[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR." J SIR, —I beg
to send you the accompanying cutting from the Yorkshire Observer of March 22nd in regard to a display arranged by us which is attracting very great attention in Bradford, and which my executive think may be deemed worthy of your attention.—I am, Sir, &c.,
FOOD IN PROTECTIONIST COUNTRIES. INTERESTING EXHIBITION IN BRADFORD.
There will be on view to-day in a window in Forster Square, Bradford, next door to the tramways office, an exhibition of quite a remarkable kind. With the object of showing the difference between the living conditions of the working classes here and in those countries enjoying the advantages whichare supposed to be conferred by high tariffs, the Bradford and District League against Protection has obtained samples of the food consumed by the working classes in Roubaix, Elberfeld, and Leipzig, three of the most important centres of the worsted industry on the Continent. The instructions given by the League to its agents were to buy in working-class shops a week's consumption of food of a working- class family with an income of from twenty to twenty-five shillings a week, following as closely as possible the details of expenditure contained in the working-class budgets in Appen- dix III. of the Board of Trade Fiscal Blue-book. It was, of course, impossible to include perishable articles such as milk, fresh meat, and fish, but the selection was made as complete and representative as possible. Thus, ham was bought to represent meat, poultry, and fish,' and potatoes to represent all kinds of vegetables. The purchases are now displayed side by side with equivalents bought in Bradford, and they provide a highly instructive comparison. In almost every instance the superiority of the English goods both in quality and cheapness is most conspicuous.
A comparison of prices can best be made in the form of a table. In each case the price is per lb.
Bradford. Roubaix. Elberfeld.
d.
Bread 1* . . Ham 7i 14 Coffee 10 Cheese 6 6i Sugar 2 2; Potatoes
• A fraction under.
Of the difference in quality between the English and foreign foodstuffs only a very imperfect idea can be given by description. The articles themselves must be seen in order to realise the superiority of those of English origin. With regard to the bread, the Elberfeld samples are by far the worst. One loaf is entirely of rye, extraordinarily heavy, and as hard as a brick. Three others are made of a mixture of flour and rye, and two may be of pure wheat flour, though the point is doubtful. The Roubaix is coarse and of a poor colour, and has been pronounced by a baker to contain bran. On account of their peculiar shape both the Leipzig and the Elberfeld loaves run very much to crust. The English loaves, it may be said, are home-made bread, baked in Bradford from a stone and a-half of flour. The ham is all smoked ham, which makes the comparison rather unfair to the English budget. The English sample cost 74d. a lb., but few working- class families in Bradford would buy ham at that price. They would more probably get the unsmoked article at about 50. a lb., buying it by the lump. Nevertheless, the Continental ham is so extraordinarily dear-15fd. a lb. in Roubaix and 10td. in Elberfeld and Leipzig—that the sacrifice of 21d. a lb. for the sake of a fair comparison scarcely matters. Samples of unsmoked English ham have been procured at 7d. and Gid. a lb. These are good pieces without bone. Although the foreign coffee is un- ground it is all very largely adulterated, the beans being coated with burnt sugar, which is, of course, a much cheaper commodity. Samples have been submitted to expert analysis, with the result that the Roubaix coffee has been found to be adulterated to the extent of from 20 to 25 per cent., and the German to the extent of about 10 per cent. It is scarcely necessary to point out that Eraoh adulteration is a punishable offence in this country. Further- more, the foreign coffee is declared by experts to be of a lower quality than any sold in this district.
The Roubaix cheese is Edam (Dutch), and wholly unsaleable in this country. The Elberfeld cheese is Gonda, slightly better, but still of a poorer quality than any that would be bought by the working-classes here. The Leipzig cheese is Limburger—abomin- able stuff, with the consistency of soft soap and a smell that eau be called nothing else than putrid. The smell might be matched
Leipzig.
li 14 101 ...... 10} 10f 10f 9 Si El
2
in the neighbourhood of the sewage works, but as for the cheese itself, nothing like it is known in Bradford. Very little beet sugar is sold in Bradford, its sweetening quality being much inferior to that of cane sugar, but beet sugar has been obtained for inclusion with the Bradford samples, so that a fair comparison in prices could be made. Had the sugar been bought before the British Government gave its sanction to the sugar convention the prices would have been different. It should be remembered that the effect of the convention has been to make sugar dearer in this country and cheaper abroad. The potatoes are the same price all round, but the German specimens would be unsaleable here, because there would be so much waste in peeling on account of their smallness, while the French potatoes would be considered inferior because of the number of eyes' in them, which is also a cause of waste in peeling."
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