The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1914. COST OF LIVING AND STANDARD OF LIFE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2153, 20 May 1914, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1914. COST OF LIVING AND STANDARD OF LIFE

The discussion on the cost of living in Wellington as compared with other cities of the Dominion, which took place afc tho Central Chamber of Commerce on Monday, gave prominence to a number of points which deserve further consideration. The whole problem is a very difficult and complicated one, and it wag, of' course, only possible for the speakers to touch broadly on a few of its aspects. _ A superficial pronouncement consisting of more, or less vague generalisations would be of very little use, and. as Me. C. M. Luke remarked, if the Chamber intends to take up the matter it ought to go into it thoroughly and draw up a statement which will throw real light cm tiie subject, and provide facts ■and figures which will explain the true position as clearly and definitely a.s the nature of the ease will permit. There is no doubt a. general I impression abroad that Wellington I is a dearer place to live in than the, ■other principal centres of New Zealand, Probably there is some foun-' dation for this idea, but there is good reason _ for believing that the over-emphasis of a certain number of adverso facts has given a distorted impression of the actual state of affairs. Rents within what may be called the inner area of the, city afts in all probability higher than tho average for .New Zealand citics ? but Mb. Luke is not along in the opinion that there is little or no difference outside the mile radius. In tlie ordinary course of events, rents inay naturally be expected to have sojho influence oa prices: and yet the cost of the necessaries of life, in the various centres, according to the Labpur Journal, shows no great variations, except that Ghvistchurch and -Duncdiit have a slight, advan--tage ; If the- whole problem . were carefully and thoroughly investigated itjwquld most likely, be found that Wellington's reputation for being a very, dear place to live in, when compared with Auckland.! Christ-church, and Dunedia, has ibeott much exaggerated. That tile cost of living at the present day is much higher than it was twenty or. thirty years ago is not disputed, but in order to -arrive at a proper understanding of the. problem quite a number -of things which arc often forgotten must be- considered.- In tho ease of Wellington, for instance, Mr. C. M. Luke'drew attention to one or two of these qualifying factors. The rent; of .an eightroomed house in the saute part of Wellington would doubtless be a good deal higher to-day than thirty i years ago; but people' tiowa-davs would not be content with the- saaie' sort of dwelling as their pa-rents bad to put up with,-and they get much more in the way of fittings and conveniences!, such as gas or electric light, water supply, drainage, up-to-date ventilation, and tho like. If people pay more in rent they certainly get mare value, and would hot put up with less. The cost-'of living is certainly increasing rapidly, in Australia. Only a few days ago the Commonwealth Statistician . issued some valuable statistics giving the results of his investigations in reference to this matter. As regards house rerrt-s and prices of commodities, he states that the cost of living index number for thirty of the moreimportant towns in Australia has advanced from 9.52 for the last tjuar- , ter of 1913 to 10-09 for the three 1 months ended March 31, ISI4, which represents an increase of 1,8 per cent, The increase is said to be due to higher prices of dairy produce and meat, and-in ft lessor degree of groceries. The results for th© first quarter of 1314 show that Sydney 1 was the most expensive of the capital towns, followed by ' Adelaide- and Perth (almost equal), Melbourne, and Hobart, in the -order named? Brisbane being the cheapest. In considering tho increased cost of living, allowance- must always be made! for the- all-round improvement in the standard of life. Things which were regarded as luxuries in former days are now looked upon as necessities, and if It costs people more to live they certainly have better food and clothing, and spend more in travel, books, and amusement in various forms. No reasonable man can object to this. It is a gaod thing that 'the benefits of civilisation should be brought within the reach of -all classes, and that the, life of the- work- ; ing man should be enriched and enlarged, No class should have ft mono- i poly of the fruits of civilisation, and the general upward trend of all sections of the community is a healthy and hopeful sign. Another ail-im-portant factor is the manner in which wages and prices act and react on caefr other. This forms oiM> of the most difficult economic problems of modern times. A general increase in wages almost inevitably causes prices to go up. and tho working man is now complaining that in spite of the fact thai, lie is earning much more than ho was ten years ago he is really very little better off, because he lias to pay mora for almost everything he buys. • On the whole, however; ho has undoubtedly improved his lot, for his workisip conditions are much better than thev were: ho is better fed, clothed, and housed: and he also participates with the rest- of the community in all those publicly-owned undertakings and utilities which help to make life in a modern State io-day ' so much more comfortable and convenient than it.was fifty years a-jjo, A. ;1 after all it is possible that the general opinion as to the extent of the increase in the cost of living is overestimated. Mb. Leigh Hum remarked in the course of tho discussion on Monday that he would like .someone who had lived in Wellington

during Uw last thirty years to state ' /aether it was ever possible to get a letter shilling meal than at present. The answer was "No."