The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, MAY 14, 1920. THE ABSTRACT OF STATISTICS.

Southland Times, Issue 18821, 14 May 1920, Page 4

The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, MAY 14, 1920. THE ABSTRACT OF STATISTICS.

Of late the official Abstract of Statistics has been subjected to a fair amount of adverse criticism and it is interesting to find in the April issue that the acting head of the Statistics Office has gone to some pains to explain the system on which the statistics are accumulated, and also to defend his department. With regard to the figures in relation to the food groups, Mr J. W. Butcher, the Acting-Government Statistician, says that his office collects comprehend-. statistics in respect of twenty-five centres, chiefly from retail grocers and butchers doing a considerable proportion of the trade with the general public, those catering for particular classes of the community being rigidly excluded. All these returns are obtained through the local Inspectors of Factories, who also furnish a special report showing the retail prices of ctrtain commodities not covered by the trade-men's returns. These, he argues, would give the department reliable data in regard to groceries, dairy produce and meat. The statistics in regard to house rents are also collected from twenty-five centres, but only twice a year, in February and August. These returns are obtained from house agents or other persons collecting rents. The weakness of this system, for the purpose of calculating the index figure for a centre for the dominion is that the return of rents covers only those houses that are occupied by tenants at the two dates on which the information is collected. It is possible that the rents reported refer in many cases to properties occupied by the present tenant for a long period without any change in rental. An instance of the effect of this may he given from local experience. One property in Invercargill was let some years ago at 12= 6d a week, but within the last few weeks the lease expired and the rent jumped to 3fls a week, well within the figure permitted by law. If these houses were not occupied in F'ebruary at the enhanced figure they would not bo reported to the Statistician. It must also be remembered that the number of houses occupied by tenants has decreased considerably of late owing to many having been bought, and these places have thus passed out of the calculations. The annual charges of a householder living in his own property for interest, rates and insurance might fairly bo considered as rent, but the Statistical Office makes no effort to secure information in regard to these properties and as a result the official figures cannot be taken as stating the

position with any degree of accuracy. The purchase of dwellings, Mr Batcher admits, operates in the direction of reducing the number and the average quality of the places open to tenants and also tends to keep down the average rental figure shown in the Abstract. This point is of considerable importance because the Housing charges represent, according to Mr Butcher, fully twenty per cent of the total expenditure of a household, so that an error in this section may make a big difference in the index figure for the total cost of living. Some idea of the effect of this can be gained from the Statistician’s statement that the average weekly rents in Invercargill in February of this year were: Four rooms, 10/4; five rooms, 13/5; six rooms, 16/7; seven rooms, 20/4. These figures, it must be admitted, are hopelessly unreliable as a guide to the housing charges. The Acting Statistician, recognising this fact, advises us to eliminate it when calculating the cost of living. Mr Butcher in his statement says that “composite index numbers covering food, rent and fuel and light, representing three fifths of the expenditure of the average household, would give the closest approximation attainable as to the increase in the cost of living” but in view of the change in conditions in the last three years be says that the food-prices alone give the truest indication of the rise in the cost of living. The effect of this qualification is shown in Mr Butcher’s statement of the increase per cent over the figures of July, 1914. In the following table the lastcolumn, All Groups, includes the figure in the second column with the addition of an arbitrary scale of increases under the heading “Miscellaneous,” items upon which it is impossible to get sufficient data to enable an approximation to be formed:— Increase per cent over July, 1914. Food, rent, and fuel All Food, and light, groups.

It is estimated that if it were possible to ascertain the actual increases for clothing (estimated to be 150 per cent) and the miscellaneous groups, the difference between the first and third columns would be much greater than is actually shown, which suggests that while the Food groups give a better idea of the true increase than does the combined figure for the Food, Rent and Fuel and Lighting groups, they actually under-state the case. On this basis the relative worth of the sovereign of July, 1914, is now 12s OJd. Using the three Food groups as the best approximation we find, too, that Invercargill compared with the principal centres is as follows: Index number Increase p.c. M’ch, 1920. over July/14

It is interesting to note that the war conditions hit Invercargill harder than any place in the dominion except Palmerston North, and that the greatest increase here occurred in groceries, which rose 80.40 between July, 1914, and March, 1920. In 1914 Invercargill was one point below the weighted average for the dominion under the heading “groceries,” but in March our index number was 1886 compared with the dominion figure, 1845. The diversion of shipping from Bluff and the heavier transport and handling charges that resulted must have played an important part in the movement of these figures and the experience should be an added incentive io us to see that the province’s chief port is restored to its fullest use. In his explanation Mr Butcher has cleared up for the public some awkward points which have led in the past to some entirely erroneous conclusions and he has enabled us to make the discovery that while in food and rent, he is prepared to place us below the dominion average, his elimination of rent as an unreliable guide, a view in which we concur, places this part of the country in a worse position than the dominion average, for which we can thank, in part at least, the handicap through freights under which Southland suffers.

Julv, 1917 .. 27 18 26 Julv, 1918 .. 39 28 40 July, 1919 .. 44 33 49 March, 1920 02 45 63

Dunedin 1740 66.99 Christchurch .. 1731 65.01 Auckland .. .. 1717 57.52 Wellington 1709 57.80 Invercargill 1812 70.30