Copyright, 1912, by Mrs. Elmer Black A Terminal MarketSystem New York'sMost Urgent Need Some Observations, Commentsand Comparisonsof European Markets [Illustration] _By_Mrs. ELMER BLACK Member of the Advisory Board of the New YorkTerminal Market Commission Contents Page Foreword 3The Markets of the United States 5The Markets of the British Isles 5The Markets of the German Empire 13The Markets of France 23The Markets of Austria-Hungary 29The Markets of Holland 30The Markets of Belgium 30Comments 31 Illustrations Covent Garden Market 6Smithfield in the Olden Days 8Delivering Meat at Smithfield Today 8Inside Smithfield Market 10Billingsgate Fish Market, London 12Berlin's Terminal Market 14Interior of the Berlin Central Market 16Ground Plan of the Munich Market 18Munich's Modern Terminal Market 20The Paris Halles, exterior view 24The Paris Halles; Keen Morning Buyers 26A Drastic Inspection 28 Foreword In the belief that the establishment of a first-class _Terminal Market_system, worthy of twentieth century requirements, is a matter of vitalimportance to every family in New York, I have spent considerable timeduring the past few months investigating markets on both sides of theAtlantic. As a result I am more than ever conscious of the need for anenlightened public opinion to support the efforts of the TerminalMarket Commission to secure this benefit for our community. I amconvinced that our fellow-citizens will approve the requisiteexpenditure once they are roused to a realization of the inadequacy ofour food-distributing centers. In the hope that my investigations may aid in the accomplishment ofthis reform, I have prepared these observations, comments andcomparisons. It is true that the problem of the high cost of living is afflictingthe old lands of Europe, the newer countries like New Zealand, as wellas our own wide territories of the United States. The causes vary, according to local conditions; but everywhere it is agreed that apotent force for the amelioration of the condition of the consumers isfound in the establishment of efficient Terminal Markets undermunicipal control for all progressive cities. With wise administration, stringent inspection and sound safeguards, these municipal marketsbenefit both producers and consumers. They eliminate considerableintermediate expense, delay and confusion. Last but not least theyreturn a profit to the city treasury. It is because our New York markets achieve none of these beneficentresults that I issue this plea for the establishment of an adequate_Terminal Market_ system. I appeal to all who have the welfare of theircity at heart to add the force of their opinion to the accomplishmentof this civic improvement. [Illustration: Madeleine Black (signature) (MRS. ELMER BLACK)] United States NEW YORK, with over 5, 000, 000 inhabitants, has no effective marketsystem. The buildings are out of repair, there is little or noorganization, and the superintendent has testified before the New YorkFood Investigation Commission (March 12, 1912) that on theiradministration last year there was _a loss to the city treasury of$80, 000_. To that must be added due consideration of the inconvenienceto the consumers, producers and dealers, and the extra cost of handlingentailed by the lack of modern market methods. The city has almostquadrupled its population in a generation, but the markets remain aboutas they were. Many other cities in the United States not only testifyto the value of municipal markets as a means for lowering prices to theconsumer, but so guard their interests as to provide a very differentbalance sheet. Boston has a profit on its markets of $60, 000, Baltimore $50, 000, NewOrleans $79, 000, Buffalo $44, 000, Cleveland (Ohio) $27, 507, Washington(D. C. ) $7, 000, Nashville (Tenn. ) $8, 200, Indianapolis $17, 220, Rochester (N. Y. ) $4, 721, and St. Paul (Minn. ) $4, 085. If the following facts concerning municipal markets are studied, also, it will be seen that no city in any way comparable to New York fails tomake the municipal markets yield advantages both to the community andthe city treasury. The British Isles LONDON naturally serves as a starting point for a tour of Europeaninvestigation. The British capital has, indeed, features that render itcomparable in a peculiar degree with New York. The population of both, including their outer ring of suburbs, is over five millions. In eachcase there is access to the open sea by means of a noble waterway overwhich passes the commerce of the seven seas. Railroads supplement thewater-borne cargoes with home-grown produce, fresh from the farms forthe use of urban kitchens. London's markets do not afford the unbroken example of municipalcontrol that they would if a new system were to be created at thepresent day. Precedent looms large in British administration and evennow there are only two ways of establishing a market--by Parliamentaryauthority and Royal Charter. King Henry III covenanted by charter withthe City of London not to grant permission to anyone else to set up amarket within a radius of seven miles of the Guildhall, and thisprivilege was subsequently confirmed by a charter granted by Edward IIIin 1326. But of late years the City Corporation has waived its rightsand allowed markets to be established in various districts wherever areal necessity has been shown to exist. In fact the markets of Londonhave grown with the city, keeping pace with its requirements. [Illustration: COVENT GARDEN MARKET The Morning Rush of Farm and Garden Produce for London Consumers. ] There remains, however, the fact that certain Corporation markets andCovent Garden market serve as great wholesale terminals, connected moreor less unofficially with the numerous local markets in the outlyingdistricts. Chief among the Corporation markets is Smithfield, covering about eightacres, and costing altogether $1, 940, 000. There are to be foundwholesale meat, poultry and provision markets, with sections for thesale, wholesale and retail, of vegetables and fish. In the last twentyyears the development of cold storage processes has lowered thequantity of home-killed meat and remarkably increased the importationof refrigerated supplies. Last year the wholesale market disposed of433, 723 tons of meat, of which 77. 