New-York tribune., 1902-12-12
TRADE AND FINANCE ABROAD.

The present strike of 'longshoremen. sailors and
mechanics, which has tied up the port of Mar
seilles for several days, will become still worse
If the bakers vote to join the strike. They have
been called to decide by means of a referendum on
the 18th and 18th of this month. whether general
strike should be proclaimed. The necessity of
referendum had been recognized at the meeting
held in September by the committee of the Fed
Grafton of the Baker workmen of France. That
committee did dare to take any responsibility
in grave matter. and this is why it issued
manifest to the Chamber adhering to the Fed
eration requesting them to have their members
vote at referendum about the adviSabilty of
strike.
Apropos of this bakers question it interesting
to notice strange step recently taken by the
French Government in regard to the price of bread,
which the permits be fixed by the authorities
whenever they imagine the regulation of it is
sary. Up to the present time the municipalities
were authorized fix the price of bread In order
prevent the bakers from organizing to sell bread
price above its normal value This restriction
commercial liberty is explained justified in
France by the fact that bread is par excellence
there and in other Latin countries the principal
and even indispensable food. The Minister of
Agriculture anxious to introduce what he
wrongly called an improvement. Hereafter. so he
temporarily decided, municipalities shall not inter
vene except when the price of the kilogramme 1.-TWO
pounds) shall be than 35 centimes (seven
cents) in more than half of the bakeries in com
munes townships, cities or villages having less
(eight cents) in the others The result of this in
noVatlOn II sanctioned by the Chamber, VIII be
follows: This year bread is sold at "a centimes
(neary five cents in most of the small communes.
Bakers will TO understanding among
themselves in order to sell it at 81 centimes, and
municipalities will be powerless to say anything.
The law will thus fix minimum price, below
which the bakers will carefully abstain from going.
matter what may be the price of flour. If the
Will have to complain, the millers
and bakers could not fail to be satisfied with the
strange measure advocated by the Minister of
Agriculture.
paper of Buenos Ayres Gel Diario." referring
TO the National Mortgage Bank. calls attention
to items standing in the books of that insti-
tuition. II seems that some enterprising person,
whom the South American Journal of London
believes to be Argentine. induced the bank to
advance s2oo.0o9 on 10000 metres of land in
| Saaevedra. Nothing paid on this loan,
nor anything done with Ii except by the book
| keeper, who made up the charges annually and re-
lisiously, SO that the amount figures at about
100000. The 'Diario declares the land to be only
| worth about sll,oo0 this case is said to be
only of
The building of the railroad from the coast to
| the heart of Abyssinia is proceeding very rap
idly, according the report of the chief engineer
OF topographic mission, recently
| part of Africa The laying down of the rails is
so much advanced that it can be said that they
reach already, the Harrar station. Telegraph lines
| are constructed, well telephone lines be-
1 tween Addis-Ababa and Harrar. and soon tele-
graphic communication will be established between
| the coast and the capital of Abyssinia.
| According TO the Memorial Diplomatiuue' of
Paris. the Republic of San Domingo has adopted