140 THE HIGH COST OF LIVING 



The transportation agencies of Germany have 

 been operated by the state for a generation. They 

 are run for service and the up-building of all classes 

 within the empire. That is the sole motive of op- 

 eration. Although the railroads earn over $200,- 

 000,000 annually as net projfits, profit has always 

 been secondary. That the German railroads are 

 efficient even the opponents of public ownership in 

 this country admit. They are operated to help 

 industry, to build up agriculture; and none of the 

 greater nations have done as much for scientific 

 agriculture as has Germany. And the railroads 

 have contributed greatly to the ability of that coun- 

 try to feed itself. No one, least of all the railway 

 officials, would listen for a moment to the suggestion 

 that farm produce for Hamburg, on the North Sea, 

 should be brought from East Prussia because it 

 would benefit the railroads or that municipal mar- 

 kets should not be started because it would injure 

 the retail butcher or grocer and depreciate real- 

 estate values. Nor w^ould the protest of private in- 

 terests against pubUc abattoirs be seriously listened 

 to by parliament or the city council, nor would any 

 limitations on the size or kind of packages that can 

 be carried by parcel-post be permitted. 



As a result of this policy Hamburg is fed by farm- 

 ers and market-gardeners round about Hamburg. 

 Berhn is fed through the intensive cultivation of 

 the land around Berlin. And every provision is 



