The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1907-04-16
AN ASsIzE OF BREAD.
Mobiles Regulation Of Bakeries Early.


Mobiles Regulation Of Bakeries Early;
In the Last Century.
In the latter half Of the seventeenth
and the early part of the eighteenth
centuries the regulation Of the price Of;
bread by public authority was tamil
lar principle in the English colonies Of
America. In New Haven, for instances.
the weight of the penny loaf was regu-
lated by law about 1880, and IN 1899
the Massachusetts general couFf also
provided regular assize, fixing tie
weight Of the loaf according to tia
price Of -four At various times dug
ing the first quarter Of the eighteenth
century the selectmen OF Boston lks-i
wise performed this duty.
1t is interesting however, 10 ncte q
survival or perhaps revival Of this,
principle as late as the nineteenth CEN
fury In the town Of Mobile, place.
whose economic history 10 marked BIZ
many peculiar features. After ATTY
two years of French, seventeen years
of English and thirty-thres years OF
| Spanish rule Mobile came under the
control of the United States govern
ment in April, 1913, and was Included
In the Mississippi territory. On Jan.
20, 1914, by an act Of the territorial
legislature the town received charter
of Incorporation, and at two meetings
of the. inhabitants, on March ii and
Id. the municipal government was or
ganlzed and the charter publicly read
in English and in French. The popuia-
ton at this time was composed Of
French English and Irish elements.
On April 4 following, three weeks afteF
the organiza ton Of the municipal gov
eminent, tariff for bakers or as
size of bread, was drawn up by the
commissioners (the governing body Of
the town and proclaimed In English
and In French This fixed the weight
of the loaf for the ensuing month In
accordance with the price of -four. In
stead Of changing the price OF bread
1t was more convenient to make the
loaves lighter or heavier as the price Of
-four rose or fell. On May 2, 1914, the
weight of the bit loaf (the bit being
/ coin worth 1914 cents was fixed aG
twenty eight ounces, and the weight Of
| the half bit loaf was fixed at fourteen
| ounces
On July 8, 1915, Mr. Martin, the bak-
! err appeared before the board and paid,
the sum of $40, fine inflicted on him
for having his bread too light, one-hah
of which sum was paid to the police
/ officer On Jan. "a, 1917, a regular
scale OF weights for the bit loaf was
adopted.
Beginning May 3. 1917, the assize Of
bread 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
1919, but the town continued to exer-
else control over the business Of bak-
ing. Every baker was required to
procure a license and to register his
trademark, which was stamped on his
loaves A public bakehouse was also
established and seems to have been
managed In the same way that munich
palities control public markets, the
bakers renting the stalls from the town
and being subject to inspection. AS
late as 1925 in the annual statement Of
the city clerk the following entry oc-
ours in the statement Of receipts dur
ing the year: "Sales OF condemned
bread, $1S7"-Quarterly Journal OF
Economics. :. -,!