FREE WHEAT WANTED

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 487, 21 April 1909, Page 7

FREE WHEAT WANTED

UNITED STATES DUTY.

PATTEN'S ESTIMATE OF THE SUPPLY. DISPUTES OFFICIAL. FIGURES. , lilt TELEGRAPH—PnESB ASSOCIATION—COI'IttIOBT.) . (Rec. April 20, 11.30 p.m.) Now York, , April 20. In view of tho excessive prices of. wheat, sovoral suggestions have been mado that tho duty on wheat import-oil into the United : States should bo abolished.'' Tlio l'ayne Tariff Bill (which recently passed tlio House of Representatives) proposes, to increaso the duty on wheat to 80 cents (about Is. 3d.) a bushel. ; Tlio wheat speculator, Mr. Patten, replies that the abolition of the duty would bo without -effect, because tlio-world's markets are now on a parity. Before long tho United States will require to import corn, oats, and live stock. - : ■. •-- ■ , Referring to the statement by tile Secretary for Agriculture, Mr. Wilson that on March 1 thero were 143 million bushels of wheat on farms—Mr. Patten declares that this estimate is 60 per cent, too high. ■' THE PRICE OF BREAD IN VICTORIA. At '.the recent conference "of the "ictoriilrv Political. Labour Council, Mr. : Prendergost, M.L.A., leader of the State Labour party, moved: "That this conference is of opinion that tho Commonwealth Government should appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into the excessive price of such necessaries of life as fish, fruit, meat, cereals, and broad, with a view of remedies being applied and that this motion bo handed to the Prime Minister by a deputa-. tion from the central executive." - Tho mover said that with wheat at ss. per bushel they had bread between Gd, and 7d. per loaf,, while there was an overplus ,in production of ■10,000,000 bushels. The higher .pri.ee of bread was not due' altogether to the increase, in the .price"of wheat, but the, fact that a number o' flourmillers wero speculators in the commoditv. and any losses in speculation were made:up b- increasing. the price of flour: The ; last- reliable figures they had showed that three ; or four years nso there were 30,000,000 quarters of wheat over and above, that required : _for'consumption in the world, and tho samo thing seen ed. to the case every year. The price of wheat wds, therefore, not governed by its scarcity or abundance; but by the fact that it handled ,by rings, trusts, and combines. The motion was carried./ WHAT IT MEANS TO THE LONDON POOR. "In accordance-with tlio law of supply and domandV and: the resolution of - the Master Bakers'. Association ,the price of bread 'in London rose yesterday a half-penny the 41b. loaf,", writes the "Daily Mail" of March 2i"ln the poorer parts of' the town, as a re r presentative of 'The Daily Mail,' who. made some inquiries in the back streets of Walworth discovered, this statement is not completely, accurate. In that district the price of bread rose ftifarthiiig the half-quartern loaf, whioh, although tho same tiling . arithmetically, ;is quite another thing, sociologically. To peopio out of employment, whose unit of monetary value is the farthing, and whoso measure of subsistence is the half-quarteni,, the ratio of increased is much higher than to the more •irosperous employed, .whose lowest coin, is the .-halfpenny, and whose standard measure is the: full qunrtprn: loaf.; . .' '' V: 1 . 1 . "In the Rodney Roadj' 'Walworth, which traverses the poor .regions lying in tho angle of tlio -Walworth' and the . New Kent. Roads, the farthing, is the unit. Coal there, for example, is not 255. a ton, selected household, delivered. ; Tho market quotation,;in Rodney Road,'is 'five farijens' the seven pounds at tho pit's' mouth, so to speak, -carried away in scuttle or apron from .• the greengrocer's shop. In a 'more : wholesale way: the cheaper ' rate may be 1 quoted of twopence farthing for 141b;, whioh works out at one, and sixpence the cwtl, or thirty shilings the ton. The'. ;retail rate where the stone costs an extra-unit comes to £1 13s. 4d. the ton. . : Weather in: Sympathy. i ■ ' • , "Tlio, weather in Rodney, - Road seemed to have sympathetically adapted itself to the gloomy circumstances o£ .the extra- farthing'on the half loaf.-'.. It was chill and slushy under foot,' and • chill and: grey overhead. An-air of depression was upon tlio : people in spite of tho cheerful recommendation of the hoarding advertisement to 'Spend your winter on the , Cornish'., Riviera.'. ' •„ "At a big corner baker's "ishop men on their' way home from a day's work were strpping 'o buy bread. 'Gone up!' they cried incredulously wliort the baker explained to them-that the new rate had come into force. A" man who had asked for three 41b. loaves'counted over his ironeyand reduced his order to two and a half. 'It 'isn't our fault,' said the baker; fthe price of flour lias gone un; wo can't help it.' '.. "At another shop, a small huckster's doing a 'relief ticket' business with the vory poor, ,tho SrOprietress almost cried as she discussed the ays now misery. :'People don't know what bread is to poor people with-families of, children; It's the one thing the children can always eat when : they can get it, arid hard it is at any time to get enough. And now, with tho bitter, weather and so many ont of work, and hardly enough in any house, it is crucl hard.,

