Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-21
EXPECTS DROP
in WHEAT PRICES
BAKER PREDICTS REDUCTION
IN COST OF FLOUR
SAYS PUBLIC WON'T PAY is
CENTS FOR LOAF
Proposition to Have Standard Weight
Is Favored, Although Thirty.
two Ounces Is Considered
Too Much

Il believe that wheat prices will re-
turn to something like normal in the
near future and that the Patten COM
bnie will be busted" said Charles H.
Bradford of the Bradford Baking com
pany yesterday. when this happens
the price of flour will ease off. But
until it does, the baker cannot afford
to sell a thirty loaf of bread
So the retailer will be satisfied to offer
1t at 10 cents. And people won't pay
more than 10 cents; we have tried that
and found it won't work. We have no
objection to making loaves weighing a
full pound or two pounds-they make a
good loaf to handle-but people will not
pay Is cents.
1.-THE suggestion for twenty-six
ounce loaf will be a benefit to the con-
sumer II uniformly adopted, for the
cheap bakers who have been Offering
the retailer thirty-two loaves for 81
bake a large but light loaf, many of
them weighing but ten or eleven ounces
each. The consumer loses out on these.
but grocers handle them because they
get greater number for the same
money. / should like to see standard
loaf uniformly sold by all bakers, but
naturally don't want to sell at loss.
If the city adopts thirty-two ounces as
the standard it will mean that the
consumer must pay Is cents while high
priced flour prevails"
Council Defers Action
The city council deferred action on
the proposed ordinance setting a stand
ard weight for bread for one week, to
give the matter consideration and to
hear the bakers side. A vote was TAX
en- by the council yesterday in connec-
with he ro n c nj hn
sealer's letter by Mayor Alexander.
-Four councilmen voted aye and five
voted no on the proposition to make
thirty-two ounces the standard weight,
allowing half loaves at sixteen ounces
and quarters at eight ounces. The neg
ative vote was for the purpose of Civ
ing weeks consideration of the propo-
sition.
j. R. Newberry made a speech to the
council ON the bread question, referring
to the practice of bakers of cheap
bread in offering lightweight bread. He
commended the plan to establish a
standard, and agreed with City Sealer
s. w. Green in recommending thirty
two, sixteen and eight ounces as stand
ard weights. Mr.. Newberry said that
the exact weights should be indicated
on the loaves by labels or in some other
manner. This idea was advanced III
Mayor Alexander's letter transmitting
the city sealer's recommendations to
the council.
The bakers will consider the coun-
ellis probable action at their meeting at
SIT South Broadway tonight. At this
meeting the committee having in
charge the agreement among the mas
ter bakers will make report, and the
proposed agreement will probably be
ratified by most OF the leading bakers
of Los Angeles.
Have Right to Combine
That they have full power to enter
into such an agreement is an opinion
given yesterday by Frank Blair, deputy
district attorney, who said:
''Unquestionably, under the law as 1T
was originally passed and put into op-
Grafton May 23, 1907, such a combina-
ton as reported to have been effected
among Los Angeles bakers to fix the
prices of bread would have been ille-
gal. It would have been a clear case
of a combination in restraint of trade,
IL the acts have been correctly re-
ported,
but the last legislature tinkered
with the law and made it noneffective
for all practical purposes.
Section / was amended to provide
that no agreement should be considered
unlawful which had as its object to
market any commodity at a reasonable
profit.
'Those words, reasonable profit al
low the loophole which makes the law
ineffective.
''All that is necessary to be shown is
that a trust-or combination has as its
object the marketing of product at a
reasonable profit, and case would fall
fiat.
Another amendment provides that
any combination designed to promote
H. 1. IRx. fail
"That offers another loophole"
'"Buy your bread from a balloon in
Ely" says a dispatch from Ely. New,
last night. All bakers OF that place
have agreed to make the price of bread
is cents a loaf until lower prices of
materials will justify resumption Of
the old price.