The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-12-11
GREAT BRITAIN
 RETAINS SOME
 WAR CONDITIONS
Sugar and Butter Is Still Ra- toned Out By thc
 Government.

still working under many of the wartime restrictions affecting ordin- ary living conditions, although large numbers of the orders have been rescinded and others have been modified.
 So far as food is concerned, only sugar and butter are now rauOned. The regulations regarding the amount of meat which might be purchased were removed only a few days ago, about one year after the close of the war. The consumption of liquor, how ever, is being held down rigidly under the old rules. Necessities still ration ed. which which vitalIy concern the home, include coal, gas and electri- city. The shortage of fuel has been causing considerable hardship both to the individual and to industry. The Ministry of Food has found it advisable to continue the maximum prices, both wholesale and retail,
 which it fixed for a considerable num- Der Of necessities.
 Apart from the matter of food and fuel, the Board of Trade is ma.n-
 taining control of the exportation
 and importation of a long list of i articles. The ban has been removed
 from some goods but this has been ! mainly in the case of things impor- 1 tation of which had been forbidden i and winch the country found itself 1 short of.
 ] Removal Of restrictions on most ! of the food necessities has not solved ] the living problem of the masses, : however. There is still a great short ! age of many things, however. and . moreover, prices, which went down 1 last sumner, have now mounted to , about where they were at the signing 1 of the arTnistice.
 The increase is attributed partly l to the world scarcity of necessities, ] partly to the augmented demand from the recently belIigerent coun- ] tries, and partly to inflated currency l and adverse foreign exchanges. The ! last named have had a pronounced 1 influence on prices and it is the belief
 of economic experts that food cannot ! become much cheaper until these are 1 adjusted. even though there is an in | crease in production.
 The butter ration is placed at one and one-half ounces for each person ! per week. This refers to the import
 ed product only, there being no re- 1 srricJiou on the use of homemade i butter. As a matter of fact virtually
 no batter is being made in the United
 I-ll Llyt-l these 50 LLlLl1 ltit' con
 sumner has 10 depend upon margarine l and foreign butter.
 The reason there is so little home produced butter on the market is that
 the retail price. approximately 50
 cents a pound, bears no relation to
 the actual cost of butter to the far
 mer. This month farmers can sell
 milk at G4 cents a gallon, and it takes
 . l-2 gallons of milk to produce a P pound of butteE. If English butter
 were selling at its true economic
 value it would be about SPA per pound.
 Until recently the suEar ration was
 twelve ounces for each person pei week. but, owing to the shortage this l allowance has been decreased to eight ounces. and is expected to remain al ! { that mark for many months. The amount allowed to the confectionery | and sweets trades has been reduced : by 25 per cent and a further reduc. tion is expected with the new year Butchers meat was rationed unt , a faw days ago, each person beins allowed forty cents worth per week
 In consequence of the receipt recent.
 " of a large supply of mutton ant ! lamb from Australia and New Zea land it was found possible to remove . all ratiOning restrictions. and tn Food Ministry has expressed tho hope that people will relieve the fOot situation by eating more meat, whtcI 1 is welcome advice for England Despite the small ration, only abou . so per cent. Of the meat alIowanc was being demanded by ticket hold 2 CTS each week. This was due eithe l to q change of habits since the be l ginning Of the war or to the higl l cost. Whenever butcher had
 balance of meat left over at the week
 l end he was permitted to sell 1t t L 1 any one of his customers, irrespectiv
 of whether they had already had thei ! ration or not In this way some peo O pie were able to exceed the amour - provided for by their permits. The sale of beer and spirits is stil . restricted in quantity, and tn
 strength of both beer and whiskey q much below the pre-war average. 4 It a result, it is said, there has been a c increase in sobriety. Whiskey is a ~ present about thirty percent. under = Alcoholic drinks can only be pur = chased between noon and 2:30 P Nj d and between and 10 o'clock 3 e night
 '- The Food Ministry still fixes whole $ sale prices for a number of othe l. commodities and the Ministry is tn
 dtLuII puTcAaSeF ana ulSlElDuIOT
 cheese, bacon, ham, lard, dried fruit:
 bread, butter, cocoa-powder, con
 densed milk and canned fish. The fix $ ing of the maximum price, it mus e be noted, does not prevent the sal ,, of goods for a sum below tha n amount, and in many cases foodstuff l. are being vended much below tn = limit fixed by law.
 ,- The Ministry is believed to be tn l. largest in the world. Its annual e2 g penGiture is about $1,0O0, 0,O0O,OOO. Tn
 object of the department is not |
 make a profit, but in transactions C S this magnitude it is impossible
 make both sides of the account bal , ance.
 > The actual figures are not yet avail e able but it is expected that the prof It this year will not exceed g. .5O0, ,0O4 @ Last year there was a profit of abou t. S25, eco eco the whole Of whic
 was expended during the summer i
 supplying certain articles of food be
 low their cost price. Thus the prof
 does not enrich the Treasury bl $ goes entirely for the benefit of th
 consumer.
 S. The maximum coal ration was an n- still is fixed at five tons for the 1T IJi f1,- Ioa Il