THE HOUSEWIVES' REVOLT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1271, 28 October 1911, Page 11

THE HOUSEWIVES' REVOLT.

NO WONDEE. . No Englishwoman who has kept house BJ ,\ ra J oe will to surprised at the revolt of the housewives against excessive prices. I was talking recently to a countrywoman who has lived a good deal in Dieppe, Bays a writer in an English paper, and although, tho cost of living is especially nigh this year owing to the drought and other causes it is always under normal conditions higher than in England. Meat is dearer, vegetables, even in richly cultivated Normandy, aro dearer. Butter and eggs, if bought in the market, are usually cheaper, but not so if obtained from shops in the town, aad this summer tho market women, who are generally glad to sell you their batter for one franc twenty centimes, are now asking two franc twenty centimes a pound. Grapes and peaches nre cheap enough, but then they aro not nearly so good as in England; lemons are difficult to obtain, and cost at least 3d. each. Fish, if you have the patience to walk away at least three times from the gloriously picturesque fishwife who grossly overcharges you at first, may be reduced to the English level of prices, but not without difficulty. At any timo of tho year, howevor, and in any part of Prance all groceries, grains, sugar, jam, etc., are more expensive than they aro over hero, and in most cases are inferior in quality. My friend told me, for instance, that she economised by importing good China tea .and the best coffee from over here, paying one franc in duty per lb. I saw no coffee in Dieppe under two francs 30 centimes per lb., and that was not fit to drink. In fact, if you go to tariff-re-formed France.all tho things that have a national reputation—coffee, omelette, and "biftek"—will cost you more! No wonder the housewives are in revolt!