Many Hungry Children,

.'"A family with four, children will want quartern-loaf to a meal, and then the'mother, if she is a real woman, will often go short and say she .'has had ' enough. The halfpennies three times a day one, day after tho other, comq like golden sovereigns at. the end of the week. There'll bo many children hungry on Thursdays and Fridays; and vho'e to feed them? I can't. "Fortunately, in Walworth the snowfall has 'not-interfered'.with cartage sufficiently to put. up, the price of coal. That stands at the normal price ol 335. 4d. per ton. At a large sohool in. the district yesterday fewor children than usual attended for their midday meal'. tickets . That was partly bccauso -it was . Monday; and there was food still in nlariy homes, aha paitly ; because the weather was ;so • badv that, many children wore kept, at'home.:, 1 "It was the general opinion that it willbe after a couple-of days or so that the hardship of- the dearer loaf will be keenly felt. One baker told of a woman who frugally made her entire week's purchase;of bread oiv Saturday before the,price went:iip.'- It would.be stale before the week was! out, she said, "but it: would be there.' .' '■.[ .' ■ ~ , "A Hour dealer told of women: similarly investing in flour. There are'still'poor'people in London who bake their own . bread. They are worthy country, people. The pawnbroker,, the oheap butcher, all- told "the same story. ' The additional price of bread'would cause people to go short,of many things—including bread."

-, -Should tho press .-.be''admitted? ; Tins.was tho first matter' dealt - with' atv the, annual meeting of, tho Wcflington branch of,' the New, Zealand Civil Service Asspciatioh/fcifct night. !It Was duly moved. arid , wended, that'the prc£« representatives ho allowed: to remain. Strong opposition to tho propooal was shown by one. of, the ,members.- . Ho asserted that the presence''of rvporte-r® would burko discussion. Among the matters to bo ponsidered might bo some in''regard to' which mombers might not .wish Cabinet or the public to leuow their views. 1 Tliey had all noticed how tho meetings of the Trades and Labour Council, were ; reported,! ScuriLlous matter was reported ,i,t lengtlij'whilst'lititle attention was paid to tlie. important business that was transacted. Naturally,: the. reporters in attendanoa intima'ted tJiat they took .exception to tho remarks which had just been made. The chairman observed that he felt sure if it were deoided not to'exclude,the press, the reports which would, ho published. would be obßehit-ely fair. ' Ho hoped members-would support tlio motion. Upon' a vote being taken tho motion to admit the press was approved by a fair majority.

Stearns' Wino of God -Liver ' Extract gives tq:delicJlo children a new vitality, fills out hollow cheeks, and makes them strong aud robust. -Easy for them to take it too; the taste is so pleasant. _. ' ■ : 1

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