Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-13
THE PRICE OF BREAD,
Some of the Reasons Given for Not
Reducing IL.


The statement made yesterday by the re-
cording secretary of the Bakers Assembly,
in communication to The Star, to the
effect that an argument against a reduction
in price of bread lies in the fact that II
would be very difficult to increase the price
If flour should advance In cost, is echoed
by the employing bakers
THAT argument is true" said Mr.. Berens
to Star reporter today. 1T is easy enough
to secure public appreciation by a cut in
prices. but ii would be a very difteren. mat
ter when necessity SHOULD compel an in
crease in prices. When flour was So a barrel
there was positively no profit to the bakers;
fortunately that high figure was not MAIN
tanned for very long time 1t was caused
by corner in wheat, and il the price had
kept up the employers would either have
had TO reduce wages or cheaper the quality
of the bread"
What would you do IL -four should again
increase in price?' asked The Star reporter
IF it showed any signs of remaining at
$6,'' he said there would be a falling of in
the quality of bread and n shaving Of the
weight. No change would be made until
the increase passed beyond reasonable loss
1 will show you what the people are getting
now in the matter of weight" Mr.. Berens
then selected a number of loaves from the
counter at random and weighed them, The
scales showed them to run from two to three
ounces above the specified weight of sixteen
ounces fixed by the law.
Now We would have to weigh that bread
right down to sixteen ounces; we might use
compound lard instead of pure lard we
could economize on Brown sugar instead of
white and otherwise make up the difference
Probably cut in wages would follow. The
bakers today are probably the best paid
members labor nninn tbax,
get work all the year round. / will show
you by my pay roll for last night" said Mr.
Berens. producing his books. that the
average rate paid to my bakers is SIS per
week" A careful computation proved this
statement to be correct
The journeymen bakers recently agitat-
ed the acvisability of demanding q general
increase OF 3 per week on the wages Of
each man employed in the shop. but this
was fald over for one year. The statement
or the tourneymen that there are idle men
OF their craft in this town is absolutely in
correct. 1t is almost impossible TO GET an
extra man to help out in an emergency
There are no idle men here In this con-
nection L would like to say also that the
statement that there is combination be-
tween employers and journeymen to keen
up prices is news to me. / don't know
anything about any such combination and
DO not credit II, because the employers and
the union are not on very friendly terms
while the price of flour has heen AZ
ellning, continued Mr.. Berens there has
been steady improvement in the Quality
OF bread. brought about by competition. at
teh1ed with an increase in the expense OF
making IL and delivering IT. The new style
cVens which We use cost 81, 200 while for
merry our ovens could. be bought for $500
nave to keep twenty-seven horses for the
delivery of my bread, including the extra
trips necessitated by accommodating the
public In the delivery of hot bread, and the
cost OF Keeping those horses including re-
pairs and necessary expenses, is over $500
a month. WV
Another item of expense is the loss
winch occurs by the accumulation of stale
bread. When a wagon starts out in the
morning II Is imposs; lie for the driver t6
estimate Just how hany loaves he will re-
quire; consequently he always brings back
more or less bread. which is a dead loss TO
us, inasmuch as II cannot be sent out again
the next morning. because the people of
this city won't take stale bread
Il want to say in conclusion that # would
be practically impossible to reduce our
wholesale price 1 cent a loaf. The grocer
cannot sell IL for less money, because Il
wouldn't pay him to sell bread at a profit OF
half a cent a loaf. The public will getothe
benefit of the reduced cost of flour in the
quality of bread which they receive and in
the extra work"