The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1863-10-09

The MAXIMUM AGAis.-In an article
in the Sentinel, of the 9th inst, We find
the following passage marked as quo
tation. We know not from what book,
or paper, it is taken:
"Under Murat, in Naples, the prices OF the
principal articles Of food were, FOL time,
regulated Mt q maximum rate; and at all
times, in the city Of Naples, meats and bread
are regulated by the Consigiio.
"lu Rome and throughout the Legations
the price Of grain is fixed every year, and
only altered by decision OF Il I.egate for Il
specific purpose.
"ln London, Ednburg, and Dublin, the
price OF bread is 'assized' by the corpora
ton periodically, and the market prices for
food generally under the supervision OF a
CITY Marshal The Lord Mayor of Dublin
has direct control in the matter.
1.-THE price Of bread was regulated 10y law
in Paris until within u few months, and has
ut all times been more or less re2ulat ed by
law in the cities of America, as well as 0i
Europe"
What. effect mere examples ought to
have in settling a question, unless the
examples shall be proved 20 have
wrought beneficially, we are at loss to
understand. We knew very well, before
We ever saw this extract, that assizes of
bread were common enough in many
European cities. They are among the
many crying evils that have descended to
the present generation from medieval
times, and which the present generation
is extirpating as fast as it can. That we
speak nothing more or less than the
truth, let the following extract from Nc
CullOch's Commercial Dictionayy-a
work justly held in high esteem by
statesmen as we'll as merchants testify
1t is to be found under the article
Bread"
''AssIzE OF BREAD.-FrOm the year l266,
in the reign Of Henry ILL.,, down to our own
days, it has been customary to regulate the
price at which bread should be sold accord
ing to the price OF wheat or flour at the
time. An interference Of this sort was sup.
nOpoly on the part Of the bakers which it
was feared might otherwise take place
But 1t Is needless, perhaps, to say that this
apprehension was Of The most futile descrip-
tfon. The trade Of a baker is one that may
be easily learned, and it requires no capital
to carry it on; SO that were those engaged in
the business Ia any particular town. to at
tempt to force up prices to an artificial ele
walton, the combination would he immedi-
ately defeated by the combination of Others;
and even though this were not the case, the
facility with which bread can ba baked at
home would Of itself seem to nullify the ef-
1Orts Of any combination. But the assize
regulations were not merely useless, they
were in many respects exceedingly Injurious.
They rendered the price Of flour . matter of
comparative indifference to the baker, and
ifrA hn ha t,nr xuhn 4
flour, and made the best bread, to sell at the
same rate with those who used inferior -four,
and whose bread was decidedly of a worse
quality. But these considerations, how OBJ
vl0us sOever they may now appear, were for
long time entirely overlooked. Accord
lug, however, As the use of wheaton bread
was extended, 1t was found to be i,rpracti.
cable to set asslzes in small tow3s aud vii
lagos, and, Notwithstanding t-e feWness of
the bakers IN such places gave them greater
facilities for combining together, the price
OF bread was almost uniformly lower in
them than In places where assizes were set.
ln consequence partly OF this circumstance.
but still c.ofe Of the increase of intelligence
as to such matters, the practice Of setting
an asslze was gradually rrlinquished in most
places, aud in 1915 ii was expressly abolished
BY an act Of the Legislature (55 George Ill,
a.. N) in London and its enyifons. In other
places, though the power to set an assixe
IH'i s,li'sists, II IN seldom acted upon, aud
has fallen into comparative disuse."
II appears, then, that the assize OF bread
so Lar iron having produced beneficial
effect in London and Paris, has been dis.
carded as Pernicious, and the laws ups.n
the subject suffered to fall entirely ,,.,o
disuse. What may have been the ,,t.ct
in Naples, Rome, and Dublin, sc do not
know; but we do know thu. these arr.
precisely the towns in Christendom
which Of all others arc most infested Nv
beggars.
HAD It been proved, however, that in
these pasuoular localities the laws in
"r....stlon had been beneficial, it would have
proved nothing With regard to the point
10 issue In al TIL countries enu,nera-
ted the currency is good A man knows
that the sum Of money which he receives
for his commodities one day will be of
the same value the next day, or the next
month, Or the next year. Here, the value
0f the currency is continually fiuctuating.
4 man may sell his wheat under the