240 CONSUMPTION 



at the close of the European War. Under these conditions the 

 demand for animal foodstuffs is likely to increase correspondingly, 

 provided the general purchasing power of the industrial workers 

 does not fall owing to special causes. 1 



The tendencies of the present time point also to an increase in 

 collective bargaining on the part of industrial workers, which aims 

 at securing for the average employee the highest wages obtainable 

 and tends therefore to increase his purchasing power. It appears 

 that British workers, at any rate, will demand higher real wages 

 after the war than they enjoyed before it. 



It seems almost certain also that the real wages of agricultural 

 workers will rise in the near future, partly because agricultural 

 labour in progressive countries will not be obtainable in sufficient 

 quantities without increased remuneration, and partly because the 

 the prices for foodstuffs are likely to be higher, and the agricultural 

 industry as a whole to be more prosperous for some time to come 

 than has previously been the case. The result of any such changes 

 would again be to lead to an increase in the consumption of animal 

 foodstuffs which in a majority of rural districts in Europe has 

 hitherto been unduly low. 



Obviously, however, if higher prices for foodstuffs in general 

 become established for some lengthened time in the future, the 

 purchasing power of all workers will be diminished thereby, unless 

 their money income rises. If, moreover, workers demand increased 

 real wages enabling them to purchase larger quantities of animal 

 foodstuffs and other articles that have hitherto been somewhat 

 beyond their means, it is quite clear that this can be met only by 

 more efficient production, either of the manufactured goods which 

 they are employed in making, or of the foodstuffs which they con- 

 sume, or of both. 2 Now the contentment of working-class popu- 

 lations depends to a large extent upon their ability to obtain the 

 quantities and kinds of foodstuffs that they desire ; and while 

 breadstuffs are taken largely as a matter of course because supplies 

 are normally cheap and sufficient, it is otherwise with meat and 

 other animal foodstuffs which are usually consumed in much smaller 



1 It is difficult to foretell what the general conditions will be in European 

 countries after the war. Some maintain that everyone will be poorer and 

 have less to spend on animal foodstuffs. The purchasing power of the working 

 classes may not, however, suffer much even under these conditions, but see 

 pp. 251 and 316, below. 



* A general rise in the standard of diet among European populations can 

 arise only from general economic changes resulting in an increase in food 

 supplies. Such results may be accomplished in several ways. 



(a) A greater proportion of capital and labour may be devoted to 



food production and a smaller proportion to the production of certain 



manufactures and services, especially those of a luxury nature. 



(d) Everyone may work longer and harder. 



(c) Technical progress may increase the return in agriculture 

 industry or both. 



(d) The undeveloped resources of the tropics in food products may 

 be made more effective. 



