EOOD PRICES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2320, 30 November 1914, Page 7

EOOD PRICES

LABOUR JOURNAL COMPARISONS.' : The report of. prices .of cessary food " commodities in tie various centres of.. the Dominion, first published in the'latest "Labour Journal," and to be. ; continued . each month, is a good guide as to the manner in which prices may fluctuate according to. locality without any very apparent reason. As an instance one may take the first item on the list—flour. On September 30.the 251b. bag was being sold in Wellington at,4s., at Napier the price was 4s. 2id-, yet-in Wanganui it was only 3s. lOd.; at distant' WTiangarei it was 3s. 9jjd., ■ and ■at Hamilton 3s. 10d. : Oatmeal was dearest at Hamilton and Gisborne, where Is. 4sd. was charged for /lbs; Wellington came next, the price being Is. 4dT, but at Auckland only Is. Id. was.charged for 71b., and even at Rotorua, only Is. ljjd. was charged. Factory-made butter was selling in Wellington at Iβ. 2sd- per lb. In one other place only was it dearer— Napier—where it sold at Is. 3d. ■ The lowest prices were at Auckland and Wanganui,, where it was retailed "at Is. ljd. -Eggs were Iβ. 2£d. per dozen at Gisborne, and Is: 3d. (the highest prico) at Napier. Wellington's figure ivas Is. 2d. It i 3 puzzling to know how the Department came to quote tea, which is [•priced according to'quality. • Even eug'ar —issued at standard prices—varied according to location. Again the top price was charged in Napier—los. IOJd. pep 561b. bag for No. 1 and la quality. Wellington paid sd. less, and Auckland actually Is. 7jd. less. This big margin is doubtless accounted for by tho fact that tho Colonial Sugar Refining Company's works are in Auckland. Honey ranged from 6Jd. per lb. in Auckland' to Bd. in Gisbome. Thoro wa3 little difference in the price of dried fruits' from tho Levant, but prunes, strangely enough, ranged from s}d. per lb. at Auckland to at Wanganui. There is surprisingly little variation in the price of meat shown in the Department's record. At Wellington and' Dunedin rump steak was selling at 9}d. per lb., at Auckland it was lid., at Christehurch. BJd., and at Napier 9d. Electric power (not light as per the "Journal") for. cooking ia cheapest in Wellington, where only ljd. per unit is charged. In Auckland, Dunedin,' Rotorua, and Now Plymouth it is 2d., and in Waihi and Gisborne 3d. For

lighting purposes, power costs sd. per unit in Wellington and Dunedin, ssd. in .Auckland, and 6d. at" Christchnrchj Rotonia, Gisborne, and New. Plymouth, and Td. at Napier. Bread, perhaps the most important item on the list, was being sold at 4d. the 21b. loaf in the four chief centres. The only, place whore it was less, was at Wanganui, whore the charge was 3Jd. At several other places the price was 4}d. Milk was 4d. per quart every-' where.