2 per cent came from overseas. Ten years ago the United States supplied 41 per cent of the Smithfieldmeat, but now these supplies have fallen off enormously and the lastreport of the Markets Committee says: "The United States, in particularfor domestic needs, is within measurable distance of becoming acompetitor with England for the output of South America. " South Americaand Australasia are, indeed, the chief producers today for the Britishmarket. This has developed a great cold storage business in London. All toldLondon can accommodate 3, 032, 000 carcases of mutton, reckoning eachcarcase at 36 pounds. Over 41 per cent of England's imported meatpasses through Smithfield, and railroad access is arranged to the heartof the market. The Great Northern Railway Company has a lease from thecorporation on 100, 000 feet of basement works under the meat market, with hydraulic lifts to the level of the market hall, and inclinedroadways for vehicular traffic. Most of the tenants at Smithfield are commission salesmen, who payweekly rents for their shops and stalls at space rates, all thefittings being supplied. Last year these rents brought in $427, 920. There is a toll of a farthing on every 21 pounds of meat sold, whichtogether with cold storage, weighing and other charges amounted in thesame period to $241, 635. The meat sales are entirely wholesale, excepton Saturday afternoons, when there is a retail "People's Market, " wherethousands of the very poor buy cheap joints. [Illustration: SMITHFIELD IN THE OLDEN DAYS From an Old Print Dated 1810. ] [Illustration: DELIVERING MEAT AT SMITHFIELD TODAY There is an inclined road by the tree in the center of the picture, leading to the special railroad freight depot. Cars are also rundirectly under the market and their cargoes are delivered by hydrauliclifts to the stands above. ] The inspection is very strict, every precaution is taken to ensurecleanliness, and breaches of the regulations are punished by fines orimprisonment. All condemned carcases are sent to a patent Podewilldestructor to be reduced by steam pressure and rolling to a powder, which is disposed of as an agricultural fertilizer. On these central meat markets there is a _profit of about $100, 000_. The Corporation also controls a great live cattle market at Islington, covering seventy-five acres. Over $2, 500, 000 have been spent on thismarket and the modern slaughterhouses attached thereto. Theseslaughterhouses are not regarded as a remunerative concern, but areprovided because they afford hygienic methods, and privateslaughterhouses in London are decreasing rapidly. Last year 37, 670cattle, 101, 646 sheep, 11, 722 calves and 34, 981 swine were slaughteredthere, the charges being 36 cents a head for cattle, 4 cents for sheep, 8 cents for calves, and 12 cents for hogs. Mainly on account of theextensions and improvements, this market is not being run at a profitat present, but its public utility is held to justify the outlay. Nordoes the Deptford Cattle market, of thirty acres, maintained on thebanks of the Thames to deal with live cattle imported from abroad, payits way. But there has been a serious decline in imported stock in lateyears, especially from America. At this market extreme precautions aretaken to prevent the entry of cattle disease that might spreadinfection to British flocks and herds. All animals landed there must beslaughtered within ten days and submitted to rigid inspection. Allhides and offal are immediately disinfected. Five hundred cattle can beunloaded from vessels at Deptford in twenty minutes. Last year 104, 351animals were killed, the meat being sent for sale to Smithfield andWhitechapel. Billingsgate, the famous fish market of London, is also administered bythe Corporation. Its records cover over six hundred years. It ishampered by narrow street approaches, but a very expeditious system ofdirect delivery of fish from the Thames side of the market buildingenables the licensed auctioneers to dispose of supplies very quickly. Steam carriers collect the fish from the fleets around the coast anddeliver them packed in ice at Billingsgate every night. Billingsgatemarket has cost the city $1, 600, 000. Stand prices are high, but thereis keen competition whenever a vacancy occurs. Last year the receiptsamounted to $182, 455. The auctioneers dealt with 194, 477 tons of fish, of which 120, 905 were water-borne and 73, 572 land-borne. _The Cityprofited to the extent of over $40, 000_ on this fish trade. [Illustration: INSIDE SMITHFIELD MARKET The City of London Corporation's $1, 940, 000 Terminal--one of the Aisleswith Wholesale Stands on each side. ] On the wholesale and retail meat, fruit, vegetable and fish market atLeadenhall there is also a profit of over $5, 000. _On the entire municipal market enterprises of the city there is aprofit of $156, 000. _ The markets are regarded with especial interest bythe Corporation and the Committee which regulates them is consideredone of the most important in the whole administration of the city. Inorder to keep abreast of the times most of the profit is expended onimprovements and extensions. Covent Garden, London's great fruit, flower and vegetable market, isowned by the Duke of Bedford, whose family have held it for hundreds ofyears. In the past century they have spent $730, 000 on extensions