PRICES OF GOODS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10611, 9 June 1920, Page 8

PRICES OF GOODS

.(To the Editor "N:Z. Times.”) ; Sir,—A paragraph, appears in this morning'* “Times ' containing what axe stated to be extracts from a letter written by a Xe Awamutu resident, who was recently in Sydney These .extracts set forth a list of prices at which this correspondent states he was able to obtain goods of various kinds in the South Wales capital. ... The quotations given axe so absolutely opposed to what I have understood was the condition of affairs there, that I went to tile trouble of interviewing several gentlemen who have, within tlu last few weeks, returned from a visit to Sydney. Their evidence confirms my own impression—that the statements oi the correspondent whom you quoted are ridiculously unreliable. - .... I have no desire to follow his list in detail, but I would remark that it is significant that he begins his price comparisiona by showing the relative cheapness of beer on the other side. As regards goods of which X have some knowledge, I am able to ‘ state positively that his statement that tailor-made suits of the best imported tweeds are to be obtained in Sydney at -CIO Iftj, the price which he asserts was the highest be was able to discover anywhere, is unfounded. - Amongst the gentlemen X questioned, who paid a recent visit to Australia, was one who had paid .£l3 13s for an ordinary sao suit, not made - in one of the fashionable shops. Similarly, to suggest that black or tan boots aro to be obtained at 35s per pair is as ridiculous as to sav that “you can get the b'st possible meal in the beet hotels or first-class restaurants from Is 3d to 25.“ The whole paragraph is so palpably untrue that it would not deserve notice, but for one thing—the publication ot r-uch misleading Information under the guise of news items is. in my mind, highly reprehensible at the present time. It can only fend to fan the resentment which the public, to a large extent unjustifiably, feels towards the retailers of this Horn in ion. The whole onus of being responsible for the present high cost nf living is, by a large number, placed entirely on tbe shoulders of the : retailer, and I claim that there liae been so far little or no justification for this attitude. W. SIMM. President 'Wellington Drapers’ and Clothiers’ Association.