COST OF LIVING.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1484, 5 July 1912, Page 2

COST OF LIVING.

COMPANIES ASSAILED. WEST COAST STEAM TRADE. UNION COMPANY. OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST. The Eoynl Commission, appointed to inquire into.tho cost of living in Now Zealand, continued its Wellington sitting yesterday. Mr. E. Tregear presided. SHIPPING AGENT.

STEAM COMPANIES ATTACKED. Fergus Ferguson Munro, shipping agent at Wcstport, was the first witness taken. iAfr. Munro stated that ho could givo some information as to what .extent monopolies, combines, trusts, and other associations of. manufacturers or sellers of tho necessaries of life had contributed to n rise in prices. Hβ said that he could speak most accurately on the coal trade, which ho had been a long time trying to bo associated with, and ofton ihuricd the right of participation in it. Wastport, of course, was tho principal port for bituminous coal supplies, and tho transport of the- coal from Westport was in the hands of a splendid monopoly. The coastal shipping companies in Now Zealand—mainly tho Union Company, the Maoriland Company, the Anchor Company—wero tho principal oompanies distributing coal, nnd they had arranged to got tho carrying, each of a specific portion. Thus, tho frco trade as regarded competition for freights was practically concentrated in their hands, nnd thus the public were deprived of tho benefit of competition. Tho real crni of the matter was that one could not buy coal for coastwise distribution in New Zealand. Apart from the fact that coal entered largely iuito the cost of items necessary for living, the seizing of this trade by a monopoly had a further farroaejuug effect, it wns the key whereby outside owners, or independent shippers, could enter into the general trade on tho coast of the Dominion. It really brought about a monopoly on tho interchange of all productions required for the South Island from the North Island, and rice versa. It especially increased tlio cost of living in tho colliery districts. The control of the coa-1 carried with it the control of inward freights to coal ports, which wero mainly food-stuffs for tho inhabitants. In his opinion and experience, that portion of the Dominion paid from 30 per cent. to. dO per cent, more in freight than it should do under a legitimate free trade. It also had tho effect, of making tho cost of travel to residents in those parts absolutely excessive.

Union Company and Passenger Rates, The passenger traffic was concentrated in the Union Company. Tho rest wero only freighters, and tho Union Company were able to charie exorbitant rates. A year or two ngo ho had travelled from Napier to Wellington for X'l, hut paid £2 from Wellington to Wcstport, although the distances were about tho same. The Wret Coast people seemed io bo charged about 100 per cent, moro for travelling thnn they should be. On one occasion about five years ago the Navy was much in tho same box with regard to (lie supply of coal as tho New Zealand people are. The Navy on the Australian Station decided to draw thoir coal from New Zealand, and they wero promptly accommodated on a c.i.l. basis (c.i.f. Australia), and this included freight by tho Union Company. He had got them a f.o.b. price Wcstport, and allowed anybody who could to provide freight from Westport to Australia. Tho Navy accepted that suggestion, and, ho understood, made a very considoraMo saving. If tho same conditions were obtained for tho New Zealand people thero would bo n considerable saving on tho fuel bills for domestic and manufacturing purposes. Tho port charges at Westport wero among the lowest in tho 'Empire—one penny per ton on tho register. That was the charge paid by the ships for tho uso of the port. Of course, the object was to give freedom of trade, especially in a raw product like conl. The coastal trade was practically exempt from pilotage, except with foreign steamers. That penny charge, therefore, covered every charge to tho ship, and was one of the sources of revenue to tho Harbour Board; but tho main somee was a royalty of Gd por ton on all coal. Ho did not think that that charge was paid on Stato coal. Certain shipping companies were unduly favoured by low charges, but the revenue of the Harbour Board came from various sources; they had an endowment of all coal-fields, also of all railroads to port, and they charged 2s. Cd. per ton from bins to ship's side for Granity, 2s. Gd. for Stockton, 3s. Cd. for State, 2s. for Waimangaroa. Not Certain of His Figures. Ho would not be certain that thoso figures were absolutely exact. There was a big profit on haulage, but that wiu required for the development and maintenance of tho harbour, but, legitimately, thoso charges should "group" to this monopoly, moro especially because it was a monopoly: In his opinion "tho monopoly" escaped from about .£BOOO to ,£IO,OOO por yeiu- in port charges. The equivalent in revenue being required by tho port, tho coal had to bear the burden. "The Whole Thing is Kept Secret." A commissioner: What is the freight from Wcstport to Wellington? Mr. Munro: Five shillings per ton, 1 think. The whole transaction is kept secret, though, so you don't know what are the charges between the different ports. We don't really know that it is os., but I have figured that it could bo got for 3s. 6d. on chartered steamers if we could get the coal to carry. A commissioner: What is tlie freight from Wostport to Greymouth? Mr. Munro: That is another of tho uystories. I can't give any figures, really, of my own knowledge. Tho coal mines, continued Mr. Munro, wore bound to the Union Company, and none of them (including tho Stale).would quote f.o.b. The Westport Chamber of Commerce had written to the coal companies and the State mine, asking if the chamber chartered a vessel, it could got coal to carry at current rates of freight, but that right could not bogot. Ho had ' tried to ship coal, and had been told by tho Wcstport Coal Company that ho could got no more coal, as ho would send it to places where tho company had agents, and would thus disorganise thoir local trade. Ho hart only wanted to load back, nnd mako his profit on shipping into Westport. Ho had frequently had vessel's offered bo him at Us. per ton from Lyttclton to AVellington, provided they could get back loading, but tho offers always had to be refused. Jfr. Fairbairn: What effect hns tho monopoly on tho general trade of WestMr. Munro repliod that while Wcstport was a port of very considerable importance, tho town had not risen above a mere , depot. With freedom of trado it would be a place of about 15,000 inhabitants. He n-ns sure the people paid more by way ■ of excessive freights to the shipping combine than they paid into the borough coffers iu rate*.

"Into the Hands of the Combine," He had once, being compelled to get coal for business, promoted tlio idea of startin? another colliery. The result was that tlio Stockton mine hnd been started, but no sooner hnd it been started than it liad fallen into the hands of the combine, iinil (ill the promoters' efforts had bfcn for nothing. The- j)i.inn{;er of (he Napier (in; WorkrOiiiil told Mr. Munro that, ho had chartered a ve«cl to brin<; coal from Newcastle tit 2s. fid. per I™ less than ho had bnen able to pet it from AV«s.tport, and when tho steamer had arrived, the vessel hnd turned out to be noni> other thniii ft Union Company stoainer—fho Komona. The effect of tho monopoly wns to retard the davelopmeut of Wcstport, and increase tho cost p( liviii; tbnr*. Hwardlne tin general U'wle of the Doniuuon, tlie

only vulnerable point at which to get at Ihu monopoly way tlio coal business and that was why every nrw i-hipping company was bound not to enruningo tho silo of coal f.o.b. Sines the cessation of open trading, the. pricu of potatoes had risen i'rom ss. per tack to between Ms. and J;l ]>er sack. FURNITURE UNION. Daniel Moriariy, furniture trades' secretary, who had served 15 year.s at cabinetmaking, stated that fifteen years ago tho maximum wage was (in. per day lor a week of •Iβ hours. To-day, with a week of 41 hours, the wage wns Is. 4'd. par hour. Tho witness had road tho newspaper reports of tho evidence given by furniture makers in tho various centres, and he- agreed with them all, except Mr. Tonson, of Auckland, whoso statement ho was prepared to absolutely contradict. lients were the chief eauso of the increase in tho cost of living in Wellington. Ono ' of the members of lii.s union had kept records which showed that without extravagance it cost him .£3 per week to live. Workers who wanted u homo of their own had to go to tho suburbs, and if the tram fares were increased, as it was now suggested they should be, Mio man effected would be the worker. Mr. Tregcar: We have not reached that stage yet. Mr. Moriarly: I hope, for (he sako of thij worker, that wo never do. Mr. Moriarty continuing, stated that tho same amount of work wns done now in H hours as ii>ed to bo done in 48 hours. The majority of men coming from the Old Country could not compotewith tho N-cw Zealand workers in tho quantity of work turned out. TOBACCO, ETC, Goo. Leslie Fulton, a partner in tho firm of Brewer Fulton and . Co., commenced his evidence as follows-.— "Sinco wo have been in business we ho'vo found that an association of tho largest merchants control many of the everyday lines of general groceries, and unless we joined this association, and ad--■u-red to their selling prices, wo could not get supplies. Every year their strength is growing, owing to tho fact that they are securing control of inoro lines, and unless steps are taken to prevent the monopoly of this association, in a very short time tho public will be paying any prices they demand, and they would prevent any new linn starting iii business without their consent. This would, of course, eliminate any competition in general merchandise. The incicased cost of living is undoubtedly due, in a measure, to such combines and associations. To substantiate this statement we should like to mention (ho following lints, which we arc unable to handle." Their first trouble, he said, had commenced with tobacco. They had been ablo to got tobacco from Joseph Nathan ami Co. on condition that they signed an agreement to adhere strictly to their tariff. They had had to sign in order to get any supplies at nil. After a while they wero cut off. Mr. Tregear: What was the offence you had committed?

Mr. Pulton: ,Wo don't know. We were given notice that sub-distributors were to be cut off, and wo wero put under that head. The name of tho tobacco trust, raid Mr. Fulton, was the British Empire Trading Company. His firm once' gave them an order for about ,£IBO worth of tobacco, and tho reply they got was that tho Trading Company wn.s "not at present opening any now accounts." Mr. 1 ulton s firm had replied that they were prepared to send cash with tho order, but this letter was ignored. A Buffer Anecdote. Their next tronblo was with the Edmonds Baking Powder pooplo, with whom they had to sign an agreement as to tariff. Uwing to a clerical error they had jot someone have a small quantity of I'.dmomks baking powder at throe pcDco loss than the (arid rate. This had been reported by Lnery and Co., of the Merchants Association, with tho result that Jidmomls had refused witness's firm supplies. His firm had asked a Kaiapoi firm tor a quotation for corn brooms. The Wellington agent of tho Kaiapoi firm had telephoned him to say that if his firm joined tho Merchants' Association they would get an additional 10 per cent, discount. Similar dif£l V ?t-° experienced with two brands of New Zenhmd starch. There was no agreement between-the wholesalers and tho retailers in Wellington. Thero jyas.no grocers' combine in Wellington, but some grocers clubbed together in order to try to get some advantage, but the merchants met that by rofusiV to soil big quantities. Regarding butter,°o WaiIcanao man had asked his firm to get him a small quantity of "DeG.-inro" butter lie had rung up Nathan's and asked for live boxes, and Nathan's, whoso practice it was not to givo moro than the usual quantity to retailers/ had insisted on Knowing for whom the butter was wanted / Ho had answered that it was to so to a shipping company, and next day tho Afric-nn Shipping Company and tho New /■oaJand Shipping Company had telephoned to know what Brewer, Fulton, and Company meant by saying that; they wero supplying thes-' shipping companies with butter. Apparently (he merchants had told these companies that if they bought butter from witness's firm, tho merchants would not ship through Hiofo shipping companies. Tho members of the Wellington Merchants' Association wore: Levin nnd Co., Ltd.; Ailken, Wilson and Co.; Johnston and Co, Ltd.; Joseph Nathan and Co.. Ltd.; W. M. liannntyne and Co., Ltd.; Ellis and Mantnn; Thompson Bros., Ltd.; A. S. Pntcrson nnd Co.; Lnery and Co., Ltd.; Bimnatyno and Hunter'; W. and Q. Turnbull and Co.; nnd Goorgo Thomas and Co.

