CONSERVING SUPPLIES

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 109, 5 November 1917, Page 7

CONSERVING SUPPLIES

LORD RHONDDA'S ACTIVITY. <BS TELEGRAPH.— OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, 7th September. ' The public of the Old Country feels to-day, for the first time, some real confidence in the measures of the v GoVernment for the control and conservation of the food supply. The fact cannot be disguised that until to-day it has had very little, if any, confidence on this score, and the widespread discontent was the clearest possible warning to Mr. Lloyd George that he could i not expect to go through another winter like the last without some very serious upheaval on the part of the -working classes. ■ ■-- To the ordinary householder "trie control" exercised by Lord. Devonport was a bald eham. It consisted in a series of edicts that food should be available to the public at certain, prices when, as a matter of fact, it was either not avaiable at all or was only available at considerably higher prices. Nor wag there any earnest of the Government's intention to inforce what it laid down. To-day the outlook is.very different. Although the harvest has been disappointing and, in come districts disastrous, the stocks of corn ■in the country to-day are from two to three million quarters in excess of the quantity held at this time last year. The fruit crop has been exceptionally heavy, and potatoes under the influence of the potato disease have come into the market in quantities, which have produced a glut. Keeping sorts have been laid under embargo and -cannot be removed to the market without license. On the whole, the public is enjoying to-day a measure of abundance that it has not known for a long time past. The.restrictions on the consumption of flour and bread are, however, being maintained, and this early-provision against scarcity before . next harvest ha 6 produced something more • than a mere skeleton of security. . THE CONTROL COMMITTEES. Lord Rhondda was perhaps surprised by the position which faced him when the municipalities set about appointing .their local food committees' under his orders. The first few committees that were appointed were composed of a majority, and in some cases, wholly of small traders, and persons interested in the; sale of food. More than this, there were numbers of cases pointed out in which tradesmen who had been convicted of mal-practising and breaches of the Food Control orders, were actually appointed to the committee. Lord Rhondda took up the case of Newcastleone of the most important industrial centres in Great Britain—-«hd wrote to ithe Lord, Mayor, pointing out that a" committee, formed almost entirely of traders, could not possibly enjoy, the confidence of the public. Newcastle; very sensibly, re-considered the matter, called the Trades Unionists into consultation, and appointed a new committee equally representative of traders, non-traders, and labour representatives. Liverpool, at the same time, decided to preclude from membership any persons at all who were employed in ithe_- sale of food. This position is not really so wicked as it appears. The public school class and *he better middle oiasg haw traditionally refrained altogether from taking part in local politics, with the notable exception of the London County Council; with the Tesiilt that Municipal Governments and Poor Law administration have been left, largely to the tender mercies of the shopkeeping classes. Lord Rhondda's action regarding the Food Committees is on all-fours with his treatment of profiteers on a more elaborate scale. A Lincolnshire farmer, who made a profit of £5000 by contravening the orders regarding potatoes, was fined £5500, and costs. FIXED FOOD PRICES. Next week we are to have tie first experience of obtaining food at prices fixed by the Government considerably below the ruling rates. The 41b loaf of bread, which has cost a shilling for the greater part of thb year, is now to bo obtainable for ninepence, with an addi 7 tional half-penny for delivery or creditFlour is to be sold at 50s for a sack of 2801b. - The buthers show considerable reluctance to accept the conditions imposed by Lord Rhondda. They are in future to-he allowed 20 per cent, or 2Jd per lb, whichever is ■the' less in excess of the wholesale prices in operation, an arrangement which is expected to reduce the price of meat very .considerably. Another condition is that they must exhibit in their shop a clearly set out scale of prices foi all the different ■ descriptions of meat. This they are not at -ail -inclined to do, but there is little doubt that their resistance will be short-lived. The. wholesale prices of meat have been scheduled for ensuing months up ito January. For September home-killed beef and veal arc to be 8s 8d per stone, and imports 8s 4d for hindquarters, 7s for forequarters; mutton and lamb, 8s Sd home-killed, and 7s 8d imported. As regards milk, retailers are to be allowed 3dper Imperial quart in excess of the corresponding price at th.6 same date in 1914. At the present moment milk is 6d a quart, and we are confidently assured that the price must go up during the winter. The retail prices 'of butter, .based on a schedule of wholesale rates, pTOtnise to average from 2s l£d for Canadian and American, to 2s s£d for Irish creamery. No maximum price is fixed for Danish. Nobody is to be allowed to sell butter retail at a profit of more than 2-Jd a lb on the actual cost to himself, but an additional £d may be charged for credit or delivery. The wholesale butter schedule /-places French rolls at 224s per 1121b; INew Zealand and Irish kegs at 208s; Irish casks at 2075; Australian, Argentine, Canadian, American, and Irish Creamery at 2065. _ The maximum retail price of imported cheese has been fixed at Is 4d per lb. THE JAM QUESTION. Owing to the scarcity of sugar an unusually large percentage of the fruit crop tins summer wil] have to be' lost or diverted to such uees as feeding pigs. Sugar has been allotted to owners of or-

chards wjih the greatest care and economy, and it is practically certain that I the great bulk of tha jam made this j summer will contain a much smaller perj centage than usual of sugar. The prices of jam are affected, not only by the I shortage of sugar, but also by the expenses of the containers. . As fixed by the Controller, the jam prices {without containers) are, roughly, as follow :— Apricot, cherry, black, currant, pineapple, and strawberry, lid per lb; peach,. and raspberry, 10£ d; raspberry and red currant, 10d; blackberry, greengage, loganberry, red currant, raspberry and' gooseberry,•_ strawberry and gooseberry, 9£d; apricot and apple, gooseberry, raspberry and plum, 9d; damson, plum, blackberry and apple, black currant and apple,' raspberry and apple, strawberry and apple, BJd; plum and apple, and any other description, Bd. The prices for jelly, with the exception of black and red currant, are a |d a lb in exoees of those for jam. Amongst the other foodstuffs which" have been taken in hand by the Controller the following prices aro fixed :—- Coloured haricot beans, s£d per lb; large butter beans, 8d; white haricot beans, 6d; cerealine {or maize-meal), 3sd; lentils, large manufactured, Bd, small manu- '. factored 7d; maize-flour, cakes, semolina, 3£d; oatmeal and oats (polled, flaked, or like products), Scotland 4^4, England 5d ; peas, blue and green {whole or split), 9d; peas, yellow (split), 6d; tea-, India and Ceylon (by arrangement), 2s 4d,to 3s. , PROFITEERING IN DRINK. - Although the consumption of. beer has been very severely curtailed it is, i more than likely that brewery companies | will not suffer very heavily. Prices are continuously rising at a rate which seems to more than cover the diminution on consumption. Bitter beer before ;the war cost 3d a pint in most licensed houses; or 4d in the best room. By the end of 1916 the prices had risen to 5d and 6d. Then came a stringent reduction of barrelage and a sudden new advance, of lOd, or even Is. The consumption again overtook the supply, and it is now become almost general to sell beer not by the pint, or half-pint, but by the glass; which averages.three to the pint. -Tiis means that the publican gets Is 3d for the liquor. Such as it is has increased in price by more than 100 per cent, though it ds now' 30 to 35 per cent, under proof... ■: