In butter, bacon, potatoes, &c., and beer, I could hear of no changes, except that bacon might be a trifle cheaper, but instead of a good quality selling better, although cheaper, there was a demand for an inferior sort.
In the foregoing table the weekly consumption of several necessaries is given, but it is not to be understood that one man consumes them all in a week; they are what may generally be consumed when such things are in demand by the poor, one week after another, or one day after another, forming an aggregate of weeks.
Thus, Free Trade and cheap provisions are an unquestionable benefit, if unaffected by drawbacks, to the labouring poor.
The above statement refers only to a fully employed hand.
The following table gives the change since Free Trade in the earnings of casual hands, and relates to the past and the present expenditure of a scavager. The man, who was formerly a house painter, said he could bring me 50 men similarly circumstanced to himself.
| In 1845, per Week. | In 1851, per Week. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s. | d. | s. | d. | ||
| Rent | 1 | 4 | Rent | 1 | 8 |
| 5 loaves | 2 | 11 | 4 loaves | 2 | 0 |
| Butter | 0 | 5 | Butter | 0 | 5 |
| Tea | 0 | 6 | Tea | 0 | 5 |
| Meat (3 lbs.) | 1 | 6 | Meat (3 lbs.) | 1 | 0 |
| Potatoes | 0 | 3 | Potatoes | 0 | 2 |
| Beer (a pot) | 0 | 4 | Beer (a pint) | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||
Here, then, we find a positive saving in the expenditure of 1s. 5d. per week in this man’s wages, since the cheapening of food.
His earnings, however, tell a different story.
| 1845. | 1851. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| s. | d. | s. | d. | |
| Earnings of 6 days | 15 | 0 | ||
| Ditto 3 days | 7 | 6 | ||
| Weekly Income | 15 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| Expenditure | 7 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Difference | 7 | 9 | 1 | 8 |