The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-10-16

Some Remarks Upon the Recent Increase in
the Price of Bread.
Philadelphia Press.
1t is one of the queer things Of American
prices that -four is cheaper and bread dearer
here than in any other civilized country. just
now our wheat is at the European level. or a
little above il. But ordinarily wheat 10 from 5
to 70 per cent. lower here than 1t 10 abroad. At
the same time while n loaf weighing q pound
costs from four TO seven cents in our
cities. according to its quality, in Eng
land q pound loaf costs a penny. or half
as much here, although wheat is generally
and -four almost always dearer there. In France
. kilogram OF bread costs from 3 to 10 cents in
different cities. varying after q fashion for
which it is hard to give any reason whatever.
This is for the best quality. and as a kilogram
10 b pounds, the French price, while not SO
low as in England, ia still lower than In this
country. As the raw materials are all cheaper
here than There, 1t is plain that the tariff can
have nothing to do with it, sui IL the price Of
bread followed the simple theory by which tree
traders try 70 explain everything. bread would
be cheapest nearest the wheat fsld, but it isn't.
The true cause is probably the extraordinary
cost OF distributing food here, which has q great
deal more TO do with the points at which living
is dearer here than abroad than all tine tariff ten
times over. for as a fact the things which pay
the heaviest duties are the ones which are
cheaper here, and it is articles like bread and
milk and meat, on which the tariff can and Is
0umlll6u 10 nave DO lDuueQco, WulCu bEe Qodr6T.
II is true of all these that the cost OF distribu-
ton is enormous. The farmer only gets 3 cents
a quart for the milk on which the consumer
pays Z to 10 cents. When meat is costing from
5 to 6 cents a pound in the beeve, IL takes
from IL to 30 cents to get a slice Of a pound
weight int the family market-bssket So our
dry, small-berried, rich spring wheats all give
$50 loaves to the barrel, sold at Z cents apiece,
or $l7. so. when the barrel only costs even now o
third of this.
just at present, when the bakers are raising
or trying to raise the price of bread, these facts
have a gooc deal o: interest. The advance has
come later here than elsewhere. France has
been having bread riots for two months, and
plants Of English bakers and of advancing
but the bakers here have the best raw material
in the world. The soft Indian wheats absorb q
little more water and therefore make 2 or 3 per
cent. more bread from the same
weight OF -four. but on the average our
wheat stands next The experiments made by
the British government At a great London
bakery proved this, and they also showed that
from our wheats $50 to 256 pounds of good
bread could be made. With even Minnesota
-four at S. 70 for clear to 81. 70 for patent. az it
was yesterday, it is hard to SEQ why the bread
should retail at three times the cost Of the
-four, and still more why the price should be
ing money no faster than other people. Whetb-
or the grade of -four is higher here than abroad
is not easy TO cay. IL may be. But there is no
doubt that the consumer is mors carefully pro-
tected in England, where every loaf has to be
weighed before the purchaser. whether he asks
il or not, or in France, where the price Is fixed
by law and the quality by official inspection.