FOOD PRICES IN ENGLAND.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1476, 23 November 1915, Page 2

FOOD PRICES IN ENGLAND.

Among the many points that are arousing discussion iu regard to the high prices ot food is the question of the “passing on” of new taxation, and it is suggested that iu some cases the trader, either retailer, middleman, or wholesaler, adds iu the process a little tor himself, says the London correspondent of the Auckland Herald, writing on October Bth. Tea is a case in point. The Budget added qd to the pound, but the increase to the public is 6d, and compared with a year ago the increase in price is from 8d to rod per lb. Sugar, coffee aud cocoa are all more costly since the Budget. Those grocers who have loaf sugar in stock are charging 6d per lb., moist sugar being 3}4d, Demerara crystals qd and q>4d, and castor sugar and 3d. Milk, of course, went up to 3d a quart in London during the past week end —a rise in most districts of Yi d a quart. Knglish cheese costs on an average of ts id a lb., and colonial io l /sd to 1 id ; even matches and firewood are dearer than a year ago, and the only commodities that are reasonably cheap are fruits and vegetables. Taken as a whole, the increase on the ordinary household’s food bill, as compared with a year ago, must

he at least 40 per cent., and for many of the poorer members ol the community this has undoubtedly meant a reduction in the amount of food actually consumed.