148 BRITAIN FOR THE BRITON 



" On June 7th, during my recent visit, I bought in Wessenburger- 

 strasse, Berlin, 4^ lbs. of rye bread (' Schwarzbrod ') for 35 pfennigs 

 (4^(7). I also purchased, in another shape, a long loat of this bread 

 weighing about 11 English pounds, for one mark (1/-^- • • • My two 

 purchases were made respectively in a cheap shop in a working-class 

 district, and in an ordinary shop ; and I failed to find anywhere rye 

 bread being sold at the price quoted in the Yellow Book, namely, 

 4 lbs. l^rC * 



Correcting the prevailing misconception that the Germans 

 eat " black bread " from poverty, because it is cheaper, Mr. J. 

 Ellis Barker, an eminent authority on the subject, wrote as 

 follows : — 



"Your correspondent is singularly unfortunate in quoting the 

 Economist of May 2nd. 



" The letter of their correspondent in Berlin gives the price of 

 bread in one shop in Berlin. There is a high-class shop close to 

 this club (The Constitutional Club) where bread costs 'dd. per lb. 

 Does that prove that bread is 1 00 per cent, dearer in England than 

 in Scotland ? Your correspondent ' Fooder,' in your issue of the 

 14th inst., thinks that Germans eat rye bread from poverty, not 

 from choice. Will he kindly explain to me why the Germans in 

 London eat 50,000 rye loaves a week, and why they spend from 

 "Id. to '2\d. on ' Granbrod ' and ' Schwarzbrod,' and from 4^. 

 to 6c?. a pound on the darkest rye bread (' Pimpernickel '), when 

 they can buy white wheaten bread at l\d. to l\d. a pound ? " f 



The Boaed of Tkade misleads 



Then in regard to the extraordinary statements published 

 by the Board of Trade, on June 26, 1908, as to the price 

 of German bread, and the cost of living and wages in Germany 

 and England, many of the English papers at once rose up in 

 arms to refute the inaccuracies. 



Here is what one of the London dailies had to say on the 

 subject — 



Peice of German Bread 



" Mr. Churchill will be asked in the House of Commons on 

 Monday by Lord Ronaldshay if the price of bread varied in Germany 

 from h\d. to 'l\d. per pound, as stated in the recently published 

 report of the Board of Trade (since withdrawn), and if this is so, 

 will he state whether the price of the 4-lb. loaf in Germany varies 

 from Is, 9fZ. to 2s. 0^/." % 



* Monthly Notes on Tariff Reform, August, 1908, p. 111. 



t J. EUis Barker. " Tariff Reform League Notes," May, 1908. 



X Daily Mail, July 4, 1908, 



