The Middleman in Agriculture. 
69 
have seemed grotesque. But while it might require some 
boldness to positively advocate the re-enactment of this statute, 
the principle can scarcely be said now to be entirely antagon- 
istic to the spirit of modern legislation, as it would assuredly 
have been two or three decades ago. The fixing by some 
official authority of the price of bread is not outside the range 
of practical politics, though perhaps it is not altogether to be 
regarded as probable. But, at any rate, every one will admit 
that such a course would be preferable to the present custom of 
fixing the price by a ring.” It was reported recently that 
the chairman of a bakers’ association in Devonshire stated that 
but for the association the price of bread would have been Id. 
per 4 lb. loaf lower in Plymouth. Many quotations might 
be given of somewhat similar statements in London, but it is 
not needful to labour the point. It may be taken generally 
that the bakers’ associations exist mainly to keep up the price 
of bread, while the millers’ associations exist mainly to keep 
up the price of flour. It is perhaps not possible to check such 
combinations as these, w r hich deprive the consumers of the 
benefits of competition, without improving by one iota the 
position of the producer ; but, at any rate, it is safe to say that 
if the price of bread is to be arbitrarily fixed at all, it would 
be better that it were done by a public authority than by a trade 
oligarchy. 
The case as regards wheat and bread is obviously capable of 
being presented in more detail than that with regard to any other 
commodities, one reason being, as aforesaid, that in this instance 
we have an official record of prices to work from. It is not so 
easy in respect to other produce to obtain an idea, except very 
generally, of the margin between the price paid to the producer 
and that paid by the consumer. That the margin, however, is 
very wide in many cases there is no doubt. Take the case of 
milk, which is a simple one. It will be admitted by all who 
know anything of the trade, and might be proved, if need 
were, from many contracts, that an average of from 7 d. to 8d. 
per imperial gallon is as much as the ordinary dairy farmer 
obtains for his milk, taking the year through. The retail price 
in the towns is, as a rule, Is. 4 d. per imperial gallon. In some 
cases it may be Is. and in a few others Is. 8 d., but Is. 4 d. is 
probably the most usual price. 1 Assuming that the price paid 
1 In West Kensington the price of milk at the time of writing is id. per 
quart, but I have recently seen a milk-cart in the streets bearing the announce- 
ment that from March 1 the price is reduced to 3 d. This, however, is pro- 
bably only an isolated case, and it would be rash to assume that the milk is 
pp to the same standard of quality as that sold at id. — R. H. R. 