andimprovements. Of the present modern buildings, the fruit hall cost$170, 000 and the flower building $243, 000. Formerly the producers werechiefly concerned in the market, holding their stands at a yearlyrental. But with the expansion of London the growers have graduallygiven place to dealers and commission men, who pay twenty-five cents aday per square foot of space, and on the produce, at a regular scale, according to its nature. On flowers there is no toll, but each standholder pays a fixed rental. Though this market has direct accessneither to river nor railroad, it still retains its premier positionamong the wholesale markets of England. As the approaches are extremelynarrow, most of the produce has to be carried on the heads of hundredsof porters from the wagons outside into the market buildings. As it isunder private ownership, no figures are issued, but there is known tobe a huge profit on the market. For outer London there are fruit andvegetable markets at Stratford, in the east, Kew in the west, theBorough in the south and two railroad markets in the north. BIRMINGHAM, England's chief midland city, has owned its markets since1824, administering them through a markets and fairs committee. Since1908 the profits have been somewhat reduced, owing to outlay onimprovements and extensions; but although the city has expended$2, 156, 362 on the markets, the profits have paid off more than half ofthat indebtedness, besides relieving taxation in other directions. Not far away is the small city of KIDDERMINSTER, that may be mentionedas affording a demonstration of provincial municipal enterprise, undermore restricted conditions. On its vegetable market it makes a _profitof $1, 000_, and on its butter market _a profit of $1, 500_. Thepopulation of the city is only 25, 000. Another midland city, WOLVERHAMPTON, makes a _profit of nearly $20, 000_. [Illustration: BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET, LONDON The Thames Side of the Market, Showing the Steam Carriers Unloadingtheir Cargoes Direct into the Sale Room. ] LIVERPOOL, the great northern port on the Mersey, has spent $1, 242, 534on six municipal markets. The only market to lose money is the cattlemarket, which shows a deficit of $8, 000. Liverpool has a cold storagecapacity for 2, 176, 000 carcases. On the whole municipal marketenterprise, in this city of 700, 000 people, there is an average annual_profit of $80, 000_. MANCHESTER serves not only its own area but surrounding industrialcenters, with a total population of nearly 8, 000, 000. There are twelvemarkets and four slaughterhouses. Since 1868 the city has benefited bytheir administration to the extent of _$3, 250, 000 profit_. Next to that of London, the fish market here is the largest in England. Its annual profit is well over $10, 000, in addition to heavy extensionpayments in late years. DUBLIN, the capital of what is often called 'the distressful isle, 'makes _a profit of $14, 000_ on the food market and _$12, 000 more_ onthe cattle market, while EDINBURGH, Scotland's chief city, makes about_$15, 000 a year on municipal markets_. Statistics are available of something like 150 other British towns andcities, ranging from a population of 5, 000 upwards, where there is theconviction born of experience that municipal markets pay not merely inprofits, but in convenience to the community, and they have a powerfulinfluence in keeping prices down. Germany Perhaps more than any other country in the world Germany placesreliance on municipal markets, because of the peculiar pressure of theproblem of the high cost of living in the cities of the Fatherland. Onseveral occasions, during the last twelve months, the butchers' stallshave been raided by women in protest against the ten per cent increasein one year on the price of meat. And when, to meet the clamor, thegovernment reduced the hitherto prohibitive import duties on meat byone-half and the inland railroad charges by one-third, it was oncondition that the meat brought in should be for delivery to municipalmarkets or co-operative societies only. The result has been animmediate fall in retail prices ranging up to fifty per cent. [Illustration: BERLIN'S TERMINAL MARKET An Outside View of One Section of the $7, 250, 000 Central Market thatCaters for the Needs of Consumers in the German Capital. ] BERLIN'S two million people since 1886 have had a splendid terminalmarket on the Alexanderplatz, consisting of two great adjoining halls, with direct access to the city railroad. One of these halls is entirelywholesale, while the other is partly wholesale and partly retail. Meat, fish, fruit and vegetables are dealt with under the same roof byupwards of 2, 000 producers and dealers. The whole market cost $7, 250, 000, of which $1, 920, 711 was for the mainmarket and $4, 852, 862 was for the slaughterhouses, which are mostelaborately equipped to ensure sanitation and cleanliness. Great as themarket is, the pressure of business has grown so much that a project ison foot to construct more accommodation at a cost of $15, 000, 000. Themarket is maintained by stand rentals and administrative charges and bya fund established for the improvement and extension of the system. Onthe entire enterprise, when all charges have been met and interestpaid, there is _a profit of over $135, 000 a year_. A committee of eleven, partly city councillors and partly selectedrepresentatives of the public, administer the markets with ninety-threeofficials to ensure the carrying out of their orders. The regulationsare most elaborate, especially as regards the inspection of foods, which is conducted by a department having a staff of six hundred. A healthy competition is created by the system of sales, which may beconducted by the producer himself, or through an approved wholesaledealer, or