The Sun.
London, England, 1821-11-26 00:00:00

FOR TIIE SUN.

THE TRICE OP: BREAD.
Mr..Enrrott,—.l observe. bylour Corn Mar-
ket report of Wednesday, the-21st inst. that the price of Flour
was reported to have fallen on the Monday preceding, bur it
does not say to what extent. This being:a niateriAl point, and
one of no little 'conterninent to the town • generally, allow me
just to inform your ratters, that it was reduced in price only
a'sack, the top price-Of Households,—or bread bakerstbest
flour, being at this time quoted at 60s, lately 655-.- per sack. •
I will not trespass long upon your columns, or the patience
'of your- Readers, to wove at what rate it ought to be, accord-
ing to the price of wheat in the LOnden Market; and will
thence 'prove also, at what price bread ought now to be sold.—
Prime wheat, for making-the very best household flour, may
be botiglit as follows in the London -market":—

Prime old Red Wbegt, at 63s.,per quarter
new White Wheat, Ails. do.
- new Red Wheat, 50s. do: -

S..

. 0
- -53'0
- 60 -V

3)171 0

The average price of the best mealing Wheat. per
quarter, at this. time; or perhaps rather lees than 57 0
about - - ) •per qr.
The quarter of 'Wheat yields six bushels of the best houeehnld'
Flour, which, at 60s. per sack of five bushels, is Its: pei
bushel. -
Six bushels, therefore, at:2s. per bushel, are . 72 0
Froth the offal the illealman gets clear, by its iale, aftcr •
the payment of every expence, not less than (as' stated • •
in my former calculations) - - 9 4

The money he deta from the produce of a quarter or. -
Wheat is, consequently, - 3 l 3l 4
Deduct what he pays for the qUarter of wheat, which fur.
;lishes. the. Whole produce, say about, though most
likely not quite so much as. • • - - • '57 0

Leavet as profit upon the quarter of Wheat , 24 .4
Which 245. 4d. being a profit upon 575. is someWliatuictre thb,n
39 per cent. per two nionths, or rather per month, tiv IhOugh
-he may give the baker two months credit on the 'flour, lie
Self obtams one months' credit, on the wheat.
But yet a little further, in order to prove what price we ought
now to be paying fbr bread, allow me to demonstratei;fhal. tad.
per quartern loaf for bread sold at home, would at present be
a full price. • - •
The sack of flour of five buShels yields.B3 martern loavet; S. d.
which, at &l. each, is -• • • - 55 4
Deduct the expellees and charges of baking, &c. per sack, •
rent, taxes, wages, &c. included i -6

47 10
•
Allow to the baker a profit of about silt per cent. - . 21Q

. . .
Leaves, as the price he could in that case afford to
for the sack of flour' .- • - - . -45 0
But 455. per sack of five bushels for flour asonly*. Or bushel,
instead.oll2s. as it is now quoted; and at per. bushel for
his flour, the Miller Would still reap a .very ample:profit, ac.:
cording to the present price of wheat, . •
For the quarter of wheat, yielding •six bushels of „flour, s. d.
• -at 9s..pex bushel, would return, from the price of the
flour alone _ _ - 54 0
To which-Must be added the benefit from the.sale of the
offal beyond the expence of,manufacturing . 9 4
. . .
The miller Selling the whole for about.. • - - 63 4
For which he gave.,-per quarter, as wheat only 57 0

. , .
Leavesa profit of, per quarter, - - - 6 4
Thus his profits as stated are ample,. being
,6s. 4d. upon. 515.,-
-A something more than eleven per cent. per month ; or at the
outside per two months:
These are large profits to be allowed ,•- though perhaps the
baker ought rather to have the larger of :the OM, inasmuch as
his returns are necessarily more limited. than ,those of the 3-leal-
man. :While, however, the latter is reaping-his enormous
gains, the`baker is not idle Or backward iri" fleczinc,... the. Public
for MS Aire and so long. as the Public tacitly ..ndures. it, they
may rest assured that:the bakers will continue so to do.' Stich are
the abuses, and all that any person now pays beyond the7tpriee.
of 8d: the quartern Ida; when. bought and paid ,for in the
-baker's shop, is, according to the price of wheat, clear extortion.
'lt- is not improbable but that many irsons within-a.short time
will be in town to Parliament, -of whom 'not; a fe,w, as landlords
may' have' lost Or deducted from their rentals-10,120, 10t.30 :per
cent:, in order to ease their tenants, and yet when they come to
London may find that bread has been kept up to a most unjus-
tifiable price: ' .
The whole affair sadly requires looking into, for of what
-benefit is it to the Community that the farmer is ruined and the -
landlord suffers, seeing the consumer still_pays as high-a Price
for his provisions as when the producer of them -flourished.
This state of things has existed:too-long a time by far • we are
now entering into the .third month 'of its unwarrantable conti-
nuance ; and, notwithstanding the destruction; and even the
`annihilation of the farmer's property; and-the-great reductions
of the landlord's rent, we still, its compared with the price of
wheat,- are eating dear bread. If the 'price of wheat should
ever- rise again to 1565. per quarter, as an average at which it
was in 14101-, :the -price of bread, instead of being Is. lOd., us
at that period, would, according -to the late and present rate of-
extortion by the mealmen and bakers, be' not less than 3s, the
quartern loaf. The price of wheat -being then:-nearly triple- its
present average of " 555., they would take pains to make that.of
bread- threefold -also.----I am, Sir, your's' &c. •
London Nov.. 23 1821. INVESTIGATOR.