Housewife Attacks Rise ln Bread Price

Chronicle (Levin), 1 October 1949, Page 3

Housewife Attacks Rise ln Bread Price

WELLINGTON, Sept. 30. Allegations that the Price Control Division had side-stepped the Master Bakers' Federations case were made by Mr H. M. Eogerson on hehalf of the Federation at the Price Tribunal hearing today. Mr H. L. Wise, Director of the Price Control Division, contended that the division was entitled to present its own submissions haSed on its own investigations which in this case, he said, were more extensive than those of the master hakers. Mrs M. E. Purey presented submissions on behalf of the Canterhury Housewives' Union. Protesting -against the increase applied for, she said housewives could not absorh even 5s a year more in their hudget. "We claim that' the master bakers got their last advance on f alse premises. They claimed it entirely on the cost of deliveries. Then they passed all the bread deliveries on to eontractors. Weunderstand that the eontractors carry all the costs of petrol, vans, running repairs and so on. The bakers carry no such responsibility. ' ' She addressed herself to a member of the Tribunal as follows: "Mrs Palmer you're a housewife. Did you ever buy your bread in a wrapper? Have you ever had your bread handed you in a paper bag? Mr Thomas says the price of paper and cartons is going up. Why should we pay for these, things We never see on the bread we buy?" Mrs Furey claimed that the master bakers were basing their submission on the most uneconomic units of the trade. She objected strongly to any increase in the priee of bread being based on the least efficient units. "Inefficient units should be wiped out," she said. "The bakers had a darned good time at our expense during the war. At that time we made ouselves packhorses. Say it costs £10 a week to keep a delivery van ou the road, what happened to that £10 when we replaced the vans with our own physieal energy?" Keturning to her objections about the applieation for increased prices, Mrs Furey said the average housewife had £5 a week with which she had to pay rent and food, light and coal bills. Replying to Mr Holloway she said that if on being denied priee increase the bakers stopped baking the housewives would start a co-operative bakery, "Then the bakers would all come baek into the field and smash it. If we Btarted a 'co-op' and baked at 5d they would start selling at 4$d and still make a profit." She suggested that the bakers whp so stopped baking should be imprisoned for putting the eommunity to ineonvenience. "They're there to serve the community, ' ' she said. " If they stopped we'd just darned well bake onr own. The bakers are more efficient than we would be, but we ean make very good bread, a lot of us. if bakery is such a trade to the master bakers then baking should be handed over to the munieipality like milk in -Wellington. How would you like that Mr Burrowes?" concluded Mr Furey addressing the secretary of the Master Bakers' Federation. Mr Rogerson contended that the Price Control Division had completely failed to answer the case put forward by the Master Bakers' Federation, but instead had prepared' another case- based on fresh material. Bef ore ; fidjourning the hearing sine die, Mr Justiee Hunter said: "The Tri- • bunal is of opinion that it must examine the cases put forward by both sides and itself decide which submissions present the more correet picture of the industry."