through one of the six municipal sales commissioners. Thesemunicipal sales commissioners have to give bonds on appointment and arenot allowed to have any interest in the trade of the market beyond asmall percentage on sales. Producers living at a distance can havetheir business carried through by them under conditions so wellunderstood and respected as to ensure confidence. Though the municipalsales commissioners handle less than a quarter of the sales, theynevertheless act as a check on the private dealers, especially as theyissue a regular report on the average wholesale prices. Moreover thepurchasers benefit by these market arrangements, for if they buy from aregularly authorized dealer they can file a claim with theadministration if the supplies delivered are faulty and if their caseis proved the account will be rectified. About fifty railroad car loads can be handled at once at the market, but when extended accommodation is provided it is intended to deal withtwo hundred carloads simultaneously. On supplies thus delivered arailroad tax is collected from the receivers for maintaining railconnections, and this yields an annual profit of $11, 000. [Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE BERLIN CENTRAL MARKET The Fish Section of the Great Municipal Market of the German Capital. ] Of the stand holders, nine-tenths are monthly tenants, and theremainder pay by the day. The highest charge is 9. 5 cents per squaremeter a day for meat stalls. The fish sold comes mainly fromGeestemunde, at the mouth of the Weser, and is sold under the strictestconditions, only a small commission being allowed to be added by thedealers. The slaughterhouses deal with 800 wagons daily and for the use of thebutchers and the market generally 2, 000 square meters of distilledwater are produced every day, valued at four cents the square meter. Eight thousand pipes conduct the water to every part of the market. Toensure cleanliness, bathrooms and rooms for drying clothes areestablished for the use of the butchers, who are charged two and a halfcents a bath. In inspecting the carcases the veterinaries take the mostminute precautions. From every animal four samples are taken, atdifferent parts of the body, and each of these samples is submitted totests for twenty minutes. In an average year 14, 000 carcases are condemned and destroyed, as wellas 400, 000 diseased parts. Whenever possible the inspectors cut awaydiseased portions, and the remainder of the carcase, after beingsterilized, is sent to the markets known as the Freibank, for sale tothe very poor. This proportion is not so startling when it isconsidered that something like two million animals are slaughteredevery year, of which more than half are pigs. Until recently Germanyused to export a large number of prime animals to the London market, but the demands of home consumers now prevent this and the export tradehas practically ceased. In fact Germany, in common with the rest ofEurope, is now competing for the world's refrigerated supplies. Storm doors and windbreaks are provided at the entrances to the marketsand wagons are only allowed inside at certain hours and throughspecified doorways. Thus there is an absence of dust, and a carefullyarranged series of windows ensure ample ventilation. All dealers haveto unpack their stock at least once every seven days, for thedestruction of unsound articles. All supplies of unripe fruit, horseflesh and artificial butter have to carry labels disclosing theirreal nature. Attached to the market is a hospital with skilledattendance, for cases of sickness or injury happening on the marketpremises. As in most other centers, the establishment of the market led to thepeddlers entering into outside competition. They bought their supplieswholesale inside, and then offered them cheaply outside, free fromstand rentals and other charges. This menace to the prosperity of themarket grew so great that the peddlers' traffic in adjacent streets wasprohibited and strictly limited elsewhere. This measure, in fact, isdeemed essential in every city where municipal markets are conductedsuccessfully. [Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF THE MUNICH MARKET In front is seen the toll-house and receiving station, then the greatmarket hall and, in the upper part of the picture, the restaurant andadministration offices. The sidetracks on the right facilitate therapid distribution of produce sold at the market. Under the greatmarket hall are large refrigeration chambers connected directly withthe railroad. ] COLOGNE completed a million dollar market in 1904, with a cold storageplant and connections with the state and narrow gauge railways. Nearlyhalf the space is taken up by wholesale dealers in fruit andvegetables. The chief fault of the market is the remoteness from the center of thetown. At first it had a great success but, on this account, it has notbeen entirely maintained. Encouraged by that initial prosperity, thecity authorities bought a nearer site, but the subsequent decrease inthe market's popularity has caused the postponement of extensions. Though the market does not pay the five per cent on capital that isrequired, the present administration, even with its drawbacks, doessucceed in making a profit of about three per cent on the capitalinvested, last year's income amounting to $535, 200. HAMBURG is peculiarly situated as to its market conditions. The markethalls of Hamburg and Altona adjoin, but while the former is under thecontrol of the Hamburg senate, the latter is subject to the laws of thePrussian government and administered by the Altona city authorities. Each has a large hall, with a considerable portion of the space usedfor auctions. The senate of Hamburg appoints two auctioneers and Altonaone; but, while the