LONDON naturally serves as a starting point for a tour of European
investigation. The British capital has, indeed, features that render it
comparable in a peculiar degree with New York. The population of both,
including their outer ring of suburbs, is over five millions. In each
case there is access to the open sea by means of a noble waterway over
which passes the commerce of the seven seas. Railroads supplement the
water-borne cargoes with home-grown produce, fresh from the farms for
the use of urban kitchens.
London's markets do not afford the unbroken example of municipal
control that they would if a new system were to be created at the
present day. Precedent looms large in British administration and even
now there are only two ways of establishing a market--by Parliamentary
authority and Royal Charter. King Henry III covenanted by charter with
the City of London not to grant permission to anyone else to set up a
market within a radius of seven miles of the Guildhall, and this
privilege was subsequently confirmed by a charter granted by Edward III
in 1326. But of late years the City Corporation has waived its rights
and allowed markets to be established in various districts wherever a
real necessity has been shown to exist. In fact the markets of London
have grown with the city, keeping pace with its requirements.
[Illustration: COVENT GARDEN MARKET