CHAPTER XVIII 

 SHIPPING 



THE means of facile transportation and 

 the machinery of trade are the need and 

 the development of a complex civilization. 

 The importance of these useful adjuncts of 

 everyday life is indicated by the fact that 

 about one-fourth of all the people engaged 

 in gainful occupations in civilized com- 

 munities are employed in them. Neverthe- 

 less the expense of transportation and trade 

 constitutes a tax upon the consumer which 

 it is the aim of modern methods to reduce to 

 the lowest limits. Recent investigations 

 indicate that for every thirteen dollars the 

 consumer expends for farm products the 

 producers receive six dollars. In some 

 directions most remarkable results have 

 been accomplished. A recent quotation on 

 wheat per bushel was as follows: Chicago, 

 $0.93; Antwerp, $1.04; London, $1.06; 

 Hamburg, $1.07. Eleven to 14 cents per 

 bushel represents the cost of haul and com- 

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