THE COST OF LIVING.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2747, 15 April 1916, Page 12

THE COST OF LIVING.

Sir, —I notice that the "Railway Review" has been' reviewing iu anything but friendly fashion, the comparative figures handed to the Press a few weeks ago in connection, with the cost of liv-ing-controversy, in which, as a wageearner, I have always, taken a pretty keen interest, , especially when 1 I find the weekly bread,meat, milk, and grocery Dills mounting..up. liut recognising unit it- is war time, and that we cannot expect to escape the burdens of the increased cost of living, I and, my wife have' agreed to. cheerfully accept the position until such time as the'war clouds are dispersed, and the evil days upon whicl\ we have entered have ended. There are some things we should like t-o see rectified. For instance, milk at sixpence a quart in a country so given over, to dairying as New Zealand, ought.not to be; nor, with wheat selling at 45., 9d. per bushel in the south, should we have .to pay so much tor flour, nor. should bread remain at 4Jd. per loaf. There is room for improvement in each and all of these tilings, which should be selling - at cheaper 'rates. But when that is said and" admitted, I for one am thankful to think that, at a time of crisis such as this, it is my lot to be living in New Zealand, where from all I can gather by reading the Home and Australian papers that reach nle from time to time, tho conditions of living, including its cost, are better and more reasonable than in any other part of the Empire.. Mr. Massey's figures, which wore based upon tables furnished by tile Government Statistician, and upon similar tables prepared by tho Commonwealth Government, instituted comparisons into the relative purchasing power of the sovereign iu Australia and flew. Zealand, arid showed that the decline in value was greater in the former country than here. The "Railway Review" makes the , mistitlfe of comparing January prices l hero and in Australia, and says they also formed the basis of Mr. Massey's figures. But Mr. Massey's comparison was made as between tho year 1913 down to the quarter ending September 30, 1915. I tool: tho trouble to look the figures up, and 1 find' there is no getting. away from tho fact that, while tire fall in the purchasing power of the sovereign is only 2s. Ocl. in New Zealand, as a result of the increased cost of living, it is ss. 103 d. in Australia. The "Review" admits as much, but thou it holds tho drought responsible for the Australian slump. As for that, Sir. I believe I am right in saying that, all through the piece, more "price-fixing" has _ been done in New' South AValos than in any other of the Commonwealth States, and yet I saw a statement in an Australian paper the other day that the in-, •n-ease in cost of living had been greater in New South Wales than olsowliore— 40.6 per cent, in Sydney, as against 37.7 per cent, in Melbourne, 32.5 per <;ent. in Adelaide, 29.0 _ per cent, in Tlobart, 25.5 per cent, in Perth, and ■20.8 per cent, in Brisbane. Tho "Rail, way Review" critic evidently sees $omot.liing very- exhilarating in the pricefixing craze,'but it-does not seem'to have worked out very well in New South AVales, and I know that wlipn <he Labour Government began tho game there they seized all tho wheat stocks, and , only paid tho farmers ss. per bushel for their crop, when they could Wo got from os. 6d. to 7s. Gd. per bushel for the wheat in the neighbouring States. And then the Government that did this, when it made a bad wheat - deal outside the country, put up the price of broad all over New •South Wales one penny tho two pound loaf, and later on raised the price of sugar (or was it the Commonwealth Government that did that?) by one penny per pound, and tho price of butter to Is.' Bd., to cover the losses it made on a butter deal. And now they tell me that the State bakery there is causing' discontent amongst the men employed in the trade, and that if Mr. Hall persists in his scheme to nationalise tho industry it will mean that mora than half the- journeyman and carters, eng'aeed ia the trade will, find

their occupations gone. If the "Railway Review" man is so enamoured of New South Wales price-fixing methods, why doesn't he go there? 1 don't suppose lie would bo missed. I am, otc NO ' GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE.