The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-04-12
AN ASSlZE OF BREAD.
Mobiles Regulation Of Bakeries Early
In the Last Century.

/
In the Last Century.
| In tLe latter half OF the seventeenth
ana Tie early part Of the eighteenth
/ centuries the regulation Of the price OF
! Tread ~ public authority was famil-
| ar principle in the English colonies OF
America la New Haven. for instance.
The weight OF the penny loaf was regu-
lated by law about 1860. and in 1886
the Massachusetts general court also
provided n regular asslze, fixing the
weight or the loaf according TO the
price Of flour. AT various times dur
ing the first quarter OF the eighteenth
century the sc!cctmen OF Boston like
wisc performed this duty.
II is Interesting. however To note 4
survival or perhaps revival Of this
principle as late as the nineteenth cen
tury in the town OF Mobile place
whose economic history is marked by
many peculiar features. After NIFTY
two years OF French. seventeen years
OF English and thirty. three years OF
Spanish rule Mobile came under the
control OF the United States govern
mcnt IN April, 1913, and was included
in the Mississippi territory. On Jan.
%. 1874, by an act Of the territorial
leg stature The town received charter
OF incorporation. and at two meetings
Of the inhabitants, on March II and
IT, th" municipal government was or
glnZed and the charter publicly read
u English and in French. The populn
ton at tbs time was composed OF
Wrench. rusliah and Irish elements.
ON April I following. three weeks after
The organization OF the municipal gov
cinmcnt. a tariff for bakers" or as
size Of bread. was drawn up by the
commissioners the governing body OF
the town and proclaimed ia English
and in French. This fixed the weight
Of the loaf for the ensuing month In
accordance with the price Of -four. III
stead of changing the price OF bread
il was more convenient to make the
loaves lighter or heavier as tho price OF
flour rose or fell On May 2, 1914, the
weight OF the bit loaf 0he bit being a
coin worth 1914 cents) was fixed at
twenty -tlBUl OullttN, hH'I Auc "cIBhN VI
the half bit loaf was fixed at fourteen
ounces.
On July s. 1915, Mr.. Martin, the bak-
er. appeared before the board and paid
the sum OF so. n fine inflicted on him
for having his brcnd too light, one-half
Of which sum was paid to the police
olIicer On Jan. "a, 1917, regular
scale OF weights for the bit loaf was
adopted.
BEGINNING May >, 1917, the asslze OF
brcnd was proclaimed weekly instead
Of monthly, as before, and this system
was continued for little more than
two years The records do not show
that the assize was proclaimed after
1910. but the town continued TO exer-
else Il control over the business OF bak-
ING. Every baker was required 10
procure license nnd 10 register his
trademark. which was stamped on his
lOavcs. \ public bakehOuse was also
established and seems TO have been
managed In the same way that munici-
palitics control public markets, the
bakers renting the stalls from the town
and being subject To inspection. A
late as 1876 In the annual statement OF
the city clerk the following entry oc.
ours I'm the statement OF receipts dur
ing the year: Sales OF condemned
bread. Quarterly Journal OF
Economics.