TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 103 






























In the course of inquiries made among London tradesmen while collecting the 
foregoing lists uf prices, it was stated that as respects cheese, the working-classes 
seldom or never buy it by weight, but apply at the shop for sixpennyworth or three- 
pennyworth, or whatever may be the sum to be laid out, the dearness or cheapness 
of the article affecting the quantity that they receive for their money. Another fact 
of the same nature was ascertained from the proprietor of a very large establishment 
for the sale of linens, woollens, haberdashery, and the like goods. The working man 
or woman is accustomed to pay certain prices for certain articles, and does not vary 
the outlay with the varying markets, but buys a 3s. or 5s. hat or bonnet, a shirt or 
shift for so much, and so on through the whole list of articles of clothing, The be- 
nefit of cheapness reaches them in the quality of their purchases; and as the ten- 
dency has for very many years been towards lessened prices, we now see—such at 
least is the case in London-—that the working classes are better clad than formerly, 
keeping in this respect their relative position with the more easy classes, whose dress 
—especially among ladies—is generally not only better in quality but actually more 
costly than when the articles used were of much higher prices than now. When 
engaged upon an inquiry similar to the present—fifteen years ago—I was informed 
by a person who gave constant employment to 1200 people, men and women, in 
making up articles of clothing used by the working classes, that, taking one article 
with another, the materials used then cost not more than one-half what they had 
cost at the close of the war in 1815; and we know that, since 1834, there has been 
a further and very great abatement in the cost of most if not all such materials. 
Strong cotton cloths, the wholesale price of which in 1810 was 10d. per yard, sold 
in 1820 for 9d., had fallen in 1833 to 4d., and may now be bought at from 2d. to 
27d. per yard. Printed. calico, which’sold in 1810 at 2s. 2d., in 1820 at Is, 4d., in 
1830, the excise duty having been removed, at 6d. to 8d., may now be bought at from 
3s. 6d. to 6s. per piece of 28% yards, or from 14d. to 33d. per yard. The increased 
use of cotton in this country, so far beyond the increase in our export of cotton. 
goods, proves that the people, and especially the working people, who are the great 
consumers of cotton goods among us, have fully profited by their progressive cheap- 
ening. The consumption of suck articles as are of home production we have no 
satisfactory means of determining; but we may feel quite certain that as respects 
such of them as are articles of necessity, as well as those which have become so 
through the usages of society, a fall in price when unaccompanied by circumstances 
that oppress the people, must be accompanied by an increase in. their use. If we 
had any doubts upon this head, they must, however, be dispelled when we find that 
_ other articles of which, being brought from distant countries, we know the quantities 
¥ ie. are so used in greatly increased quantities. The consumption in each year 
_ from 1842 to 1848, in those articles of which retail prices have been given and which 
are imported, have been,— f 

& é r 1842. 1843. 1844, 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848, 




Sugar...... ewt.| 3,868,466 | 4,028,307 | 4,129,443] 4,856,604 | 5,220,248 | 5,779,508 | 6,208,872 
ea....-..+ Ib. |37,355,911 |40,293,393 |41,363,770 |44,193,433 |46,740,344 [46,314,821 |48,735,971 
Coffee + 5) {28,519,646 |29,979,404 |31,352,382 |34,293,190 |36,754,578 |37,441,372 |37,106,292 
Cocoa...... 5, | 2,246,569 | 2,547,934 | 2,589,977 | 2,579,497 | 2,951,206 | 3,079,198 | 2,935,479 
Rice .cwt.} 396,922} 315,359] 432,480] 372,274} 545,883| 971,694] 925,731 
Currants .. 5s 196,379 | 254,330| 284,694] 309,485} 358,761 | 331,236] 380,500 
Raisins .... ,, 186,240| 236,826] 202,230] 204,960) 238,255] 212,024} 228,542 

___ It appears thus, that a reduction in the retail price of sugar from 7d. to 43d. for 
raw and from 9d. to 6d. for refined sugar, has increased the consumption since 1844 
_ by 2,079,429 cwt., or 50 per cent. The reduction of 1s. per pound on tea, viz. from 
5s. to 4s., has caused an additional consumption of 7,372,201 pounds, or [8 per 
cent. The retail price of coffee has fallen from 1s. 8d. to 1s. 4d, and the consump- 
_ tion has been augmented by 5,753,910 pounds, or 18 per cent.; thus adding very 
materially to the comforts of the working classes, and chiefly the artizan class, 
among whom the increased quantities here noticed have principally been used. 
From what has been already stated, we might almost necessarily infer that the 
people generally are now in a condition of comparative comfort. 

