THE COST OF LIVING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1049, 28 May 1912, Page 3

THE COST OF LIVING.

COMMISSION APPOINTED

TO ENQUIRE.

THE PERSONNEL

Wellington, May 25

The following have been appointed a Royal Commission to enquire and report upon certain questions relating to the cost of living in New Zealand : Messrs A. • drew Fairnbaiu, Christchurch ; Edwin Hall, Auckland ; George Leadley, Wakauui; W. G. MacDonald, Westport; John R -M. son, M.P., Levin ; Joan Ross, Dunedin ; Edward Tregear, Wellington ; and W. A. Veitch, M.P., Wanganui.

The Commission is ordered to enquire into such questions as the following : —Has the cost of living increased iu New Zealand during the past twenty years ? If so, has the increase been more marked during the last ten than during the previous ten years i To what extent is the increased cost of living, if any, the result of a higher standard of living ? In what special direction has the increase if any, been most marked ? What has been the effect on prices of tariff reduction. To what extent, if any, has the rise in the price of land during the past twenty years contributed to the rise in the price of commodities.

Commenting on the above, yesterday's Dominion says inter alia: “A more brazen and deliberate attempt to fool the people than that which lies behind the ludicrous Commission of Inquiry into the Cost of Diving, which has now been set up by the Mackenzie Ministry would be difficult to conceive. The personnel of the Commission, to begin with, is m0.,1 unsatisfactory. The question is not one lor narrow treatment. Solution—if it is to be found —of the problem of how to reduce the cost of living is not to be discovered by the mere scratching of the surface by men who have made no special study of economic questions. And whom among the Commissioners appointed —cutside, perhaps, of Mr Tregear, whose views ou Socialism are too well known to leave any doubt as to his ideas on the subject —can be quoted as any sort of an authority ? What chance is there of such a Commission ever getting down to bedrock causes and finding a remedy ? None at all. Does any sane man or woman believe that this Commission is capable of investigating and answering one-half, or one-fourth, or even any of these questions in an authoritative way within the time specified ? ‘What influence, If any, has the value of gold had ou the cost of living?’ ‘What effect have the movements of the urban and rural populations had ou the cost of living?’ Who would attach any value whatever to the opinions of this Commission on such questions ? The whole thing is a tarce, and everyone connected with it must know it. The Ministry, however, hope to convey the impression that by setting up this Commission they are doing something which will be of material benefit to the mass of the people. It is a trick, and a shabby one. It will cost the country a great deal of money which will be almost entirely wasted. The only good purpose it is likely to serve is to show the people of the Dominion the utter insincerity 01, and the hollow sham this stop-gap Ministry really is,”