In the House of Commons on Thursday week there was
a debate on the considerable rise in the cost of living. Mr. Runciman, in replying for the Board of Trade, said that no rise had given the Government more anxiety than that in the price of coal Coal was not like wheat, since its price was very little dependent on the world's production. 'Undoubtedly the cost of working coal had increased, and it should be remembered that two hundred thousand miners had enlisted. At the same time, the price which had been charged through- out the winter, and which bad not appreciably fallen, was excessive. He was in negotiation with the mine:rimers, and had nearly come to an agreement with the Midland owners as to a reasonable price. As for wheat, the high prices bad not been due to speculation in this country. The American price controlled the world's price. Argentine wheat had been diverted from Britain. Australia, for example, had become an importing country. We were at one time "faced with a definite shortage," but the risk of famine prices had been staved off. In buying frozen meat for the Army the Govern- ment also bought for the French Army in order that the two nations might not raise Argentine prices by competitive buying. He could not hold out any hope that our meat supplies would be largely increased during the war.
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