THE FATE OF 1C IO DO RUM. 2O$ 



had to charge for one trip almost the former price 

 of two. This increased cost of transportation 

 brought down the price of millstones in Issoire, 

 for the competition of the quarries of Cantal made 

 it impossible to raise the price at Clermont. To 

 do that would be to divert the trade of the Cler- 

 mont mill-owners entirely to Cantal. In such cases, 

 the prices for the whole region must be governed 

 by the price at the centre of trade. The profits of 

 the Issoire quarry were thus materially reduced. 

 The owners talked of reducing the wages of their 

 employes; but this they could not do, for the wages 

 were already at the lowest point at which effective 

 service could be secured. The natural remedy 

 lay in an appeal to the octroi. The Council levied 

 five centimes per kilogramme on all millstones 

 brought into Issoire. Some of the Council thought 

 this levy an absurdity, for not a single millstone 

 had ever been imported. The old proverb as to 

 " carrying coals to Newcastle " was intended to 

 cover just such cases. But the mayor told them 

 to wait and see, and the result showed his far-seeing 

 wisdom. The quarry-owners doubled their home 

 prices, while the octroi preserved them from loss 

 through outside competition. Then followed one 

 of those curious surprises which lend such zest to 

 the study of French economic problems. The 

 price of millstones at the quarry in Issoire was 

 nearly double the price of the same millstones in 

 Clermont, whither they were carried by salesmen 

 from Issoire. After a time Issoire mill-owners 

 began to send to Clermont for millstones, instead 

 of buying them at home. It was cheaper for them 



