The Dominion. MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1917. EFFICIENCY AND THE COST OF LIVING

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3168, 20 August 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1917. EFFICIENCY AND THE COST OF LIVING

PiUME Minister a few days ago that ho expected a good deal from tho appointment of the. Parliamentary Committee which is deputed to investigate and report on tho question of the Cost of Living. It may bo reasonably suspected that what Mr. Massby really expects from will be a better realisation on. tho part of its members ot the difficulties which confront those who attempt to grapple with the problem rather than any practical contribution ' from them towards the means of solving it A number, of tho members selected to act on tho committee have been amongsi those who 'have clamoured loudest _f or tho Government to step in and in some sweeping fashion cut drown prices arid enable the average Householder to live more comfortably within the restricted limits of his inoome. It will be interesting to note the measure of success which attends on tho efforts of these gentlemen to enlighten tho Govcrnmeat and tho country on the question. Tho c%t_of living, wo fear, is dependent in tho main on factors, beyond the control of tho Government. The Government can fix prices, but it cannot compel production at : those prices unless it goes a step further and confiscates property or conscripts labour, or both. Expedients of this nature, which may havo a temporary success, in the end must defeat their object by restricting supplies. The Goyernment can ; do a good deal by ■ preventing exploitation of the public by combines and trusts and by tho cornering of supplies. It can also assist by encouraging production; not by restricting it by fixing artificial I prices which discourage the pro- | ducer. In Auckland Ministers wont J a step further recently and estabi lished meat shops to force the butchers thero to reduce the prices at which they wore selling meat to the public. They propose to do the same in Christchurch. If the publio are being, unfairly exploited in these things tho ''Government will' have a safe margin to work on; if not tho public will pay, only in another way. The _ Government, it must bo borne in mind, when it enters into competition with a private individual, has this 1 initial advantage: it pays no rates or taxes, and it can cut its profits accordingly. But the rates and taxes ha,vc to bo paid by someone, and every ratepayer and taxpayer who is squeezed out of business by the Government represents a source of revenue lost to tho municipality and to tho State., That lost revenue lias to be made up from somewhere, and, it comes out of tho pockets of tho other ratepayers and taxpayers, many of whom, of course, derive no benefit from tho cheaper meat the Government soils in its shops. This, however, only by way of illustration of the difficulties which crop up when attacking tho cost of living problem even in its simplest form. .Its ramifications are far-reaohin/j, but they trace back and find root in economio principles which cannot bo ignored or brushed aside to suit the needs of tho moment.

One of tho bedrock means of coping with the problem of tho cost of living is the promotion of efficiency. . Efficiency on the farm; efficiency in tho workshop; efficiency throughout the whole of our national life. Organisation of our resources and their efficient working and development. The maximum output of production; tho minimum of wasted effort. It is particularly unfortunate, therefore, thiat at the present juncture in tho affairs of the Dominion tho country should bo,in danger of 1 losing tho services of tho ono set of people in New Zealand who have systematically set to work to organise and increase national cfliciency. Tpo cost of living is high now, owing mainly to the war, but unless we maintain production at a level at least as high as in normal times wo must face the certainty of further increases in tho cost of living. We cannot say how long tho war will last, but we do know that so long as tho war continues and for some time after the war the demand for foodstuffs will nob only bo maintained but is likely to grow greater. With that increasing demand prices may bo, expected to increase—they certainly will not fall. And what would bo tho position in Now Zealand if in addition to tho demand which exists in the markets abroad for our foodstuffs our production were to fall off materially? It is obvious that the cost of living would rise at least proportionately. AVe must export foodstuffs to pay our way- And at ' this time the Government manages to get into disagreement with the one body_ that has been, and is still, systematically investigating and planning to promote national efficiency. Tho Government sets up a Parliamentary Committee to wiisfe its time, in a sfiiirch for quack nostrums to reduce, tho cost of living, covering ground already, covered hy Iho Board of

Trade; and placidly permits tho country to suffer the risk of losing the services of the National Efficiency Board. Apparently the Efficiency Board • wants to get things done while the Government wants to play the game of "wait and see."" lhe Government is governed by political considerations and questions cf expediency, while tho Efficiency Board is prompted by no other consideration than the promotion of that state of national efficiency which will enable production to bo maintained in spite of tho dislocation of war, and the resources of the country to bo- turned to the best possible- advantage for the conduct of tho war and for the well-being of the community. The Efficiency Board is not iufallible, but it is composed of men of proved capacity; men accustomed to successfully handle largos affairs; men trained in business organisation; men of broad outlook and of tho highest public spirit, who have made great personal sacrifices and given their services gratuitously ungrudgingly to their country in its hour of trial. The labours of tho board have already proved of great value to the Dominion; Mn. E. NfewMAN in the Houso of Representatives on Friday evening bore .testimony, to the excellent results cf its organising work in the country districts, and now it seems that a "wait and sco" policy on the part of the Government is going to cost the Dominion tho loss of its services. Ministers cannot expect that men of the calibre of the members of tho National Efficiency Board arc going to waste their time month after mo'nth investigating, planning, anil organising for the country's oenoSt to find in the end a largo proportion of their reports and recommendations pigeon-holed or laid aside indefinitely for further consideration or politely rejected by a National Government that treads timidly far in tho rear of public opinion. . Efficiency, production, and tho cost of living are closely allied, and in view of difficulties which lie ahead it -might have been expected that the Government would have strained every endeavour to retain for the country the services of the present .Efficiency Board. It is tho country's loss 1 , and a serious one, if the board declines to continue to carry on tho work it has sw ably begun.