§ COLONEL HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why, in the Return [C. 6967] just presented showing the price per pound avoirdupois of articles of domestic consumption in the principal cities of Europe, no statement appears as to London, and the price of only the best quality of white household bread in Paris is quoted, while the price of second and third quality is left blank; if he is aware that the official price of the best bread in Paris was 6.8d. for 4 lbs. 6 oz. in the latter half of August, 1892, and 6.5d. in March, 1893, whereas second 1312 quality was 6.3d. for the two kilos, and 4.8d. for third quality instead of 2d. to 2¼d. x 4 3/7d. for a quartern loaf, as quoted the Return; and to what cause this discrepancy is due?
§ * THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GREY,) Northumberland, BerwickThe Return was intended to deal with white household bread of medium quality in some foreign cities; but the Return sent from Florence gave three qualities, and, in order to allow room for inserting the three figures from Florence, blank spaces had to be left in the Returns from other places. A reference to the Parliamentary Paper Commercial No. 1, 1888, shows that the price of bread varies widely from one quarter of Paris to another, and that the official price is not binding on the bakers and is often lower than the price at which the bakers sell; this may account for the discrepancy.