The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-08-31 00:00:00

THE HIGH PRICE OF PROVISIONS.

On Sunday morning a large number of persons as-
sembled in public meeting on Clerkenwell-green, Lon-
don, to consider the cause and remedy of the present
high price of provisions. This meeting was convened
under the auspices of a society terming,itself the London
Patriotic Society.
The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, referred
to the famine prices which most provisions fetched
at the present time, and said that working people
could not now afford meat once a week. He
strongly condemned the working of the Contagious
Diseases (Animals) Acts, which he said were passed as
a system of protection in the interest of home breeders,
and of which a nation which prof noses to be composed
of freetraders, should be ashamed. The Government
should be applied to on the subject, although he did
not know that anything could be done without the re-
peal of those Acts.
Mr. Hiddler then moved, and Mr. Mullins seconded,
the knowing resolution

" That thin meeting proteeta against the present working
of the Contagious Diseases (Anima.) Aria in reference to re-
strictions in the importation of foreign cattle, aa they are
certain such prohibitimw are not used at present to prevent
climate but to establish a system of protection hi the inter-
est of home breedera ; which, aa a nation pledged to free
trade, ought no longer to be tolerated."
This VIM carried.

Mr. Wade then moved,—
" That in the opinion of this meeting the land and game
laws are two of the principal cause. of the dearth of pro-
vision., and they pledge themaelves to assist all movements
tending to their abolition'

Mr. Osborne, in seconding the resolution, drew a
comparison between the present and past prices of
provision., and defended the character of Australian
meat. The most extraordinary rise had occurred in
that portion of mutton which was mostly used by the
working classes—viz., the breast of mutton. 17p to
about six years ago breasts of mutton were sold at
3d. per lb. ; the price was now Bd. per lb. Legs of
beef—a most useful part of the beast to the poor—
used to be sold at 2oi per lb. ; that price had advanced
to 7d. In their younger days they could get good,
te,und, sweet salt Cork butter—as good as need be used—
for 83. per lb., but now for any butter they could eat
they must pay is. id. per lb. On eggs there had been
an fIAVI/I,Cd of 60 per cent., and on lard of 50 per cent.
Coal had noes something like from 10s. to Ils, a ton
that was set down to the atrikee, but the miners had
only obtained an increase of is. per ton in pay, whilst
the rich mine owners were getting the balance. The
prac; ical question was what was the remedy for all
this! The only immeeliate one he saw was for workmen's
"Areal° learn to cook, an art in which they were exceed-
ingly deficient. They could undoubtedly reduce the price
of meat by abstaining from it. As to Australian meat,
in spite of the prejudice existing against it, it was
notorious that every ton of it coming into England was
bought up by the great men and distributed over
England. If the prejudice were removed, many mil-
lions of tens of it would come into this wintry.
German sausage could no; be compared with good Ans.
trald.n beef or mutton. Lucifer matches and bundles
of wood had advanced in prise, and penny saveloys
had been subjelted to • remarkable reduction in size.
(Laughter.) The remedies he proposed, therefore,
were—first, for the people to eat less meat, and,
secondly, to get their wives to try the Australian
" tin " meat.
This resolution was also carried.

SomErtuxo FOR A FEW 'EM.-Why do they
write M.P. after their namesf—lt's a caution to cre-
ditors, and may be taken to stand for M.P.—cnnions.
—Pam%