The Times of Wednesday surveyed the cost of necessaries, which,
as the Board of Agriculture points out, is not more than ten to twelve per cent. higher than wend. The rise of prices is not greater than is caused by the failure of crops in exceptional years, and is chiefly due to the increased rates of transport. Game, fowls, ducks, and grapes are cheaper than before the war. Milk, in most places, costs no more. The rise in the price of bread is due to dearer transport, since there are supplies of wheat for four months in the country. No maximum prices for groceries and meat have been fixed by the Board of Trade for more than ten weeks. Dealings in these things are normal. Tea, fish, and eggs have shown the greatest rise. Tea of course is weighted with the new tax; eggs are with difficulty brought from Russia, which is our principal source of supply ; and the bulk of the fishing industry of the East Coast has had to be transferred to the West.
Previous page
