THE COST OF LIVING

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2389, 19 February 1915, Page 7

THE COST OF LIVING

\ HERE AND ELSEWHERE WHAT IS BEING DONE > ('Contributed.) Do those very good people—politicians, journalists, and others—who are troubling themselves so much over' the increased :cost of living,' ever approach , the I 'subject; from the outsider's view- . point? . Wo know, unfortunately, that there has been a very considerable ap- , preciation in the prices of practically k .all classes of foodstuffs, and that, in .some -cases, an. unfair .advantage has 2jeen taken by - the holders of stocks to . augment their profits at the . expense orthe consumer. But there is no evi- ■" dence that this has been.generally done. Untoward circumstances have combined to.deplete our wheat stocks. For tiro years in succession the crops have fallen .. . shoit' of requirements by fully ,a. million bushels,-and the new harvest, is not: likely tir yield anything like last gear's crop. To/meet urgent require- ' merits- the Government had to arrange for large importations W flour and j vheat, - and to_ suspend the duties on both' commodities. ■ ... * ; Unfortunately, the importations have j had to be made at a. time when there • is a world shortage of wheat, and a . great war' is in progress that threatens to still further restriot the nest . liar vest. Wheat landed in this country is said to have, cost the Government : oyer 65,) per bushel; but, to relieve the housewife's pocket, it is being sold at ss. 9d. >to tlie millers,' on the: understanding_ that the. price _ of flour is regulated in accordance with the/cheaper rate at which the wheat is sold to the mills. But. have any'of the critics given the Government credit ' for its action in this respect? And how many of them have explained to the audiences the;p address, or to those who read the criticisms they pen so disinterestedly "for tlie public benefit," through the Press, that the price of _ bread in New Zealand to-day is no more than it is In Melbourne, »where ,the Commonwealth Labour Government has its headquar--ters, : and where the Food Prices Commission; fixes the retail'selling price of r the necessaries of life. People do not always'read the papers, and it probi ably has escaped.the notice of many city people, even, that a Melbourne -cable-' fira-ra published the other day stated , r tlint tho price of bread in' that- city had been fixed at 4Jd- per 21b. loafywith- ,, in the city limits, and at od.i m tho suburban area. With meat again, *• 'Australian ■' price . lists' show that, ■ : n .some cases, New Zealanders are paying less for'. their joints than the residents of the presumably more favoured Commonwealth, wfiere Governments like that of Now South Wales ha7e developed the .habit of ' 'commandeering" supplies. A handy little Pocket Compendium of Statistics is issued by .the Commonwealth Statistician, Mr G. H. Kmbbs, C.M.G., the latest number-of which is newly to .hand. It contains, amongst others, tables covering the "Average Predominant Prices in State Capital Uowns from July to September, 1914." The quotations, thu6. early in the war, are certainly no lower than those of • similar commodities in-New Zealand; in some cases they are appreciably higher. Take Ham for example'.. Tbe Sydney quotation, which is' • the cheapest, is 13. Melbourne, 14Jd., Adelaide, Brisbane, - and Hobart. quotations are all 14Jd., and Perth tops the list with 15 Jd. Beef prices range from 4d. for shin and 4Jd. and for ilank, up to ssd. for rib and and 7d. for sirloin in Melbourne and Sydney, while , Bd. ds paid for the best joints in Perth.- llump steak ranges from 9sd. up to lljd., and ; so on. : Mutton, sells at correspondingly V high, rates,'and a comparison of leading grocery lines, with Wellington rates is, if : anything, to ( the advantage of this country. A more in'striictive table still gives ] the relative purchasing -power of , as oontrasted with that of 1901, when the Commonwealth came into beingjrand ■ is very suggestive of the great increase that has taken place in, the cost of living' during the last' fourteen-years. The calculations are based on "the amounts necessary on the average to. purchase in Capital Towns what would have'cost oii the average £1 in 1911 in the'capi- , tals as a-whole." In the case of Sydney, 17s. lOd. would have sufficed «i 1901 to purchase what cost £1 in 1911 and 245. 2d. in 1914, the calculation for the last year being made on the mean for the nine months ended' September • 30. The purchasing power of the sovereign in Sydney has thus decreased by . 6s. 4d. since 1901, and (under a Labour Government) by 4a. 2d. since 1911. For Melbourne, the figures are 17s. sd. and 225-. Id., the decreased purchasing power of:the sovereign being thus 4s. Bd., aa against.fis. 4d. iii Sydney. In Brisbane, 19s. 10d. suffices to purchase goods that y would have cost £1 in 1911, but the purchasing power of the sovereign is still less than it was in 1901, when 169, sd. would have oovered the cost of the 1911 purchases. As a coincidence it is" worth-noting that : Liberal, and not Labour Governments, have teen in power both in Victoria and ' Queensland since 1911, while New South Wales has been experiencing the somewhat doubtful benefit of having a Labour Ministry at the head of her affairs. '

It is perhaps unfortunate that the same opportunities for, comparison are not. open to ub -in New ; Zealand, as, ■while the purchasing power of money has certainly diminshed, there is every. reason to believe that'we are not nearly as badly off as New South Wales in this respect, and probably we lave not .'drifted bo much to leeward as Victoria. Enough has, however, been'advanced to show that, if prices are high here, we ■ aro certainly no worse off'than our Aus- ' tralian cousins, and, in some respects, ire still maintain the advantage. The fact is that-all through the; world, prices hare , been going lip with the increased demand for bread, and. foodstuffs, and that, while tho war lasts, we cannot reasonably look for much relief. After all, the sacrifices we are called upon to make during this time of unparalleled crisis and danger, are nothing- like so great as those our kins,mcn at Home, and on the battlefields of Europe, are' cheerfully undertaking for the : sake of the Empire. "Wo should do better to squeal less, and work more for the common weal by emulating their example.