AN ENQUIRY. " 13 



oiih' 26s. 9d. a qviarter, the average value of tlie 

 imported article was officially declared to be as 

 follows iu the same year, viz., 28s. 6d. a quarter 

 in the case of wheat coming to us from Argen- 

 tina ; 30s. from Chili; Roumania, 28s. lOd.; 

 Russia, 29s. ; United States, 30s. Id. ; and 

 Germany, 29s. 2d. It would appear, therefore, 

 that our farmers were forced to sell their wheat 

 at a much lower price in our markets than was 

 the foreigner; and it is certain, we think, that 

 competition which has that result must benefit 

 the foreigner rather than our own growers, who 

 have so much more to bear in the wav of rates, 

 taxes, and cost of production. 



Meat. 



The fall in the prices of grain has also been 

 accompanied by a fall in the price of meat, 

 The evidence before the Commission of numerous 

 witnesses was to the effect that in the case of 

 beef the fall was from 30 to 40 per cent., whilst, 

 if we examine the statistics which are available 

 to anybody who chooses to seek them, we shall 

 see that such examination bears out the state- 

 ment in question. For instance, the triennial 

 average price of first-class quality and inferior 

 quality cattle per stone of 8 lb. was, in 1876 to 

 18T8, 63. and 4s. 5d., respectively. In 1886 to 

 1888 it was 4s. 9d. to 2s. lOd., whilst in the latest 

 figures at hand, viz., for 1903, relating to the 

 Metropolitan Cattle Market, it is 4s. Td. and 



