148 THE HIGH COST OF LIVING 



on the other plan as a compromise method of elim- 

 inating the middleman. 



In the years 1911-12, when there was a shortage 

 of meat in Germany, many cities engaged directly 

 in the meat business. The wide administrative 

 powers possessed by the cities made it easy to do 

 so, and the towns were encouraged in this action 

 by the state governments. In Prussia the state 

 urged the towns "to take steps to induce butchers 

 to sell meat at reasonable prices or, failing this, to 

 set up their own meat depots, to obtain supplies 

 of cheap fish and sell them in public markets, 

 and to insure regular and abundant suppHes of 

 vegetables and other foodstuffs, so that the daily 

 food outlay of the working classes might be re- 

 duced." 



Encouraged by the government, over 200 towns in 

 all parts of the countiy contracted for supplies of 

 foreign meat. The Berlin statistical office made in- 

 quiries in 1913 among 62 important towns and found 

 that 60 of them, with a combined population of over 

 15,000,000, had organized their meat supply in 1911 

 and 1912 for the purpose of relieving the scarcity 

 of meat and moderating its price. Foreign meat was 

 purchased in quantities from Russia, Holland, Rou- 

 mania, and other countries. Sometimes meat was 

 sold direct to the public and sometimes through 

 butchers at prices agreed upon by the municipal 

 authorities. The city of Berlin sold $1,875,000 worth 



