The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1920. MORE PROFITEERING CAMOUFLAGE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3458, 12 April 1920, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1920. MORE PROFITEERING CAMOUFLAGE.

With which is incorporated “Th-e 'l‘la.ih.a,pe‘~‘l’-ost and Waimarinq ' News.”

Several columns of Ibeguiling no_nsense about the cost of living appeared in Saturday's issue of City newspapers. There was a column from the Acting-Statistician and three or four columns s-upplied by the Prime Minister, both writers trying to convince Saturday and Sunday readers that the cost of living had not risen since war commenced by more than about fifty per cent. Surely_ it is time those two gentlemen," "and some other interested people, realised that all the artifice, fraud and deceptionin the_world cannot make people believe anlytliingh different’ to What they are dail_y.experiencing; that all the columns of'all the newspapers cannot camouflage the fact that the sovereign to-day represents barely the prewas "half sovereign‘, All the cozening subtleties Government and their statistician are capable of cannot change the nature of fact that is constantly forced upon people at this time of widespread education and enlightenment. Twistingabout of percentages and index numbers may have deceived people years ago, but the masses are better educated to-day; they have had five years:of hard, bitter experience. Neither Mr Massey’s four columns, nor the Statistician’s coloumn fill the shopping basket of the workelz’s wife, and that is just where both are seriously and disastrro-usly at fault. But, perhaps, neither writer had any -intention to deceive, they may have been merely stone-walling, trying to ‘wear down the other side, tire them out, disgust them, shout down the voice of justice and truth, so that the orgy of profiteering might proceed without the annoying voice of resentment disturbing its progress. The Acting-Statistician commenced his column by rendering all he had to state innocuous, or rather by converting it into evidence against himself. He frankly admitted that the source of his depai-tment.’s information might be b’iassed.- He is doubtful, however. about the source of’ his information being at fault because “his Department assures those from whom it is gatheredthat it will be regarded as strictly confidential, that it will be used solely for general statistical purposes, and that no individual return will be published.” Does it not strike the Acting-Statistician that his Department is inviting those from whom it gathers‘ information to “give any old figures?” VVe cannot imagine. any greater security against punishment for deliberate fraud than that the Statisticianfs Department guarantees those who furnish the information upon which statistics of the cost. of living are based. Our reasoning in this connection may be faulty, if so, we }invite the Acting-Statistician to correct our error; but nothing seems wanting in the Department’s pledge, for, although it is stated that there is a penalty for furnishing false, or fraudulent returns, the Department has pledged itself to use the ‘information for one purpose only, and that is for compiling statistics, that it will be regarded as strictly confidential, and no individual return will be allowed to see daylight. Yet .it is -admitted that iu'forrn'ation may be collected from people who are.- likely to be biassed in showing. the increased prices a little lower than they actually are. The people are not at all collcerned.vvhef.hel' a fraudulent re.tum of threepence a pound on tea and bacon affects the statistics one way

‘or the other, but the Department and ‘the Government have no misgivings ‘about how that threepence affects the lmasses of the people, for it'Ts a two‘edged sword, cutting whichever» way ‘it falls... Workers’ wives 'h?»Ve 130 Day -that threepence when purchasing, iwhile their husbands’ Wages are based {upon the fraudulent return. The people of this Dominion have recently ‘been. asked by Government to become {a nation of spies, to spy UPOII Shopkeepers, and report the result of their spying to a Profiteering Committee, ‘who, in turn. report to the Board of Trade, who report to the Government, who hand the report over to administrators of the law, if it is not lost in its long journey. "But, if the Board of Trade knows anything about trade and prices of commodities, Why 110‘ abandon all the costly machinery“ which the poor taxpayer has to pay for. and let the man in each centre who now collects information (i) ‘which the Statistical Department ad‘mits. “is likely to «be biassed,” gather up "from the people their actual in‘voices for goods purchased, Cut out all the degrading spying and informing; abandon the Profiteering Committees, purveyors in spying and in.forming, save all the money they cost ‘and use it for increasing production. {People who refuse to be made into spys and informers will readily hand their invoices to the collector of statistics, they would also lend their rent books, for that would be the honour.able way, and an ounce of such doculmentary evidence would be worth a ton of the spying and informing stuff, with an equal quantity of that from the source that is likely to be biassed, in sending in untrue returns, thrown in. But is not the Government bark{ing up the wrong tree? Is it the retailers, ‘in a general way, who are the real priceJboosters? We do not think so, for we have seen many invoices that should startle any honest man. We do not think there is a retailer in Taihape, judging from our experience, but who would be better pleased for their customers’ invoices to be shown rather than have the ’Statistician’s Department broad-cast-ing the statement that theyare likely [to be .‘biassed _in .f_urnis*h_ing untrue returns, virtually saying. they are benefitted by sending in a fraudulent. statement of their retail, prices. ,'r'lie Stat.istician’.s_ayerage.__r.ents paid in Taihape are a standingjoke to those they ‘do not disgust. If it was‘ the wish of the Government that the ordinary. worker should see at a glance how the cost of living was soaring in his town, [why did the Government Statistician! abandon the “Cost of Living Therm-‘ lometer? Was it because it became a} lflaining condemnation‘ of the profi-3 teering that somebody wishes to calm ’o-uflage? It is utter nonsense for the‘ Acting-Statistician and the Prime! Minister to try to minimise profiteer-1 ing to a iiegligible level, for if there is no moi-e,profiteering than they attempt to make out the Government is gravely culpable "in setting up machignery to discoéver. it, and reprehensibly flinsincere in legislating punishment for it. Nobody is deceived about the Government setting its traps, and inviting informers amongst the wrong class of traders, but should they havel leven a suspicion of sincerity let them idisband their Profiteering Committees and invite people to -hand their invoices to the collector of statistics, for invoices are neither biassed or are they likely to purvey fraudulent reiturns. Every ‘trader would, in selfIprotection, then furnish customers with invoices whether purchases were for cash or otherwise. but this is; |usually done already. It would '-be as 1 [well for the Authorities to cease their I jcamouflaging, for people have ‘the eviWlence of their invoices for goods purchased; they are not concerned with statistics that are seriously at Variance with their invoices, nor will a 'thou,sund columns in newspapers from the Prime Minister convince them of the contrary to the hard facts conveyed in those same invoices. By collecting invoices supplied to wholesalers, retailers and people the whole gamut of prices would be available for publishing understandable statis-’ tics.