THE PRICE OF FLOUR AND BREAD.

Evening Star, Issue 11681, 13 February 1902, Page 8

THE PRICE OF FLOUR AND BREAD.

to th>; KDrroß. Sir,-—Your correspondent "Miolner" evidently belongs to tie unholy combination of millers and bakers, as he admits that he was present at the meetings of the Millers' Association when they discussed the question of fixing the price of wheat. This fixing of the. price of wheat is wily a matter of time, and that time will come as toon as all the millers and bakers are bound hands and feet to the Juggernaat of tho Milling Trust. When that time comes, where will the farmers come in? I happen to know that many, if not all, of the items of cost and expenditure published by the unholy combination are far from the truth. 1 make out- thai the baker who uses four tons of flour per week makes a profit of from £7 to £l2 per week net. Some of the bakers are at present nsin£ flour that coat from 20s to 30s per ton less than current rates. That item alone would give the four-ton-per-week baker a profit of at least £5 per week. I maintain that their list; of cost and expenditure is " manipulated " from top to bottom, or from interest in capital to the cost of greasing the tins. As to the millers, I have only to sav that Lhey are a provocative crew. Ask any produce merchant or grocer in the. City to express an opinion on the Millers' Trust and their wuys and you will hear some strong language. Why, this great Milling Trust will sell an old woman who keeps a donkey or a goat one bag of bran, and charge her the same price per bag as they charge the merchant who buys two thousand bags at one time. They hampeT and discourage fair trading locally, and at the same time mako a present to the Auckland people of about £3 per ton on their flour. I ask is this fair to the local traders, and is it doing justice to the local working people? I think most people will answer that the sooner the Trust are burst the better it will be for the workers and business people of Dunedin, —I am, etc., Down With Trusts. February 13.