COST OF LIVING

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 31, 31 October 1918, Page 5

COST OF LIVING

THE LABOUR MANIFESTO BOARD OF TRADE IN REPLY COAL AND GROCERIES In a memorandum forwarded to the Prime Minister, the secretary of the Board of Trade replies to -some of the points raised in a report ieued by Wellington Labour organisations on the cost of living. "Some of the points raised in.the report are outside the province of the Doard of Trade,", says the memorandum, "but dealing with the paragraph headed ■'Paying the Piper' and relating to the oost of carriage iOf coal, I have to point ont' that the board ie at'present engaged, at tho request of the Government, in making a full inquiry into the coal-

mining industry in all its phases, and the order of reference covers tho cost of production and distribution of coal from the mine to the consuiner'e coaltiin. The question of freight charges is necessarily included in the inquiry. "fiespecting the report of the Cost of Living Commission in 1912, in regard to the existence and operations <i the Merchants' Association of New Zealand, the hoard found thatvthis association censed to exist consequent upon the judgment given in the case ninder the Commercial Trusts Ac.t-the , King versus the Her- .' chants' Association,- iho Colonial Sugar Company, Levin nnd Co., and others, No-vember-December, 1912, "As to the .list of commodities quoted • in the report the bonrd finds that these are mainly imported goods, snch us Van Houten's p.nd Pry's cocoa, patent groats, Oakey's knife polish, Coleman's and DurTiam mustard, C. and B. anchovy essence .and curry powder, and Lea and Perrin 8 and HolbrooYs sauces. It is somewhat surprising," , in the board's opinion, that articles such as these, having'little bearing on the cost of living Question, should lore been selected, because it must be ' patent to everyone that Onkey's knife polish, for instance, C. and B. anchovy essence, and sauces, and Durham mustard would not loom'very large, su.rely, in the annual expenditure .of the housewife. The prices of these goods are said to be wholesale. If eo, it. would appear that the dearest articles of the kind had ken selected. If the wholesale prices of tho articles controlled by~ the Board of Trade had been ..selected, the prices would have compared as follow;— : i Maximum price allowed Committee's by Board ' -price. of Trade'. £ s. d. . £ s. d. Candles 0 1 1 0 011 ' Worcester' sauce.'., fl'l7 6 0 5 6 Conon \> 0 4 9 0 3 6 Honer ;.J 19 0 t 1 1 0> Cornflour 0 0 6J 0 0 55

. "These are just a few of the comparable items in lie extraordinary list 6iib- : ! mitted.' As you are aware, since March j last the wholesale prices cf .57 grocery j lines have been controlled by the . Board of Trade, following legislation passed in 1917. These lines Bright be regarded as, 1 necessary commodities, full particulars of , which will be found in the Board ol j Trade's annual report, to be laid before -i Parliament'shortly. ) ' "Dealing with imported grocery lines, the boaTd desires me to state that it requires only a little reflection to show that prices iire not exorbitant, when account is taken 'of the advances .m the. Home cost, high freights, war and marine insurance, and increased landing and. handling -charges. . Furthermore, merchants must now provide double, and in Borne cases treble, the capital that was necessary in pre-war times. , "The.trade of New Zealand is conducted on competitive lines which ensures the consumer -getting his commodities at the lowest cost . consistent with safe trading. Anyone to-day with the necessary capital can engage in the grocery trade. Moreover, various co-operative societies, 'especially among farmers, have been formed throughout New Zealand with the object of eliminating all unnecessary middlemen's profits and supplying their members' and otters with goods on the smallest margin of profit. These societies are also in competition with, the ordinary Tetailers, but their operations are not confined' merely to supplying goods to their own members. The general public can purohase at these cooperative stores and obtain their goods on the same terms as their, members. 'Indeed, in respect to groceries generally, it is the board's opinion.that competition is keener than in almost any other trade in the Dominion. "Dealing with the two articles stocked by drapers, viz., Horrocks's calico and flannelette, the board has made inquiries as to the present position of these commodities, and ascertained that the retail prices to-day are actually lower than the prices quoted in England by' the manufacturers, after allowing for landing charges. In 1915 these articles were lower in price than for many years previously, ana some drapers took advantage of the low price to etock heavily, and are therefore now in a, position to place these goods on the market at a lower price than their less fortunate competitors can buy wholesale-in. New Zealand. The price ruling iii England for this calico is laid, per yard, which, landed here, works out at Is. , Bd., whilst retailers are selling it at Is. s*d. per yard. The local wholesale price is Is. 73d. In regard to flannelette the oost in 1915-was 7d. to liA. per yard. ■ In London "to-day it costs 23jd., plus 15 per cent.,/or 2s. 9d. landed in New Zealand. • Thi3 is retailed to-day at 2s. 3d. per yard. The prices generally of these goods ara 400 per cent, higher in England to-day than they were in 19U, whilst local prices hare advanced 250 per cent. .

"The board would point out that these figures are borne out by a case which came under their personal notice whore a Government Department Iried to buy a largo supply of towels and sheeting through tho High Commissioner direct from the manufacturers. In 1912 the towels wero quoted at lGs. per dozen, and tho sheets at is. 9d. each. The best quotation the High Commissioner, was üblo to obtain to-day was for towels C3s. per dozen and sheets 18a.' 9d. each. In 1932 the' total cost of the quantity ordered came to .£385, whilst a- similar order, today would cost i£1517, an increase of approximately dflO per cent."