consumer on the other. See especially the 

 various measures provided by the several AustraUan statea for 

 selling meat products and bringing them to market. 



