450 APPENDIX III. CORN LAWS 



unpopular ; there is lees evidence that it dissatisfied consumers. When 

 prices rose, it was human, since natural causes were beyond control, to blame 

 the method of setting the Assize. The year 1757 was one of scarcity ; by 

 the Bristol tables the penny loaf weighed only 4 oz. 14 dwt. There was an 

 immediate demand for a change in the law. In 1758 a new Act was passed 

 (31 Geo. II. c. 29), codifying the existing law, and introducing alterations 

 which seem to have been unduly favourable to bakers. Bread was to be 

 made of two qualities only, wheaten and household ; the number of pounds 

 to be sold per quarter was reduced from 417 to 365 ; bakers were allowed 

 to choose whether they would sell in their shops " assized " loaves, which varied 

 in weight but were fixed in price, or " prized " loaves, varying in price but 

 fixed in weight. The Statute fixes by a table of proportion the weight of 

 the Id. loaf of wheaten and of household bread, regulated by the price of 

 wheat and the baker's allowance. It also settles in the same way the price 

 of the " prized " loaf. By a later Act the wheaten bread was to be stamped 

 with W and the household with H. The " prized " loaf was the " peck 

 loaf," made from 2 gallons of wheat or 14 Ibs. of flour, and weighing 17 Ibs. 

 6 oz., and its subdivisions the half peck loaf (8 Ibs. 11 oz.) ; the quarter 

 peck or quartern (4 Ibs. 5J oz.) ; and the half quartern (2 Ibs. 2 oz.). To 

 prevent fraud, no baker was allowed to sell in the same shop " assized " as 

 well as " prized " loaves. The Assizes were to be periodically proclaimed 

 according to the fluctuations in prices, and were not to remain in force more 

 than 14 days. 



The Act of 1768 fell on troublous times. The period 1765-74 was one of 

 scarcity. The high prices of bread were attributed to the malpractices of 

 bakers and millers. It was alleged that the changes in the law had allowed 

 them unusual opportunities for making excessive profits. It is possible that 

 this was the case. No assay of flour was attempted. Consequently, millers 

 were able to return their product as being of superior quality, though they 

 continued to supply the inferior grades, and bakers conformed to the Assize 

 by adulterating the standard of both the legalised classes of bread. An 

 agitation was begun, which resulted in the Act of 1773 (13 Geo. III. c. 62). 

 The number of pounds of bread to be sold out of each quarter of wheat was 

 restored to its former basis ; regulations were made prescribing the method 

 in which flour was to be dressed ; the old standard wheaten bread, which, 

 " according to the antient order and custom of the realm," had existed 

 " from time immemorial," was again legalised, and was to be stamped S.W. 

 There were, therefore, once more three qualities of bread wheaten, standard 

 wheaten, and household. The proportionate cost of the three kinds was 

 also regulated. The same weights of wheaten, standard wheaten, and house- 

 hold were to be sold respectively at 8d., 7d., and 6d. No attempt was made, 

 except in the case of standard wheaten, to define the quality of the different 

 breads. Standard wheaten was to consist of the whole produce of the grain, 

 the bran or hull only excepted, and the flour of which it was made was to 

 weigh three-fourths of the wheat from which it was ground. 



The new Act may have been as easily evaded as the old. But the fall in 

 prices after 1774 cheapened bread, and the contented consumer probably 

 attributed his relief to the success of the new law. The extraordinary rise 

 in prices which took place from 1794 to 1812 revived the whole question of 

 the efficacy of Assizes of Bread in aggravated form. In 1812 at Grantham 

 the weight of assized bread to be bought for one penny was only 4 oz. 6 dwt., 

 bringing the cost of the quartern loaf to Is. 4d. The rise was so unpre- 

 cedented, that millers and bakers were suspected of every variety of mis- 

 demeanour. Bakers especially were charged with reducing the weight, and 

 raising the price of bread beyond the limits justified by the advance in the 

 price of wheat. There was a general demand for the enforcement of the 



