A CHAPTER ON CAKES.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 96, 11 January 1868, Page 4

A CHAPTER ON CAKES.

To the Editor of the Marlborough Express. Silt, —Long and earnestly as I have endeavored to expose the fallacy of our competitive system, 1 could not have found a more glaring example of its innate evil than the late Cake Lottery, announced under the showy and pretentious title of an “Art Union.” Instead of Union it should be called Division, and all the relation it bore to art was being an artful clodgr, I like to call things by their right names What is a lottery ? A species of gambling, where each ticket-holder hopes to get the better of his neighbour. What is the motive principles of all gambling ? The lust of gain, the desire to win that which another loses. Lame and impotent as the letter of Messrs. Brown and Sutherland is, which you published on Saturday last, it is only worthy of notice, so far as this :—That their only line of defence appears to be trying to prove others as had as themselves. My opinion is that they have most successfully proved how far a man can be legally unjust. I will briefly glance over the glaring falsehoods told by the would-be poet “Sutherland.” In the presence of myself and several other persons, he voluntarily promised that every holder of a ticket who should not be lucky enough to win one of the specified prizes, should receive cakes or confectionery to the value of 2s. 6d. ; and if they were not satisfied with that, they emild return the goods, and he would give them Two Shillings in Cash ! He also stated in my hearing that Mr. Monro had purchased five guinea >’ worth of tickets, and if he won the first prize, Messrs Brown and Sutherland were to pack it in bran and ship it to England, to show what we can do in Blenheim. I know what I thought, and time has proved that I thought right. lam not open to the accusation of being vexed because I was not a winner, for I had no share in the matter ; one member of my family bought a ticket, and got a thing called a cake, about the size, consistence, and value of a half baked brick. But my little ones were not disappointed by the loss. My wife makes her own cakes, and has furnished me with a table of costs for the making of one, that for flavour and quality was equal (some of our friends said superior) to anything Brown and Sutherland ever produced : s. d.

Total - ... ... 5 9 Some Savan’s may smile and say, “ Oh ! we pdf a deal more of eveiy thing into our cake.” Per-

Imps Brown and Sutherland did into theirs. (!) But a cake properly made is something more than a dark conglomerate of rich material : light, delicate in flavour, yet withal so luscious, that it melts upon the tongue; no bungling novice, or mere baker cau produce the real article ; it requires the hand of an artist. Why, Sir, there is as much difference between such a cake and the priz s at the lottery, as there is between the finished paintings of “Titian, Murillo, and (Jiaude,” and the faded signboard of the Royal Oak Hotel; yet dazzled by the garish glitter of a little external ornament, the public—young and old—wereinduc d to sq miuler many a hard-earned five shillings on a lot of worthless and unwholesome trash, to say nothing of the disappointment, the heartburning and bitterness that has grown out of the “Lottery Swindle.” Now, Sir, suppose that instead of lottery tickets, 4UU shares at ss. per share had been issued, and a Co-operative Company formed, the £HH) thus raised would have purchased sufficient mateiial to make real good cakes of about Gibs, weight for each share. The prices given above are the retail prices current in Blenheim ; but of course a Company purchasing a large quantity of goods would have all the advantages of the wholesale vnarkets, consequently there would be ample funds to pay for the necessary skill and labour, and no one would have the advantage over another. I hope before next Christmas to see such a Company formed.—l am, &c., Philo Veritas. Blenheim, January 10th, IS3B.

41ba. Dough ... 0 10 lib. Butter ... 1 0 a dozen Eggs ... 0 9 14lbs. Currants ... ... 1 0 — Candied Peel ... ... 1 0 mbs. Loaf Sugar ... 0 9 Spice ... 0 2 Baking ... 0 • 3