Government called on to regulate rising wartime prices

London, 4 February 1915 - The War Emergency Workers’ National Committee met today at the House of Commons in London and passed a resolution calling on the government to take immediate action to control supplies, to regulate prices and to prevent working people being exploited during the war.

Confidential RIC report on Co. Roscommon for January 1915. It states: ‘Prices for all farm stock and produce are high and farmers are doing well. Flour and fuel have increased in price and the poorer classes feel this very much.’ Click to view in full. (Image: National Archives UK, CO 904/96)

A further resolution protested against the attempts by mine-owners and factory owners to have the Eight Hours Act suspended, and at the fact that the wages paid to miners continue to decline. The motions come as protests across Dublin and the west of Ireland continue at the steady rise in prices and its impact on working people.

The Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, is expected to make a statement on these issues in the coming week.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]