latter is a salaried official, the former are twoHamburg auctioneers approved by the government for the special marketbusiness, on undertaking not to trade on their own account. The tradeof the chief market is in fish. With the Altona market, the Hamburgmarket and the Geestemunde market, the sales in this section of Germanyare the most important in the Fatherland for fresh sea fish, and saltedherrings. About a fourth comes in fishing cutters or steam trawlersdirect alongside the market halls, while the remaining three-fourthscome from Denmark by rail or by ships from England, Scotland andNorway. Often there are three or four special fish trains from thenorth in a day, while twenty-five to thirty steamers bring the regularsupply of imported fish. The auctioneers derive their revenue from a four per cent charge onsales of the cargoes of German fishing vessels and five per cent onimported supplies. Out of this they pay half of one per cent to thegovernment on the German and one per cent on the foreign sales. No feesare charged to importers and dealers using the auction section of thefish market. Out of the percentage paid to the government by theauctioneers is provided light and water, the cleansing of the halls andthe carting away of refuse for destruction. Strict regulations governthe inspection of the fish and to ensure the destruction of those thathave deteriorated they are sprinkled with petroleum immediately ondetection. [Illustration: MUNICH TERMINAL MARKET The World's Most Modern Distribution Center for Foodstuffs. ] Steam fishing boats using the market quays pay 48 cents for 24 hours'use, seagoing sailing cutters 24 cents, river sailing cutters 6 cents, and small boats 3 cents, in which charges the use of electric and otherhoists is included. From these markets almost the whole of Germany receives its sea fishsupplies, for the distribution of which most of the leading dealershave branch houses in the principal cities. There are also two markets--one in Hamburg and one in Altona--for thesale of farm produce, mostly transported thither by boats. Besidesthese, there is a big auction for imported fruit, conducted by privatefirms. All these Hamburg markets are prosperous, and their utility tothe community is universally acknowledged. FRANKFORT'S market system dates back to 1879, when the first hall waserected at a cost of $375, 000. It has 548 stands on the main floorrenting at $1. 08 per two square meters a month, payable in advance, while there is space for 347 more in the galleries at 84 cents per twosquare meters a month. Nearby is a second hall, built in 1883 at a costof $143, 750. A third hall followed in 1899 at a cost of $38, 500, whilein 1911 further extensions were determined on and there are freshprojects now under consideration. Besides these covered markets thecity has a paved and fenced square that has been used since 1907 as anopen market, where stands are rented at 5 cents a day. Sixty per cent of the stands in the market halls are rented by themonth and forty per cent by the day. Tuesdays and Fridays are reservedfor wholesale trading. A market commission rules the markets and thepolice enforce their regulations, the violation of which is liable tocost the offender $7. 20 in fines or imprisonment up to eight days. MUNICH, with a population of half a million, has the most modern of allthe European municipal markets. It was opened in February, 1912, andembodies the improvements suggested by experience of marketadministration in other cities. The total cost was $797, 000, of which $510, 000 was spent on fourcommunicating iron market halls, with their cellar accommodationunderneath, $190, 000 on a receiving and toll department, $52, 000 on agroup of adjacent buildings, including a post-office, restaurant andbeer-garden, and $45, 000 on roadways. The whole establishment covers46, 500 square meters, of which the market halls occupy 37, 100 squaremeters. At the northern extremity of the buildings is the toll and receivingdepartment, where produce is delivered at special sidings connectedwith the south railway station of the city. Next comes a succession oflofty halls, with covered connections, terminating in a small retailsection and the administration offices. At the northern end of thegreat market is a section where express delivery traffic is dealt with, while the western side is occupied with sidings for loading producesold to buyers from other German centers. Below the toll house and the market generally are vast cold storagecellars and refrigerating plants for the preservation of surplussupplies till the demand in the market above calls for their delivery. Each market hall is devoted to a separate section of produce, and thecellars below are correspondingly distinct, so that there is an absenceof confusion, orderliness is ensured, and rapid deliveries facilitated. Across this underground space from north to south run three roadways, while down the center, from east to west, a further broad aisle isprovided, with an equipment of great hydraulic lifts. There are nine ofthese lifts altogether for heavy consignments, while each stand-ownerin the market has, in addition, a small lift connecting his stand andstorage cellar. Both market halls and underground cellars are so constructed as tofacilitate ventilation and complete cleanliness. The floors are ofconcrete and every stand is fitted with running water, with which allthe fittings have to be scoured every day. There is both roof and sidelight, and ample ventilation, while the entrances are wind-screened, toprevent dust. Electric light is used underground, and the cellars areinspected as strictly as the upper halls, to ensure due attention tohygiene. In the center of each market hall there are offices andwriting rooms for those using the markets. In the