COST OF LIVING

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 220, 11 June 1921, Page 8

COST OF LIVING

» IS REDUCTION POSSIBLE? IMPORTANT CONFERENCE CAPITAL AND LABOUR AT THE ROUND TABLE Yesterday a conference, from which much was expected, was held in Wellington, when selected representatives of the employers and employees met in response to a suggestion made in the Arbitration Court by Mr. T. Bloodworth (Labour) during tho discussion on the cost of living bonus. The Employers’ Federatiou Advisory Board agreed with the suggestion, and thought that an informal discussion on tho prices of such commodities as butter, sugar, and flour would enablo all avenues likely to disclose the possibility of a reduction in the cost of living to bo explored. The conference commenced in tho morning, and those present were: Messrs. T. Shailer Weston, A. C. Mitchell, H. Mainland, IV. H. Bennett, and T. Munt. Representing the unions: Messrs. M. J. Reardon, J. M'Combs, M.P., A. Parlane,'J. M'Kenzie, and E. Kennedy. The chair was occupied by Mr. Weston, and tho proceedings were not. open to the Press. The conference was addressed by Mr. W. G. M'Donald, chairman of the Board of Trade, who. following on the lines of the genera] discussion, dealt with tho fixing of the price of various necessary food articles, such as bread and butter. Mr. M'Donald was thanked for his attendance, and for the valuable information he had placed before delegates. On the motion of Mr. Weston, seconded by Mr. M'Combs. the meeting decided to compliment the Board of Trade- upon the very good work apparently done by it in the interests of the general public. ' Resolution Adopted. A lengthy discussion took place on various aspects of the cost of living question, arising out of which M'Combs moved, seconded by Mr. Reardon : That having heard Mr. W. G. M'D'onald, chairman of the Board of Trade, we are satisfied that there can be no reduction in the price of bread, butter, and sugar during the currency of the agreements, and further that if all the Government agreements in connection therewith were Hrolceß, which is not even suggested, tho cost of living would not be reduced by a single penny piece, but. on the contrary would increase. Tho motion, on being put to tho meeting, was lost. Mr. Weston moved as an amendment, seconded by Mr. T. Munt: That this conference has gone into the question of tho existing agreements in relation to the prices oi flour, butter, and sugar, and having heard Mr. W. G. M'Donald, chairman of the Board of Tfade, on the' question, is satisfied that even if such agreements were cancelled at the present time and a free market established, there would be no immediate reduction in prices. • There is, however, every reason to expect that from the date of tho termination of theso agreements re butter, sugar, and flour, viz., the end of August, September,' and February respectively, there will be reductions in tho prices of theso commodities. The motion was carried unanimously. The conference then terminated.

STATEMENT BY MR. M’COMBS AGREEMENTS WITH PRODUCERS SHOULD BE FULFILLED. During the proceedings, Mr. M'Combs read the following statement, a copy ot which he handed to the Press: ‘‘l take it \7& are to-day as the resuit of a suggestion made in the Arbitration Court and approved of by Mr. Justice Frazei— that the Employers’ Association and the workers’ representatives might co-operate to help reduce the cdfet of bread and butter. Wo have been told that an alteration in the price ot butter of one penny per pound would influence the index number by six points; and that the alteration of one penny in tho price of the four pound loaf oi bread would influence the index number by fifteen points. 'the cost-of-living bonus arrangement Waa that any increase in prices during one six months should bo paid for by increased wages or bonus durum the currency of the following six months; but because of anticipated reductions in the prices of bread and butter and other articles the Arbitration Court deemed it advisable to offset the live shillings now due and payable for six months, by drop in the price of bread and butter during this six months. “To make the arrangement an equitable one, there must bo a m Prices of 191 points (luring this six months. If butler could be reduced by sixpence per pound, and the loaf of bread by one penny, that would give a drop ot •>! points. The reason why it is necessary to have a drop of 191 points is that if the five shillings were paid for this six months there would have io be a <l”op in the cost of living equivalent io ten shillings (10s.) per week in wages, in order to cancel the ss. for the following six months, and regain the five shillings paid in the first six months. Ono month of the six is gone, and there has only been a drop of five .points in the index number. As to the possibility of reducing the index number by 51 points by reducing the price of bread and butter, the facts are that the Government Ims a binding arrangement with the wheat growers, which fixes the present price ot bread until next February or March, and there is a further agreement regarding the new season’s crop, and as part of that agreement winter sowings of wheat are already in the ground. That agreement hardly admits of variation now. , , , ".As regards butter: the most that we couid do would be to ask the Government if it could by arrangement with tho Imperial authorities, release Imperial supplies at a reasonable price, and compensate the dairy farmers for varying the arrangement made in March. Me may have our own opinions regarding the wisdom or fairness of tho arrangements made hy the Government with tho butter producers, but the fact remains that an arrangement or agreement has been made for a period up to September. As I understand it. also, the arrangement with the Imperial Government was to sell our surplus supply ot blitter up to March at 2s. <kl. per lb.; and tho moral difficulty in the. way of New Zealand buying it back at Is. lid. is that butter required for local consumption is hardly surplus •blitter. The. Government. however, being fully acquainted with all the facts, must decide, that point. But even if the Government could reduce butter in price by Gd. per lb., it would only reduce the index figures by £6 points, whereas 190 points lire Tequiied to make the Gouri’s stabilisation scheme equitable for the workers, and oven then it would leave out considerations which should not be overlooked in any reasonable equalisation sclienic-considerations which go back io 1911. “But behind all this, and greater than all other considerations, is this: filat ve, the workers’ representatives, cannot go to the Court with, clean hands n-king for the fulfilment of the arrangement made regarding wages or bonuses if we go to tho Government asking them to break their an'angemenfs with tho wheat growers and dairy farmers. Although we tnay criticise and condemn the terms of the arrangement regarding butter, we

definitely stand for the honourable fulfilment of all three agreements with the wheat growers, dairy farmers, and wage workers.” COST OF~PRODUCTION OBJECTION TO PERSONNEL OF CONFERENCE. Speaking io a Dominion reporter yesterday, the secretary of the National Dairy Association (Mr. T. C. Brash) referred to the conference in the following terms: “I must express n little surprise at once aspect: of to-day’s conference of representatives of employers and workers who met to discuss the cost of living, including 'butter and flour. 1 do not recognise in the personnel one delegate who could he regarded ns conversant with the production side. How could such a conference arrive at a right estimate of prices of products without adequate knowledge of the. costs of production?”