Evening star., 1924-03-19
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS

claimed that he could not reduce his
price to s cents without reducing his
profit to half a cent, which would cut
below his overhead costs, and the
United States currency recognizes no
coin less than cent.
It does not follow, however, that
the one-cent reduction might not be
passed on TO the bakeries, leaving
the dealer his full 1 Il cents profit,
even if the retail price were reduced
to cents. That would still leave the
bakeries the margin between the cost
of -four and labor (about 1 L oenta)
and their wholesale price-a margin
of nearly 200 per cent on the cost.
That is counted by the department ac~
countants to be a fair margin con-
sidering the 800 turnovers per annum.
The champions of the bakeries
point to the fact that bread was for
merly baked at home. and that when
ever the housewife objects to paying
the price of bakery bread she has
her recourse But housewives have
gotten out Of the habit of home bak-
ing of regular bread. and with the
dearth of servants, find every possible
means for shifting home duties and
| labors.
The United states Senate inFeSJls
! gated wartime profits, and in Senate
document No 259, pages so-SS, 1t is
reported that while mills made from
Is to 694 per cent profit in 1916. and
as high as 2.62S per cent in 1917,
bakeries made in 1916 and 1917 from
| 125 to 424 per cent profit on capital
invested. According to the Wall
Street Journal of February "a. 1929,
! one great baking company paid on
! of SIS; in 1920 Of s3S; in 1921 sl25;
| 1922. 1882. and 1929. $61s. In seven
| years an investment of one dollar
| in that baking company becomes
| worth s3o9.
| How much is the farmer responsible
/ for the cost of bread, since the Army
! basis of the cost of bread is what
: ever the -four costs? The wheat pro-
/ ducer, according to the Department
of Agriculture, gets is cents for the
| wheat in a pound of bread, the skilled
laborer (the baker) gets Tin modern
| bakery one-hundredth of 81 cents,
/ and the transportation companies, the
/ millers and the bakeries and retail
! stores get the rest. The price OF
| commercial bread is not regulate by
| the COST OIL WHEAT lOT IL InC
| gave his wheat free, under present
| conditions, the pound of bread would
| still cost the ultimate consumer" 7h
| cents a pound-50 per cent more than
| bread cost before the war, while the
J farmer got a fair price for his grain.
= X X X
| There are great differences in the
! quality of -four, depending upon the
| kind of wheat used and the method
of it's manufacture. These differences
| have been scientifically studied in re-
cent years. All large mills maintain
| experimental bakeries for daily test
| ing of the baking qualities of their
| flours. The science of blending
wheats is most intricate. The blends
| are based upon the gluten and other
! elements found in each lot of wheat,
| regardless of market grading.
| Much is said of the loss of nutritiye
| qualities through the extraction of
| parts of the wheat grain and through
! the electric bleaching of the flour,
! but bleaching is defended by MANY
| agricultural chemists as not delete.
| rious, and 1t adds to the attractiye-
ness of the bread. Attractiyeness
| adds to appetite, and, as Shakespeare
"Now good digestion waits on appe
| tite,
And health on both"
| Copyright. 1894. by Paul V. ColIinsJ