The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas Et Prevalebit. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1883. The Bread Question.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1018, 6 December 1883, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas Et Prevalebit. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1883. The Bread Question.

If the letter of Mr Thomas Taylor, which is published in this issue, represents the general opinion of the trade concerning the new Adulteration Act, we must say that in regard to the rise in the price of bread, the bakers have not logically a leg to stand on. On Saturday, when writing on this subject, we expressed our belief that the purveyors of bread were not more prone to fall into dishonest courses than other traders, but according to our correspondent this charitable opinion was scarcely warranted by facts. He frankly admits that before the present Act came into force it was not usual to exercise much care in weighing loaves, and that the mistakes were as a rule unfavorable to the consumer, Even the assertion of Mr Taylor that he had “ repeatedly seen loaves overweight ” will afford little consolation, as the knowledge that some other customer has got more than he paid for will hardly compensate the man who has sustained a loss. All that this argument proves is that legislation on this matter had been delayed quite long enough, and that the bakers must have been reaping a very* good harvest for some time past. Without doubt the provisions of the Act will entail additional labor, but we quite fail to see why the consumer should be called upon to pay for that, even though he “ receives all the advantages.” What does our correspondent mean by the latter Assertion ? All the advantage we can conceive to accrue from this new arrangement is that in future he who buys bread will have the satisfaction of knowing that he is getting what he pays f or —which simply means that the baker is to be placed upon the same footing as every other trader. This, it appears, has not been the case hitherto, and the ease with which fraud—for there is no other word to use—can be carried out has been too great a temptation to withstand. The provisions of the Act are unquestionably drastic, but if the revelations of our correspondent are well-founded the bakers have had a good long innings, and it was about time they were howled out. Mr Taylor may consider it a ‘'misfortune” to belong to the trade, but we think that when all is said the occupation of providing bread is not without its compensating advantages. But not the least amusing part of the letter is where the consumer is advised to put his confidence in the purveyor, who will give an assurance that if he receives one penny more for a 41b loaf he will at any rate give fair value for the money. To this remarkably simple request, Mr Customer will probably answer: “No, my good man, on your own showing you have been abusing this confidence you are now asking for, by giving me light weight, but there is a limit even to my simplicity, and now you are frank enough to confess, all I prefer to benefit from my new knowledge and will trust you no longer. This little confidence trick of yours won’t do, ix.y friend.” Whether sevenpence is or is not an exorbitant charge for a 41b loaf made from flour which costs a ton is not a question we are called upon to decide, but the fact remains that the only real grounds for raising the price of bread is an appreciable increase in the price of the chief material from which it is made. Until this increase occurs, the people are justified in protesting against the bakers taking advantage of this new Act to unduly augment their profits. The chief question for the public to decide, therefore, is how to destroy the combination entered into by the Ashburton bakers. The best way, we think, is for the people to combine in their turn and resolve that they will confine themselves to home-made bread, until such time as the tradesmen come to recognise the futility of their attempt to raise the price of an important necessary of life. Bread-making is not such a difficult art that it cannot be learnt in a short lime, even if it does not come by instinct to most women, and although someone has declared that “ homemade bread is a heavy compound of putty and lead,” we know as a matter of fact that it is at least as wholesome as what is provided by professional bakers. At any rate the remedy is in the hands of the people themselves, and we do not think that it will be long before the bakers are brought to their senses and made to understand that they cannot force customers to pay more for a commodity than it is justly worth.