THE FATE OF ICIODORUM. 203 
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. Insuchcases, 
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 
employés; 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 
