COST OF LIVING.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 873, 20 July 1910, Page 6

COST OF LIVING.

GOVERNMENT REPORTS A DECLINE. , A very exhaustive inquiry has been mads (states the annual report of tho Labour Department) into the question of the reuts of houses occupied by workers in the four chief centres of the Dominion.' This report is now being prepared, and will bo submitted whilst Parliament is sitting. From information supplied to the Department there is undoubted proof that \ during the year just ended the cost of commodities in general use, and even house rents, wore somewhat cheaper than for several years past. There has been a decline of from 5 to 10 j?er cent, in the rents of houses in Wellington City, and, although the drop was "not a general one, still the evidence before the Department shows that there was a widespread disposition on the part of landlords in most centres—with perhaps the sole exception of Auckland— to _ reduce rents. Exactly how long this state of affairs wjll last it is difficult to say.

In regard to commodities, there waa a very decided drop in the price of meat, which bad maintained an even price for 17 years. This drop was experienced right throughout the Dominion, and the result is that meat can be purchased at a cheaper rate than for many yeara past. Other foodstuffs bavo also generally been lower in price than daring the previous fire years. Potatoes, bread, and eggs have been generally cheaper than in previous years; butter, flour, and oatmeal have remained much the same as during past years, and/have been subject to the usual variations in price during the twelve months. However, taken all round, fruit, meat, breadstuffs, and rente have shown an appreciable decline over the prices ruling during the last few years.