THE COST OF LIVING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2190, 16 October 1920, Page 4

THE COST OF LIVING.

Wc were cnt'Oiii aged a l<‘W months ago by a temporary reduction, ol the Government Statistician's index figure, occnrriiw in .lime, to hope that the rising tide ol pieces was at las,, beginning' to recede. Accepting the Statistician's me nrance that, the itiovojiU',)i. of loud prices presents a. fairly ac.qiraie ipdex fo the movement of the prices of at; commodities making up the housciiupi hunger. Mm trend o. Ihe cost- of Jiving sine., July. UHL mav be biietiy snmmari -ed as follows: The total increase over the period jv,, in August, I !HL down to August. ] <l2O, bps been 71.-I per cent ,so that the ’average monthly increa.se has 1.,.,’,,, ;l srnull fraction under one per cent. The steepest increases were near Mm beginning and at. the very end of tile six vein's. The three quarters in which the greatest increase.-, haw- taken place liacejimm Novem-licr-.'lahtianv i !l If-Un per cent, Novemlier-.iu i.rig; y ; UHfi-UL ‘km* 1»« 1 ' emit; Jnue-AUgnst. UMi, I’ ol ' cent. All other quarier have been so mewl n re near nn average ot 3 pet cent. Tim .bine -August quarter 01. lac present '.ear has sbovyn .an exceptionaliv large im-m,*.-, since it commenced with a decrease of n.LS per cent between May and .lime. i’he increase in .Inh was LOS per cent, and in Angus- '1.02 per emit, making a rise of f.u per emu in two months. TIPs represeim a very marked acceleration in the rate til which prices arc rising. Fo fur as tin- month ol \r--ii--t was concerned, the increa.se was principally dim to Urn increased price of sugar, and a fairly substantial rise in t!m price of meat. (bo dairy p.-odnee group showed a slight f;,;!. II jituy C*lK-:dod tllcll. 1 lit; ,Pdr. produce group will show a snb- . j i-ij in.a ca'se during the present yj,, ,V,, I, ~,, a-connl of the CO tier cent m cream- m tim price of butter. _ K would appear Miar i.m cost ol; living, which started to advance at a eanlm and subsided into a trof. has now commenced to gallon, providing a very curious commentary on the utility Ot methods in vogue to control prices.