WHEAT. FLOUR, AND BREAD.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 271, 9 June 1888, Page 3

WHEAT. FLOUR, AND BREAD.

Diking the last few weeks we have had in our moniiiu txnd e\emng newspapers, a useful and on the whole a satisfactory agitation on the p> ices o! wheat, Hour, and bread, in which some of our leading millers and linker* look pu-t. Ifc i.- laiely rhat enpifali t- a ' would-be mom>poh-ts endeavour ro defend themselves, flanking it wiser. hi>n tluir knowledge ot. I,'nnan nature. t<> let liniment »o by de'ault., j knowing '.hi* a sho.t pei'od w ill v b!it< late j from the nu id* ot r.n>-r j eople t'^e nio-ont ill effects of advene ernk,-m. 1 .-a\ most | people, for tlie-.i- '-. i considerable proportion -tlu- piOi p'o>' leersrot m boat --who i never loiire* t u eu \\<k>, bu f v lw> are I impotent to olVc. r any i < medy. The lettei?ot< m m llei- tii-apnoint- ! ino; (this va- to be c peo^d) : one u un ex- ; treme cautu.u-ne-.- thiowiuc no hg t on the matter, another dealing m <_'e.ieialtties of which little could b • applud t. i practical | purport's : e\>'u itom -lie .dmi^iont- so , carefully made, we ha\e a foiu.viation to build upon, th it oi t.ikmu iln n-.it an avei ag<> price of £10 5* per ton ot 2,000 lh*. A let tosigned "Bettlei" eo<U\r. ouistn une u- >nme data in tie -hape ot pneentaurc- ot tloui, . bian, amUhup* obt ui'ml tiom wheat vi/., , 665 per cent. Hour, 20 fei cent bt.wi, S\ per j cent, shai p- .n> ] 5 p.«r e^nt 10.-k This d ita , mu«t be b.vui 01 <o .c ground wheat | Under the r. Her -\ -'cm. the puivntaeesare vastly difieient, w/ . 70 pc cent, to 72 per p cent* flour, 13 r e. ient. to 15 pei cent, bian, ' 15 per cent, -hurt.-, and 2 p»n » ent. ot \>aste. 1 Further.thetloui tluu-. 22 pet cent. ; to 24 per of paten', 40 per cent, to 42 per cent ot b,»ker« ai d 3 per cent, low grade, or of the il>ur p-idiued one-third 1- intent and two thin!- Im'. *i- ' On the 1 1 1 >^ J l>a-i- ot 70 per cent u w ill 1 take2,So7ib-. 01 47 and two-thud bu-helt. of wheat to make 2.000 Ib- ot flour : In in it , 15 percent. 429t'0-. -h up- at 13 pei cent. , 3711 D:* and wa«te at 2 per eenfc 571b-\ j This47;Hu«Lel-of w heatats«ld,perbu-hel j £7 7s, 2,oooih> H >vi - JlO 5.-, 4291b- bran at ! 65s per ton 14.-. 37 libs -Innp- at 90< pc j ton — 16s 9d. or 'i total fir the three article- ' of £11 15- 9 d, or a dineience between the ; price received foi \\ h »r b\ or.i- fa* dok-. I and the tiom , -hat p.- ati'i \na:\ suld b\ Ihe 1 milleis, ot 60 pei cent Tnere i-an eleme -t ( of discoid iai;-ed by Mr.lno Lamb, when ■ he a^ert- that his. patent lollei floui -ellinu > at ill 5^ per ton i- made fiom whe.it co-l- j in£T 6s p-i bushel. A- a matter ot 1 u-t, if it . were so. the flour woidd be mule at a seriou- 10-.-. He faile to -a\ how raucn of this enoimoj-U high pi iced uheat is u-ed in making hi* patent flour I tead and look for quotations of wheat and tlo.n in [ Encrii=h Ameiiean. Australian and our own 1 paper?, and \tt have failed for month.- and | months pn-t to see .-uch a tiguie a- 6- per bushel quoted ; na} , after ithastiavelled by land and by sea for thousand; of mile? and borneall the innumerable charges connected with such a journey, it fails to touch such a price as 6s per bushel by a larcre percentage. I contend that es en J the w he it i- bought at 3s per bushpl and stoied for a year, tnat all the costs of interest, insurance, storage, loss of weight and loss by \ermm will not bring its price near 6s per bu-hel, or 100 per cent, above it» original cost. The only satisfactory and fairest way out of the dim- | culty of this larfre mai^in between the prices ot wheat, flour, etc., would be for the millers to show their books to an impartial committee of wheat producers and bread consumer.