The Daily News. SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 1904. THE PRICE OF BREAD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 19, 23 January 1904, Page 2

The Daily News. SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 1904. THE PRICE OF BREAD.

The price of brea-d is thei subject of much comment here at present, ami in this issue a correspondent asks us to explain why there should be such -dissimilarity 'hetwwn trho local chart's for thi.v staple footfl and the prices ruling in other centres of the colony. 'Jive prict* was raised some months hack when wheat was selling a't 4/2 to 4/;S per tfushel, aJtfl llour was sywne £H or £4 dearer than iuow. Wdn-at is now worth only tt/tt pur bushul, and in some instances "prime milling " lias changed hands at sts low as .'J/1 per 'bushel. Taking these ligia-'e* into consideration "Housewife " seems to have some ground for complaint. The Wauganui Herald was recently uppealed to on this very matter, arid expressed it* inability lo statii wi\y Wangunui people should not obtain more lihenal treatment in tho bread-bill. The paper sajjs the South Canterbury people are beginnfcag to ask each other a>'id the papers how it comes that they havn to pn| r fvjd cash or 711 booked for the four poimd loaf, the sujme price as w'lien Hour was selling at £l2 per ton. That means that Ilu»y are not' content to pay id less cash—or Id less booked—than we do ! In J'unedin the recognise.1 price at the time of writing-is jiu:i|. I jut \ie k*U n, on good authority, that bread can be had lor fid or even less. Tnipiiry reveals that in Christchurch the price varies; from 4id to (id, tin- average bgure being fid. Now this must strike others as well as us as n wry exlija-ot'dimuy vaalo of affairs, trailing for explanation. The price of bread is a matter which is of much interest to all 1 classes, but it is an especially imi porkinl consideration for the working man with ft family, wiiose advocate we are. U is well known that of recent month'.; competition amongst, millers -lias been particularly keen. uiid as a malter of fact Hour has dropped between JL2 and £ls in consequence, but we have ! n-ot i/enelilvd at all. If the price of flour advances any. the consumer naturally iV'oks for I;i((ad lo suit, nor is lie disappointed as a rule ; if dour goes down, well*-that is another question. 'Perhaps one ought lo feel -grateful that the screw is not given another turn, but, somehow, it dges not strike us in

that light. The Herald .sums tip the position thus :—Excessive competition in such an in-d-iiSpensaßle conimoditj as 'bread, uiW "cutting" tactics are objectionable Irani whatever standpoint regarded. Further, there fen be no doubt that tlie loaf sold in this town at 41U or "rd, or even . r >;'d iPoiil-d mean a loaf sold at a loss, arid we want no man to conduct business on such U»cs. Bakers lmv» no more cull to U; philanthropists than their neighbours, but between f>Jd and 7d or Sd there is a big dinViwioe for which it is impossible to account. Either the bake* are being very badly served or we are. When-fore w I'»t it. to the trade whether they cannot see their way clear to give customers a cheaper loaf, or else show good and sullicicnt ca'Jse for not doing so- It is <li uiu ' evident' there is a screw loose somewhere, and we ask Unit the bakers of New Plymouth or some other well informed peop/Je will inform u-.t, and our readers by this means why bread costs sevenpiMice here and only ilvepence in Liunedin.