LABOUR OFFICER. Denis Carmody (Inspector of Awards) gnvo evidence that ho nad dono considerable work at investigating Iho conditions under which agricultural labourers lived. The worst accommodation for shearers which had come under his notice was in tho Poverty Bay district. Generally speaking, conditions for farm labourers were best in Canterbury. STATE BUTTER EXPERT. David Cnddie (Director of Dairv Produce in tho Stato Agricultural Department) gavo evidence. He stated that ho had had hiouty-fivo years' experience of dairying. The industry had increased enormously in New Zealand, especially in the last ten years. Jlo had'no knowledge of attempts to "control" butter, and no knowledge of combinations to restrict trade. The quality of butter had improved considerably, owing to tho Department's supervision, to better equipment, better makers, and better methods. Dairying load had increased enormously in value—in soino ca£cs from £h to ,£3O pes- acre. The consumption of dairy produce was increasing faster than the production was. Taking them on the wbole, New Zealand cattle were healthier than tho oattlc- of any other country. ,Tho abseuco of housing in New Zealand was ono of tho reasons for that. There was ■ no channel through which he could arrive at the proportion of dairy produce which wns exported.

Ml , . Fairbnirn said that tho Commission had been told Mint pnmo butter only weighed- 15oz. instead of lib. Mr. Cuddio: That comes under the control of thopp wlio administer the- Sale of Food'and Drugs Aof. In reply to questions by Mr. Troßonr, Mr. Onddie said that some of (lie very best butters which were sold in Wellington ivero over-salted, but n chock ne.ninst this wive Hint Hie public would not buy butler which did not suit tlieir taste. They had hnd no definite complaints to ■the. effect Hint short-weight biilter was being sold in Wellingon. About 1000 tons of buffer hod been sentto Vancouver Inst yonv. It hnd realisM USd. to 13§d. per pound f.o.b. hero. ■ Tlio cnrrini?p was Ift. per pound, and the preferential duty 2ft. par lb. Mr. if'DoiitiUl: Would it affect flio industry if the duty was taken off bulterP .Mr. CmkUe: It is ft generally-accepted nrinoiplo in a producing country that you havo to protect the proclncer. Mr. M'Donnld: But xro ore more than a producer. Wo report. Mr. Cmlilio: Well, I don't ennpo.=o it would iiinlte !i (.'i-pnt deal of difference. Dr. Highl: l'nt it this wnv. Does Ihe Australian producer drive the Now Zo;iJiiiul producer nlf the market? Mr. CiiHdie: No. Dr. ITidJif: \Xr\\, (lieu, (here is not. much fr-ar of his drivinpr him off the Now Zen land innrfcet? Mr. Cuddie: Xo. MERCHANT A MR. TREGEAR. __ Herbert Gladstone Hill, managing dlrsntor of nill unci Bivtau, LM.. bu»fr uroducQ iflsrchftnta, dctlarea tint thercJ

possible to control butter prices by means oi a combine, lu tho Inst live years, in \Voliingion, merchants hail niailu no proiit our of local bubinets by iUelf. I'ho average- consumption oi butter was half a pound per week for every person—2lb. pur wcolc i'or every family, which on nn uveragn contained lour members. Tho Wellington merchants had lost 1.025 per )b. nn butter by selling hero instead of shipping, which represented .(M7UO.

Mr. 'J'rogear: 1 am astonished at how the trade is conducted here. Mr. Fernandos luld us he paid more for lish than ho add it for, and now you como hero and say this. Mr. Jlill paid that ho was on his oath, and was giving tho facts. Mr. Tregcar: Then, in the- future, wo will only to ablo to get it by your sacrifice? Mr. Hill: Oh, no. I suggest that you will bo ablo to get it by paying for it. Mr. Trogear: Yes; but it is difficult for a plain man to understand why you buy butter to sell it for less.

