COST OF LIVING

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 100, 22 January 1943, Page 4

COST OF LIVING

Britain And New Zealand

The following reply has been received from the Alinister of Industries and Commerce, ’Air. Sullivan, to statements in our sub-editorial in our issue of January 20. “In your sub-leader referring to my reply to the Hon. A. Cook’s attack ou the Price Tribunal you raise doubts as to tlie accuracy of my comparison between price indices in New Zealand and Great Britain. I had compared the rise in the cost of living as shown in the New Zealand all-groups index, 13 per cent, with the 30 per cent, rise shown in the all-groups index of tlie British ’Ministry of Labour. Your reply to this was to compare, the N.Z. all-groups index with the index for food alone in Great Britain, as quoted by the London ‘Economist,’ and you then proceed to argue that ‘lt all depends which table is taken for the purposes of comparison.’ As of course it does, for which reason you must admit that to compare our all-groups figures with the figures for foods only in Britain is no comparison at all. “If ‘The Dominion’ wanted a proper comparison with the food increase of 16 per cent, in Great Britain it would have set beside this tho figures for the food increase in New Zealand. For the same period the food increase in the Dominion was 8.7 per cent. It should be added that since September, 1942, the mouth to which the increase relates. a seasonal increase due to potatoes took place, but this has since receded. “You affirm that, ’A great deni will depend upon the extent to which subsidies have been used.’ and this is quite true. It therefore would Ire well to recognize that tho cost of food, which has risen in Great Britain by 16 per cent has onlv been kept from rising a great (leal higher by the expenditure of over £100.000.()00 in food, subsidies. In New Zealand the subsidies ou food amount to approximately £1,000,000.”

[This matter is referred to in our editorial columns. I