THE MIDDLEMEN AND DISTRIBUTERS 73 



returning of empty cars ; that the railroads be forced 

 to give to coal the right of way over other merchan- 

 dise that is not a necessity of life; and that maxi- 

 mum prices should be fixed for anthracite coal sold 

 at the mines. 



Not all of the rise in the price of anthracite coal 

 in the cities of New England has been illegitimate. 

 There was an actual railroad-car shortage, due to 

 increased traffic in other commodities, to which 

 traffic coal-cars were often diverted. The great 

 jump in water freight rates still further increased 

 the demand upon rail transportation. And there 

 were other reasons for the rise in prices, one being 

 the greatly increased export of this product. Nev- 

 ertheless, disciimination against certain markets not 

 favored by the railroad companies was not due to 

 any legitimate cause but solely to the desire of the 

 railroads to sell where the hauls were most profitable. 



The price of flour rose from $5.80 to $11.25 and 

 $12 a barrel between 1897 and 1917. Two-thirds 

 of this rise took place between 1915 and 1917. The 

 cost of bread rose in proportion. The actual price 

 of the loaf did not rise quite so rapidly, but this was 

 compensated for by a diminution in the size of the 

 loaf. The city in its bread consimiption is, there- 

 fore, the helpless victim of the grain and flour 

 manipulators, who increase the price of the ingredi- 

 ents of bread. ^ 



^ Report on Bread, Commission on the Cost of Living, Common- 

 wealth of Massachusetts, January, 1917 



