The Times of Tuesday publishes an. interesting corre- spondence between
the President of the Board of Trade and 'Colonel Howard Vincent, on the price of bread. According to the Honorary Secretary of the British Chamber of Com- merce, quoted by Colonel Howard 'Vincent, the price of the two- kilo loaf is in Paris about 74d. But the two-kilo loaf has about two-fifths of a pound more bread in it than the English quartern, and, according to the researches of Colonel Howard Vincent's secretary, the price of a quartern loaf in London is 70. Mr. Mundella replies that the evidence taken by the Labour Com- mission shows that good bread in London costs 50. for the 4-1b. loaf, and that in Staffordshire it is sold at id. per pound. A few days after hearing this evidence, Mr. Mundella went to France and "found that the price generally charged for bread of second quality was 80 centimes for a loaf of two kilos." It is an error to suppose that 70. is paid for the 4-1b. loaf in London, except in "aristocratic localities." The price in -Woolwich and Chatham is 40. and 5d. the 4-1b. loaf. "At Spalding the union has recently contracted for bread, which I am assured is of very good quality, at 2td. the 4-1b. loaf, .and that 40. is a very common price in working-class neighbourhoods in the larger towns. A recent Foreign Office report from Italy gives the price in the third week of December, 1892, as ranging from 7d. per 4-1b. loaf at Milan to 90. at Rome." There is an apparent contradiction between the two accounts, but we believe Mr. Mundella to be perfectly accurate when he asserts that bread is from 25 to 50 per cent. dearer in Protectionist countries.
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