restaurant 150 can beserved with meals at one time, or they can be accommodated with seatsin the beer-garden. Associated with this market establishment is a great cattle market andrange of slaughterhouses on a neighboring site. The live cattle marketdates back for centuries, but the present accommodation was onlycompleted in May, 1904, at a total cost of $1, 600, 000. Last year 809, 508 animals were sold, including 432, 159 swine and234, 457 calves. In the slaughterhouses 713, 228 of these were killed, besides 2, 619 horses and 97 dogs. About twenty-five per cent of theanimals reach the market by road from neighboring farms, whileseventy-five per cent come by rail. For the inspection of all fleshfoods there are very strict rules, enforced by the chief veterinarysurgeon, Dr. Müller, and a staff of specially trained assistants. As inBerlin, extensive bathrooms are provided for the slaughterhouse staff, and baths are available at nominal charges. Though the new market hallshave not been established long enough to provide a definite financialstatement, the live-cattle market and slaughterhouses do afford anindication of the success of municipal administration in Munich. Lastyear the income was $416, 500 and the expenditure $410, 100, thus showinga profit of $6, 400. The new produce halls are certainly the bestequipped in the world, and the only element of doubt as to theirsuccess arises from the fact that three old-fashioned open markets arenearer the center of the city and for that reason are even nowpreferred by many retailers. This fact emphasises the importance ofselecting a central position in establishing a municipal terminalmarket. France PARIS has one of the most skilfully organized municipal market systemsin Europe. The chief food distribution center for the 3, 000, 000Parisians is established at the Halles Centrales, a series of tenpavilions covering twenty-two acres of ground and intervening streets. Altogether this great terminal market has cost the city more than$10, 000, 000. Most of the pavilions are entirely for the wholesale trade, but someare used as retail markets to a limited extent. Retail traders arebeing decreased gradually, so that whereas in 1904 there were 1, 164retail stands there are now only 856. The total receipts of the Halles Centrales and thirty local marketsamount to $2, 100, 000, of which _about $1, 000, 000 is profit_. There is ageneral advance in the wholesale trade, but the local covered marketsor marchés de quartier, are not progressing in the same way, so thecity does not quite maintain a steady level of market profit. [Illustration: THE HALLES CENTRALES, PARIS An Outside View, Showing How the Supplies Overflow into the AdjacentStreets, Notwithstanding the Provision of Twenty-two Acres of CoveredPavilions. ] The reasons given for the falling off of the retail trade are various, but the principal causes appear to be (1) the growth of big stores, with local branches, that deliver the goods at the door, thus relievingthe purchaser of the necessity of taking home market supplies; (2) thenumber of perambulating produce salesmen, who sell from carts in thestreet at low rates, having neither store rent nor market tolls to pay, and (3) the growth of co-operative societies. A complicated and severe code of regulations governs the markets. Commission salesmen at the Halles Centrales must be French citizens ofunblemished record and must give a bond of not less than $1, 000 inproof of solvency. Producers may have their supplies sold either atauction or by private treaty, as they prefer, and as none of the agentsare allowed to do business for themselves the distant growers haveconfidence in the market methods. In the retail markets each dealer in fresh meat pays just under $6. 00 aweek in all, while dealers in salted meats, fish, game and vegetablespay a much lower rate. All, however, in the covered markets pay threetaxes--one for the right to occupy a stand, one for the cleaning andarranging of the markets, and one for the maintenance of guardians andofficials. In the open markets the stands are rented by the day, week, or year, the rate for the day ranging from ten to thirty cents, according to space. Several of these local markets have charters datingback to pre-revolution days, that cannot now be annulled. It would be difficult to devise a more thorough system of inspection. An average year's seizures include half a million pounds of meat, 17, 000 pounds of fruit and vegetables and half a million pounds of saltwater fish. Thus the Paris market arrangements provide an admirable centralclearing house, where supplies are inspected and sold under suchconditions as to prevent the artificial raising of prices. It also actsas a feeder to the marchés de quartier, to the great convenience oflocal consumers. Moreover the producer is safeguarded, for on hissupplies a small fixed percentage only can be charged by the salesman, and the current market prices are made public by agents especiallydetailed for that purpose. HAVRE, the well-known French seaport, with a population of 130, 000, hasa profit of over six per cent on the Halles Centrales and ten per centon the fish market. All told there is _a profit of $27, 000_ on thetwelve municipal markets. [Illustration: KEEN MORNING BUYERS In the Game Section of the Paris Halles Centrales. ] The Halles Centrales occupy an entire square in the center of the cityand cost $75, 000, exclusive of the site. Gardeners and farmers are notpermitted to sell their produce on the way to the market and are onlyallowed to deliver to storekeepers after the wholesale markets areclosed. Here, as elsewhere where the markets are successful, everyprecaution is taken to avoid the prosperity of the market beingdissipated by sales in the surrounding neighborhood. The annual rentsfor butchers are very moderate, ranging from $57. 