AUSTRALIA AND THE FOOD PROBLEM 119 



ager of the government works of not knowing his 

 business. An official investigation revealed the fact 

 that the Newport bid not only allowed for reason- 

 able profit but might even have been made lower 

 still. ^ New South Wales has the biggest railway 

 mileage in the commonwealth, having one mile 

 for each 457 people. 



All of the Australian states and New^ Zealand 

 operate a number of agencies to aid the farmer to 

 market his produce. The railroads are the chief 

 means of promoting agriculture and for protecting 

 the farmer. Among these agencies are commercial 

 agents to investigate foreign markets. Wharves and 

 docks at the seaports are owned by many of the 

 states, as are also ship-building yards and cold- 

 storage warehouses. Grading of produce for ex- 

 port is a function undertaken by some of the states 

 to keep the shipper up to certain standards. A 

 careless shipper is not allowed to spoil the market 

 for the others. This is also the Danish practice. 



As a result of all these activities freights have 

 been lowered in price and the service has been im- 

 proved. The Austrahan shipper can send his butter 

 12,000 miles to England for one cent a pound and 

 his fresh meat over the same distance for f of a 

 cent a pound. To send food from California to 

 New York, one-third the distance, costs three times 

 as much. 



^ Australia's Awakening, W. G. Spence, 452. 



