Captain BAG LEYasked the President of the Board of Trade what would be the approximate value at pre-war prices of the quantities of the following commodities, respectively, purchasable to-day for £100 at any popular retail store: boots, clothing, cotton-piece goods, woollen underwear, furniture, domestic hardware, glass, and chinaware?
1403W
§ Sir R. HORNEI have been asked to reply to this question. Owing to the changes in quality which have been made during the War and to the wide variations in the extent to which different articles and different qualities of the same article have been affected by price changes, it is not possible to give precise particulars. The available information, however, indicates that, taking the qualities generally bought by working-class and lower-middle-class families, the pre-war values of the quantities now purchasable for £100 would be approximately as follows: Boots, £30 to £35; men's suits, £35 to £40; cotton piece-goods, £25 to £35; woollen underwear, £25 to £30. I am unable to give corresponding figures for furniture, domestic hardware, glass, and chinaware.