90 to $154. 40, vegetable dealers $42. 85 to $92. 64; dairy produce dealers $52. 11 to$85. 11, fishmongers $23. 16 to $86. 85. In the wholesale markets there isan annual trade turnover worth well above $1, 000, 000, of which fishrepresents $280, 000. So far from the fishermen finding the fish marketdetrimental to their interests, they welcome it and cheerfully observethe rule forbidding sales on the quays or transit sheds except underspecial permits. LYONS, with a population of half a million, may be taken as the bestexample of a flourishing French provincial city at a considerabledistance from the sea. The principal market, La Halle, is known allover France for its public auctions. Accommodation is provided for 276stalls, rented at 14 cents a day per square meter for fruit, vegetablesand cheese, while other stalls for meat and fish are rented at 33 centsper square meter. At the morning auctions, held at the rear of the hall, are sold immensequantities of fish, oysters, lobsters, game, poultry, butter, cheese, eggs, fruit and vegetables. There is a rule that all supplies must comefrom outside Lyons, so that local store men cannot there dispose ofsurplus stocks, but dealers in other French cities often thus relievethemselves when overloaded. These auctions not only enable localdealers to distribute supplies at cheap rates to the small stores allover the city, but wide awake housewives can frequently tell just whatthe stores gave wholesale for the produce offered to them retail laterin the day, so a check can be kept on overcharges. The auctioneers are given a monopoly of selling for ten years, onbinding themselves to pay to the city a sum equal to two per cent onthe total annual sales. The minimum is fixed at $1, 930 for one stand or$5, 650 for four stands, to be paid to the municipal treasury. Two percent is added to the purchase price of every payment made by buyers atauction, and if this does not amount to $1, 930 per stand for the year, the auctioneer has to make up the difference. The poorer classesbenefit largely by these sales, banding together to buy wholesale andthen dividing their purchases. [Illustration: A DRASTIC INSPECTION Of Refrigerated Chinese Pork at the Port of Liverpool. ] There are also seventeen markets for general retail trade in Lyons. TheTerminal Market of La Halle cost the city $886, 980. The company whichbuilt it was given a concession for fifty years, on a division ofprofits arrangement, but within sixteen months the utility of themarket as an advantageous enterprise for the city was so clearlydemonstrated that the municipality bought the company out. Austria-Hungary VIENNA, with 1, 700, 000 people to supply, has a magnificently managedsystem of forty-five markets, seven of which are located in large, well-ventilated halls, all kept spotlessly clean. Market commissioners appointed by the municipality conduct the businessof the markets according to strict regulations, enforcing a rigidinspection of all products as well as weights and measures. Violationsof these rules are punishable by fines of about $2. 00, imprisonment for24 hours or exclusion from the markets. Such penalties are enforcedwhen buyers are defrauded, dealers oppose the market authority, orexceed the charges that are posted in the market. Not merely land and water produce, but general farm and householdrequisites, are sold at these markets. Outside buying is strictlycontrolled, owners of boats on the Danube or wagons on the publicstreets paying toll to the municipality on any sales. _Over $60, 000 profit_ is the average annual yield of the markets to thecity treasury, and it is generally agreed that the market system tendsto keep down the price of foodstuffs to normal levels. BUDA-PESTH has 715, 000 people and a very complete market system, underwhich, though only nominal rentals are charged, there is _a profit ofover $100, 000_. There is one large wholesale terminal market, while six local marketscater for the retail requirements of all quarters of the city. Allsalesmen are carefully selected; criminals and diseased persons beingrigidly excluded. Though a wide variety of articles are sold in thesmaller markets besides farm produce, storekeepers are not allowed torent stalls, so the market men and farmers alone have the use of thebuildings. The regulations under which they trade were drawn up by amarket commission and confirmed by ministerial decrees. Theseregulations are regarded in Europe as a model of comprehensiveness andtheir observance ensures close attention to hygiene. Among the rules isone insisting on the placing of all waste paper in the public refusereceptacles, while another compels the use of new, clean paper only inwrapping up food products. Stalls are rented from four to ten cents a day, according to theaccommodation. Supplies come by boat, rail and wagon, and when there ispressure on the interior market space sales are allowed from the boatsand wagons at a toll of ten cents a day. Otherwise only merchandise isallowed to be sold outside the market halls. Not only must no fish, game, meat or poultry be sold without first being passed by theveterinary inspectors, but none of these articles of diet must bebrought to market packed in straw, cloth or paper. Unripe fruit mustnot be sold to children. Every day a bulletin issued by the market commission sets out thewholesale prices, while a weekly list gives the retail prices, but inthe latter case the note is added that the market commission will notbe responsible for any controversy that may arise. All the stocks heldby the market traders are insured by the municipality, though not totheir full value. Not only have these markets proved beneficial to the consumersgenerally, but the market men are unanimous