FOOD AND FUEL IN PARIS.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 February 1916, Page 10

FOOD AND FUEL IN PARIS.

WAR PROBLEMS SOLVED. ASSISTANCE FOR THE POOR. One of the roost comforting signs of an abiding faith in victory ie tlie attitude of Paris towards herself (says tlie . Paris correspondent of tlie London • Times). Like a woman after eonvales- | eence, she is thinking of her appearance. | She lias begun to overhaul her wardrobe I and to dreaui, perhaps, of new successes. | Sonn' of her toilettes, obviously, are a I 'un„ n f Here, indeed, is

the Champs Eivsees sadly in need of | new raiment. The wooden pavement has been worn in holes and motor-car 3 bump incredibly over the ground, as on a switchback railway. The Council Municipal is arranging for the renovation. which will cost the city £40,000. A like sum, within a few thousands, lias been spent 011 the Avenue du Bois de Bonlogne. j In the opening days of the war Jiere 1 was *ome danger that Paris might j °tarve. The railway which ?ncircles 1 the capital moved troops with great I •npidity on the outer edge, nut those i within the >ity wore civ;: .iff from com- i munication .vith the outer world. But i for prompt action they would have 1 wanted the bare necessities of life. I The Prefect organised a committee of j exports—already nominated in time of ! peace—and they purchased provisions, I which they got to the populace and the j small shops with the aid of. special I trains and motor-cars granted hv the I Minister for War. Tt. is ancient history now, that the Prefect chartered a train to bring salt to Paris from Fecamp, where a stock had been accumulated for curing fish. am! other trains j brought eggs and butter. I I j KGGS KIiUM MOROCCO. j The demands of the arniv have re- I dueed the national 'nerds of cattle, and j to economise them the Government has ! sanctioned the importation of frozen j meat. Six hundred tons a month have been allowed to Paris, It is a small beginning, but if the experiment succeeds the tonnag" will grow larger. Tt is coming from America and Canada. Eggs are now being obtained (or the Paris market from Morocco, and the j same country i-i supplying vegetables. Tile wholesale pri. e of eggs in Paris is | 18 centimes nearly 2d—each. The scarcity of vegetables is due to a lack of labor in the market gardens round Paris. Butter, too, is dear, and fatty substitutes are. being sold, with the sanction of the city, in the hope that they may become acclimatised. COAL AT £4 A TOW The poorer classes, unfortunately, are again likely to feel the pinch of winter in other directions than food. The difficulty of obtaining coal seemed insuperable until the Prefect, through the good offices of the State railway, imported 800,000 tons from England as part of the supply vouchsafed by the : British Admiralty, and destined for war •inrposes as well as private consump--1 tion. The great stocks now being accu- | mulated in various parts of the city j are, however, principally intended for j household purposes. But the city auth- ! orities do not hold out any hope that j the price will fall lower than £4 a j ton, that is, 4s a sack. Thia is prac--1 tically the standard price fixed to pre- | vent speculation on the part of dealers. ! The price of bread, happily, is strictly ; regulated by the circumstance that the I Army intendence supplies flour to the 1 trade at a fixed figure; there is thug no j pretext for enhancing it, or diminishI ing the size of the roll supplied. THE BENT QUESTION. | Thus, every detail of the winter prob--1 Icm is being faced by the city authori-

ties. Not the least thorny is the question of rent. A measure now before Parliament proposes relief for rentals below a certain sum. In the war of 44 years ago, the State, the landlord and the tenant each bore an equal part of the loss. The problem w more complicated to-day owing to tho duration of hostilities, and probably the relief Ji-oposcd .vill lie higher than in 1871. Any remedy propped can scarce- ! ly doal with the professional class, | .vhicli is a ireat. sufferer from diminish?d 'evenue and high rentals. The petit ' iiondo'' s perhaps the most affected of any. or its little SRvings have iisap- ' peared. The most fortunate are the artisans and skilled workers, who are in full employment. But it is clear ' that, tlie charitable societies will again | have full scope for their energies this 1 winter in feeding the poor. In this ■ work they arc aided by grants from the I municipal body, " ~ j POOR RELIEF I'L'XD. ! ■lust as happy is the way in which tlie town has conjured the crisis resulting from ihe departure oi> the men who were mobilised. Misery would have descended with black swiftness upon the city had not the Prefect, as he expressed it to me in conversation, "forced" the treasure chests of the Poor Kelief Fund in Paris. By these means 1 lie was able to pay separation allowances to the wives of the soldiers. Had there been no funds, and had not the city taken graciously upon its shoulders this burden, the results wnulr' have been deplorable. The money was a free gift from tlie city to the State, for it liaa not required its return. Three weeks after war had been de:l?rcd and mobilisation was completed, the State lookup its responsibilities towards the women and the children, but the bridging of (he interval was a master-stroke of policy rendered possible by the generosity of Paris.