COST PRICE AND COSTS OF PRODUCTION 183 



directions. This development has resulted, of course, in a net 

 gain of welfare to the community, but the indirect effect has been 

 to increase the cost of such foodstuffs as they reach the consumer, 

 in spite of the fact that the costs of administration are borne out 

 of general taxation and are not, therefore, added to the price ; 

 theincreasedchargesforimprovedsanitarymethods plant, and equip- 

 ment, on the other hand, do constitute an addition to the price. 

 Among perishables, animal foodstuffs have been most liable to be 

 affected by sanitary regulations. 



In addition to the essential increases in the costs of distribution 

 following upon the greater concentration of populations in towns, 

 the last thirty years have seen a great increase in retail facilities 

 for the consuming public. 1 Shops and services have not only 

 multiplied beyond the increase in population, but have become 

 more elaborate and costly. This feature has been at least as 

 marked in the retail trade in animal foodstuffs as in that in other 

 classes of goods. As a general rule, the charge for any such increase 

 in facilities and services is added to the consumer's price. The 

 organisation of wholesale and retail trade interests, with the rise 

 of huge concerns controlling hundreds of branches, with combina- 

 tions and associations among wholesalers and retailers resulting 

 in price-regulation and the practical elimination of competition 

 tends to strengthen trade profits in perishable foodstuffs, some- 

 times apparently, but not necessarily, and by no means always 

 at the expense of the consumer. In general, it is the abuses of the 

 modern system of distribution, rather than the system itself, that 

 has given rise to complaints on the part of consumers in certain 

 countries. 



CO-OPERATIVE PRODUCTION AND MARKETING. 2 



Owing to the marked advance in the costs of producing and 

 marketing perishable farm produce in recent years, and to the 

 increased hold of dealers and capitalistic organisations over all 

 operations connected with the transference of such goods from the 

 original producer to the final consumer, co-operative ideas have 

 spread widely among producers, and, to a smaller extent, among 

 consumers. Co-operative methods, as hitherto developed, aim at 

 securing increased profits for the producers by cheapening the 

 costs of production, and by eliminating intermediaries in the pro- 

 cess of marketing as far as possible. In so far, however, as they 

 lead to an increase in the supplies and permanently lower the actual 

 cost of the goods as delivered, they benefit the consumer also. 

 Actual experience and the opinions of many authorities indicate 

 that the production and the distribution of animal foodstuffs 



1 In America " the cost of meats has been increased materially by the 



increase of service and particularly of delivery service demanded by the 



consuming public." U.S. Dept. Agric. Office of Sec. Kept. 113 (1916), p. 54. 



See also Chap. ix. above, where co-operation is discussed under the head 



of supplies of capital and credit facilities. 



