74. THE AGRICULTURAL BLOC 



consumer. Iron mines liad to choose between 

 closing or operating at a loss, and the increased 

 cost of the freight charges of handling ores and 

 metals was reflected directly to the farmer in 

 the higher costs of farm machinery. 



Freight charges on coal alone increased as 

 much as 200 per cent from 1914 to 1921 and 

 it is reported that the average cost of trans- 

 porting a ton of coal from the mines to the 

 consimaer early in 1922 was $2.74 while the price 

 of the coal itself at the mines was $2.14. Coal 

 is so essential to industrial activity that an in- 

 crease of a cost factor such as this is reflected 

 throughout the industry. 



I was informed by a manufacturer of farm ma- 

 chinery that the freight bill on the material that 

 goes into a grain harvester amounted to $35, a 

 hay press $95 and a threshing machine $200 

 before the finished article starts on its way from 

 the factory to the farmer. "When we consider 

 that it takes about six tons of raw material to 

 make one ton of finished steel and three tons 

 of raw steel to make one ton of farm machinery 

 we can see how this item alone affects the price 

 of the latter. 



We will probably never fully know how large 

 a part high freight rates played in the agricul- 



