AUSTRALIA AND THE FOOD PROBLEM 121 



ment, usually Port Adelaide, and sells it in the 

 London market. Rates for freight and insurance 

 were so high on small shipments that the small 

 farmer was practically excluded no matter how 

 great the demand for his produce. Only collective 

 action, undertaken by the state, could help him. 

 The export department takes charge of his goods 

 even before it reaches the port of shipment; the 

 farmer merely delivers to the nearest railway sta- 

 tion, which is state property. The produce export 

 department eliminates the distribution, it being the 

 only broker involved, turning over to the producer 

 the profits that usually go to the middleman and 

 deducting only the necessaiy cost of marketing. 

 The department has no secrets. Its accounts are 

 public, showing every transaction down to the last 

 cent of receipts and expenditures.^ 



The export department handles perishable goods 

 and frozen food, calls for fruit, etc., at any railway 

 station, contracts for cargo space on steamships, 

 and sells the goods to the world markets, all at a 

 small charge, which is about one-half what the 

 Tasmanians pay a private firm for the same work. 

 Eggs, poultry, lambs, butter, wine, grain, honey, 

 rabbits — anything for which there is a demand or 

 prospect of a demand — comes within the category 

 of produce handled by the department. Live 

 stock is slaughtered, dressed, frozen, and shipped. 



» Newest England, Henry D. Lloyd, 323, 324. 



