66 



THE HIGH COST OF LIVING 



resentative to whom the farmer could ship and to 

 whom the retail dealer could come and buy. 



These middlemen have arbitrarily crowded them- 

 selves into the field and between them take from 50 

 to 65 cents out of every dollar paid for much of 

 the food of the metropolis. The waste in New York 

 City alone from the operations of these agencies is 

 estimated at from $150,000,000 to $200,000,000 a 

 year.^ 



Commissioner Dillon says that the farmers would 

 produce food enough if they were given an oppor- 

 tunity to sell on profitable terms. But they cannot 



* Second Anrmal Report of the Department 0/ Foods and Markets, 

 February, 1916. 



An investigation made by Miss Laura A. Cauble as to the increase 

 in the cost of vegetables, fresh fruits, and fish on July 11, 1917, 

 while the protest against the high cost of living and the Lever bill 

 were before Congress for consideration, disclosed the following 

 facts as to the wholesale and retail prices in the city of New 

 York: 



