THE MIDDLEMEN AND DISTRIBUTERS 69 



from $3 to $5 per barrel for good apples. The con- 

 sumer pays from $12 to $15 per barrel for the same 

 apples. Meanwhile the farmer up-State cannot ship 

 any more. There is no market, it is claimed, or the 

 railroads cannot give cars, using all available for the 

 long hauls from the Far West, for instance." 



The same situation obtains in all other fruits and 

 vegetables. 



This is the way the railroads join with the dis- 

 tributing agencies and speculators to discourage local 

 production. The distributers, in order to destroy 

 local competition, prefer long-distance shipments. 

 The railroads encourage this by giving preference 

 to cai's from Chicago, Kansas City, and other dis- 

 tant points, which are sent through with the regu- 

 larity of passenger-trains and often much quicker 

 than from the near-by New York points. 



This is indicative of the many different kinds of 

 conspiracies which have driven the Eastern farmers 

 and truckmen out of existence and concentrated 

 the control of the food supply in the hands of the 

 middlemen. And the alliances and secret arrange- 

 ments with railroads, terminals, cold-storage plants, 

 and other private agencies are so sul^tle and numer- 

 ous that they cannot be traced or the speculators 

 brought to trial. 



In the matter of the milk supply the big dealers 

 or distributers control the prices at both ends — • 

 they fix the price the farmer receives and the price 