-,, but this. 1 *uppo=e, is out of the question. I fancy 1 hear Mr , Runamuck emitting some complimentary epithet at such a suggestion. In the face 1 of all circumstances at our command we I place the difference between the prices of ; wheat and flour at 50 per cent., allowing j 10 per cent, and the low prices allowed for | flour, sharps and bian, to account for any ; increase in the pi ice of wheat over 3s Id \ per bushel, if there i= any (')• 1 The cost of grinding the wheat I com- [ pute at ninepence per bushel, *hich, for | 47§ bushels ~ £1 15s 7d, and the difference j between this item and 50 per cent, on £7 7s, j the price of the above quantity of wheat at , 3s Id per bushel, leaves £1 17- lid. or over | 25 per cent, as the profit on flour, etc. The , profit on the capital invented in a flour mill, 1 including the fixed and circulating capitals, j must be very large. The millers and ; bakers complain about credit: why find 1 fault with what is entirely optional with | themselves ? If there is to be any murmur- | ing it should come fiom the honest con- ' Burner, -who usually has to pay foi his own flour or bread and some uther individual's as well, who gets off free because he will not or cannot pay. 2,oooibs of flour at 1 £10 5s are sold to the baker : this quantity makes 2,6001bs of bread, the inciea^e <.f 6001ba being accounted for by a 30 percent, addition of water which it gains m the making. This 2,6001bs o f bread at 3|d per 21b loaf = £17 12s Id, or nearly 72 per cent, more than the price of the flour ; and this 1 without making any addition for plain and 1 fancy confectionery goods upon which there is admittedly a large profit. From rhe article and telegrams in the Star of the 9th of April, there is hardly any need for me to go into question of cost of manufacturino bread. Auckland bakers are endeavouring to sell their bread at 40 per cent, to 50 per cent above Chn&tchurch prices, the same over the pi ices prevailing in Dunedin, and 20 per cent, above those at Wellington, taking cash prices, yet the Dakers in the above three towns are supposed to make some piotit and wages so as to live. | Hence what profit do our bakers make who are doing a good business, and on a commercial basis ? . The real fact we want to be at ife tne margin between wheat «old and tho^e of the finished product* ma'Je therefrom. AC the very least it is 160 ncr cent., made un as follows: -Bread, £17 12s Id; bran, 14s: sharps, 16s 9d ; or £19 2s lOd m all, or £11 15& lOd more than the co-t of the wheat required to make the above. It i« an enormous difference, and the question is, how this va«t margin be deposed of to the mutual advantage of the producer and | consumer, for why in the name of all that | is fair, just, and equitable should the miller | and the baker be allowed to absorb such a vast amount of the earnings of wheaterowers and bread consumers, especially in | the present depression, when producers and consumers require every penny which can be snatched from the jawfl of the ravenous 1 wolves, who will greedly devour all they can vel hold of? The only way out of the difficulty is one which has been tried in England, France, Germany and other countries, and in each country it has not been found wanting either in practical application nor in unbounded success. I mean co-operation. We need go no further away than the South Island for an example of its victory over monopoly. Ihe article on the " Price of Bread in the Star Of April 9th, tries to cast a shade o'er the application of co-operation as a remedy against the evil and wrong ot att ch a wide margin existing between the prices producers get and those paid by conSawen. But the co operative idea is eraduaUy and surely getting hold ot the jSpk's winds, that it will take a power to

dispossess it of it? pluce. With us here in the North it is a want of trust— of confidence in the community, especially of our farmers, which bars the way to its successful adoption. I shall return to this subject of co-operation at a future period. SI'KKO MEIiIOHA. April 14th, 1888.