Mr. Hill: Well, I tako it 1 am on oath, and that my word is not being disputed. 11 r. Trogear: I am not disputing your word, but it seems that in the future wo will still further have to sacrifice tho merchants to get butter. Mr. M'Bonald: Can you explain why s"ou remain in tho business?

* Mr. Hill said that they wero hoping for better times.

Mr. Hill said that he resented tlio imputation of a previous witness that a largo percentage, of water wns included in butler, whereupon Mr. Tregear remarked that, even if it was so, the result would benefit the sellers, as, on Mr. Hill's own assertion, the less butter they sold tho less money they lost. Mr. Hill added thai they had nevei dictated prices, or restricted supplies. BUTCHER AND BAKER. David Pressly Matthews, master butcher, Wellington, carrying on business as tlio Wairarapa Bntclicry Co., said that there had been a. slight rise in the price of meat in the last lew years. The price had fluctuated. He thought ho was the only butchor in Wellington who was outside- the association. In most joints his prices wore- ono penny per pound less than tho other butchers. Tho object of tho association was to keep up the price of meat. WalU'r Abraham Kollow, master baker, quoted figures to show that bread wils :i!d. pur 21b. loaf in 1903, was now 35(1., aiitl that in the interim it had never been higher than Id. nor lower than 3d. There was a Master Bakers' Association, but it did not attempt to control prices. UNABLE TO ATTEND. Mr. A. Blair attended and apologised for Mr. G. H. Scales, who had becu unable to comply with a request to give evidence on account of his having Bailed for England that day. However, if questions wore posted to Mr. Scales right away, ho would answer them from Suva, and tho Commission would got tho replies in about two weeks' time. GAS RATES.

William Ferguson, managing director of the Wellington Ga.s Company, 6taled that the Gas Company mado about 800,000,000 feet of gas last' year. The charge (with discount) was ss. 5(1. per thousand; In IS9I- the price was 7s. Gel., and in IS9G Gs. 3d. The averiigo cost of coal in 1901 was Ms. lid. per ton; in IDOG, lGs. lid.; and in 1911, 18s. 4il. delivered to tho works. As from April 7 this year there would be Gd. per ion extra to nay to the Wcstport Coal Company, and ho was told that there would lio a further increase, next April. For gas engine.?, and for manufacturing, nnd for big customers, like the Harbour Board, rales wore clioapor. Tho cheapest rate was Is. 7d. Wages had increoscd. Ten years ago they had paid leading stokers Gas., in 1011, 7.X 6d.; ordinary workers, GOs. and GSs. 6i!.; labourers, 455. and -18s.; and carters, 455. nnd 4Ss. As to-the cost of living genoixilly, he had been hero since 1881, nnd was certain that thero had been a material increase, in the fame scale of living and entertainment. Subscriptions and numerous things were ono of tho reasons of tho incrcaso to men in his position.

FRUIT ONCE MORE, 11. J. Simpson, fruiterer, Kilbirnie, stated that it was incorrect of Mr. Boucher (State fruit expert) to say that fruit bought at Bs. per caso was sold at Gd. per lb.; 4d. per 11). was a moro correct figure. The. fruit market was not free and open. Tho price was fixed by a ring of five merchants—Laery mid Co,. Griffiths and Co., Geo. Thomas and Co., Thompson Bros., and Townsend and Paul. Before ever certain fruits landed hore a reserve price was fixed. Hβ had wen correspondence from tho shippers to the merchants saying that tho snippers expected to reflliso a cortnin price. "As a matter of fact," commenced tho witness, "tlio shopkeeper loses Is. per case on "

Tho chairman (laughingly): Oh, tho fruiterers are being sacrificed too. Jhe Commission will resume at 10 o'clock this morning.