The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons. Motto: Public service. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1920. LIVING AND WAGES.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 593, 17 December 1920, Page 2

The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons. Motto: Public service. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1920. LIVING AND WAGES.

In reviewing the position before the Arbitration Court last week, Mr. W. Pryor, secretary to the New Zealand , Employers' Federation, stressed th<v fact that "the lot of the New Zealand worker is better than that of the workers in any other part of the world. Wages, comparatively, ""are higher, the hours of work less, and the conditions of work superior, and in most cases immeasurably .'.letter than in other countries. Compared with the increase in the cost of living, the workers of New Zealand have had their wages raised during 'the war period to a greater extent than the workers in any other country. In addition to that, the hours of work have been shortened, in some cases leven during the war period, and, as neither of these advantages has been accompanied by any increase in production, the breaking point has probably come earlier than would otherwise have been the case. It is believed (Mr. Pryor says) that the thinking portion of the workers in New Zealand, having been brought face to face with the- position, are realising that, beyond the point where value is not given for the wages paid, any further increases are merely absorbed by further rises in prices, and that, in fact, labour pays for them." The only attempt that was made to meet this very fair statement of the poeition, was Mr. Reardon's contention that wages were higher in the United States, and more particularly in California at the end of 1919, than they were in this country, and Mr. Reardon submitted that "it seemed to be beyond question that it was because of high wages that the United States stood pre-eminent among the nations." But Mr. Reardon omitted to state that the cost of living was relatively far greater in the United States than in New Zealand, and that against the New Zealand increase of 72.80 per cent, to September 30 of this year, the rise in the cost of living during the war period in the United States had been 115 per cent.