New-York tribune., 1910-09-02
HIGHER PRICES IN PARIS.
Cheap Restaurants Continue to
Raise Their Rates.
Paris. August 2.

hundred cheap restaurants announcing
/ that in order TO insure customers sup
Plies of good qualities of food and wine
the proprietors, "to their deep regret.
are obliged to raise their prices. These
notices bear the signatures of the syn
dies of the committee of aFmenta-
! ton of the Union of Restaurateurs,
of the Federation of Retail Wine Deal
ers' and of the Board of Innkeepers and
/ Eating Houses" There are several rea-
! sons for this foremost of which are the
| floods of last February, the cold snaps
during the spring and summer per-
sistent rain and the prevalence of thun-
derstorms and hail.
Wheat, wine potatoes, vegetables and
! fruit are the commodities most severely
affected The price of -four is now Slj
sack-a rise of 50 since last March
/ Bakers have consequently increased the
price of bread one cent for the four
pound loaf A few months ago potatoes
were selling at 81 50 the quintal; they
now cost So 30. Vegetables and fruit
cost more than twice as much as they
did last August Prices of beef and
to the increased consumption of meat,
which always takes place during colo
summers and to large purchases OF peet
at the VilEette slaughter houses for Italy
and Switzerland Win ordinaire." the
cheap wine that in Paris is still the pop
ular beverage during meals, has IN
creased 20 per cent in price.
A curious feature of the situation is
that while there is general rise of
prices in the small, cheap restaurants
the cost in the smart, expensive res
taurants remains unchanged, of food
as We'll as of wine. There are nun
dreds of eating houses in Paris where
the fixed price for a complete dinner
was. until to-day. % cents. Such
meal which consists of a dish OF meat,
vegetable. a dessert Of fruit or sweets
and pint of wine. is now scheduled at
2S cents. 4 beefsteak of first class
quality, which costs SO cents at the
butchers shop, remains at the regular
figure at the smart restaurant, While the
beefsteak of ordinary quality, when
costs eight cents a the butcher :, IS now
put at nine cents in the cheap restau-
rants The margin of profit Is so narrow
in the popular "bouilIons," or cheap res
tsiJrgnts. that the increa sed cost of food
a the 'ha1les" or central market. I'M
mediately affects the prices on the bills
. of fare,
In regard to wine. the result Is Stlll
more marked The prices Of win ordl-
naire" are determined by current daily
quotations, because it is the low grade
wine of the last year. put on the market
for immediate consumption. Wine pro-
ducers never sell their high class wines
During the year Of the vintage. but usu-
ally five or six years afterWard. y oai-
ance of prices from one year to another
during d period of six years is thuS
esta blished, which maintains a standard
price that seldom varies. Moreover II
is found by experience that Hoods, or
wet weather which spoil one vintage
have beneficial effects on the next year
vintage. especially SO if that season Is
a drv one. Consequently. wines of fine
quality. such as are drunk III smart
restaurants remain at the same price as
hitherto.
The greatest cost of food and drink,
which spares the rich, thus falls at once
upon the poor. French history teaches
that the prices Of bread and wine con-
stitrte the barometer of home politics.
with chean bread and wine, the outlook
;s aIwavs set fair" while with dear
bread and wine prospects are stormy
and "revoItItionary" Wor1men and en-
nIoves with characteristic philosophy,
sav. If the cost OF living becomes
dearer. We demand, we require ana We
shall obtain, higher wages" Ineasiness
and dissatisfaction prevail railroad
en7DIoyes are holding weekly meetings
with a view to strikes. Druggists are
n,anifesting" for higher pay and for
early closing. Plumbers are striking Tor
an increase of wages. Shoemakers are
grumpy: and even the graVe-digsefS
have organized strikes. Tobacco, Whlch
&C = government monopoly. has had ITS
tariff of prices revised upward.
Partisan workmen and employees will
continue to growl and snarl untl bfeaG
and wine become cheap.
Fortunately. as regards bread, the pres
emf high prices are not expected to last,
because the bakers purchase flour not
in large quantities at a time. but each
dav. from hand TO mouth, as 1t We're
and pay prices that tluctuate. every
twenty-four hours. It is predicted that
very soon the fresh supplies of wheat
Will affect the market and diminish the
cost of flour and of bread 1t IS also
noted that large stocks OF rice. dried
beans and dried peas are being sold by
grocers at low prices. Moreover, even
il there should be a further rise i'll the
price of wheat. the government has the
right forthwith to tighten the burden
bv diminishing. or totally suspending.
fhe customs duties on United States
and other foreign wheat and grain, as
was done during the wheat crisis IN
1897. This extraordinary power given To
the executive government by the Legl5-
lat1lre prevents the wheat and -four deal
ers from unduIy maintaining or eX-
Noting high prices, because the farm
ers would suffer sev erel! If France
should be flooded by wheat from Russia,
where the crop is abundant or from
Australia. Canada. Argentina and the
United States
The outlook for France Is consequently
by no means desperate, and the Partisan
/ L.