as to their advantage, forthey afford a ready and inexpensive means of doing a large business. Holland AMSTERDAM, with a population of 510, 000, has all the local marketsunder the control of the municipality. They are divided into fivedistricts, each managed by a director or market master, responsible tothe city council. Two of the markets are covered, but the remainder are open and aresituated by the side of the canals, along which the produce is broughtin boats from the farms around. On the administration of the markets inan average year there is _a profit of $36, 000_, but there is a lawagainst making a profit on municipal enterprises, so the surplus isspent on local improvements. ROTTERDAM, another great Dutch seaport, operates its markets undersimilar conditions and makes _a profit of $34, 000_, of which $23, 000comes from the cattle and meat markets. Belgium BRUSSELS, possessing a population of half a million, reaps considerableadvantage from its picturesque municipal markets, four of which arecovered, while several are in the open air. The renting of space to standholders at the central market is accordingto the highest bidder, provided the price is not below $11. 58 per monthfor meat, $9. 65 for poultry and game, $5. 79 for fruit, vegetables, butter and cheese. Both producers and dealers sell at these markets, all their suppliesbeing subjected to drastic inspection regulations. All meats are testedby the municipal veterinary surgeon and his staff, while a communalchemist regulates the milk, butter and general dairy produce. Thecleansing of the markets is done by the department of publiccleanliness. Some of the public markets are managed by a contractor, who receives $250. 90 a year for setting up the stalls and keeping themin good order. He deposits a security on undertaking his contract andin default of a satisfactory performance of his work the commune doesit and charges him with it. Comments It has been testified that New York's annual food supply costs, at therailroad and steamer terminals, $350, 000, 000. But the consumers pay$500, 000, 000 for it. The balance of $150, 000, 000 does not necessarilyindicate that any particular section of middle-men have been exactingexcessive profits. It merely demonstrates that too many people handlethe produce between the farm and the fireside. The provision of anadequate Terminal Market system for New York would apply the remedy. New York stands alone, for a city of its importance, in having to facean annual deficit on its markets. The results elsewhere prove that thedeficit could be turned into a profit by the creation of a TerminalMarket system, equipped and administered on twentieth century lines. America is exporting less foodstuffs than formerly. The annual valuehas fallen $126, 000, 000 in eleven years. The growth of themanufacturing population and the relative decrease of the agriculturalpopulation, together with the gradual impoverishment of much of ourfarm land, will soon make conditions worse unless we organize our fooddistribution. The first step for New York is the establishment of a Terminal Marketsystem. It is estimated that New York's population will continue togrow at the rate of fully 100, 000 a year, so this problem admits of nofurther procrastination. In natural resources America is the richest country in the world. Othernations have to import vast quantities of produce because of therestricted area of their territory, the comparative unfruitfulness oftheir soil, or their adverse climatic conditions. We have a wide landof boundless fertility, never wholly in the grip of winter's cold. Yetwe no more escape the high cost of living than these less favoredpeoples overseas. They have partially compensated for theirdisadvantages by organizing their markets, while we have neglected thatimportant branch of civic enterprise. Everywhere in Europe, the provision of adequate terminal markets undermunicipal control is pointed to as a powerful aid in keeping foodprices down. There is a lesson in that for New York and other Americancities. There is a lesson also for growers in up-state districts, forexperience shows that with adequate markets, supplying produce at lowerrates, there comes a demand for more farm and garden stuff and agreater variety of it. This directly aids in developing ruralprosperity and enhances the value of agricultural land. I believe a marked improvement will be shown if a bureau is maintainedto inform farmers as to the demands of the market and the best methodof packing, preparing and despatching their produce so as to reach themarket in prime condition. Not only will that aid the market, but itwill have a powerful influence in arresting "the drift from the land"to the cities. The municipality should select central positions for its markets, withrail and river access. It should have effective control not only overthe markets but the adjacent streets, wharves, and railroad sidings, soas to obviate evasion of the market tolls. The rentals should not behigh, and no sub-letting should be allowed under any circumstances. Under such conditions, with wise administration, New York's TerminalMarket system could be made a model that would be studied by othercities in an age when economic questions absorb the attention of allour public-spirited men and women. In the interests of the people's health and happiness, no less than inconsideration of the municipal finances, all should rally to thesupport of those who are seeking to secure the consummation of thisurgent reform at the earliest possible moment consistent with a fullconsideration of all its aspects. The Willett Press, New York * * * * * Transcriber's Notes Moved illustrations to paragraph breaks. Removed period from "per cent" for consistency. Removed hyphen from "to-day" for consistency.