The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 1920. A SURPRISING STATEMENT.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3527, 14 July 1920, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 1920. A SURPRISING STATEMENT.

T with which is incorporated “The Taihape Post and Waimarino News."

l H, has been announced in Parlia--I,,em by the Pi-einier that the cost of living has, according to' UlO Staiilslfl‘ ciaurs figures’, actually commenced to go down; that Statistics for the month of June would disclose a decline, of how much the Premier could not say. This sttliielntcnt 'wi.l.;. set Qhe people from North Cape to the Bluff guessing, for while everything is still rising in price‘ it is indeed difficult to undél-51;a,n(1 by what; system’ of calculation a contrary result is obtained. It. will be .reuienl.be-red that the price l thermometer had to be abandoned be--'cause prices went. so high that they liurst the glass and ict fhe mercury out. Since then nobody has been able no duitle «undyerstand the ~fluc.l7uiat‘illlß‘ vagaries of _various index numbers; but then those index numbers are 11013 meant to be understood by the comfnon ruck, they are merely camouflage for deceiving people about the Pricesoafing that the p.‘l'~i(3e thermometer became too* small to register. People ‘are. anxioug to know what. it is that has gone down in price so that they lmay get some ofit before it is all gone. for they seem to think that ifby some means a reduction in cost of living was shown last ‘month there will be a terrifying recovery of the upward trend during the present month. It.’ would indeed ,be a delightful change to be able to buy something cheap, if only for once; it would. lshow that therewas still a spark of l conscience left insonle individual and that nlU.D.ki!l(l' had not become entire-I-ly dehumanised. If only that solitary [spark of conscience ,and the source l of -one humane act. could be shepherdled away from the soulless mass of l profitecring, and .eult»ivate‘d', and enlcouraged, _nul'sed.b_aek.,to a realisa-lt-ion of the sacr,eduess_ |OfE'llll.lllall life 'l so..tllat it. could beprused __as. a leaven } to leaven the in-‘hole mass" of trading c,orru‘p.tion that pl'eYailsla.nd.bl-inf; it I back frorn the greed. 'o': animalism, rehumainise it, reconstruct it so that it. could be again‘ -recognised as the system in which every ma.n3(loes' unto otlxers as; «lie expects‘ them to do to hini, -then would there come -an end to strikes and labour troubles. Neither _enlploycrs nor Wol‘kers'~‘would be able to accumulate-suflicient nioncy to en- . courage them to strike- or lockout; for it is an undeniable f.uc.§t:tllat after every coal"st~rike.in’-‘this country coal owners have been left'”to' e.\:l:'ol't highner and ‘still higlier profits. Getting back to the dec:r'easea‘ cost of living lastinont-h, about which Mr Massey is telling Pal'liament, it‘ would =iiu,lec(l be illuininating to knoxv pvliat was costting less-than it did during May for nobody can guess. -Anyway, what is ‘the use of anything becoming cheapter while. it‘is- kept. a secret, and no-‘ ibody knows about itivtixll it becomes dearer again and tal«:“es‘« its }pl:1(:e in lthe ever upward soaring: mass? W'e open the hloxlthly Abstfiict of Statistics and pass every item in the cost of living category under critical observation, and we discover nothing in the way of ¢]ccrease.s-, ‘allpvare increases. We t_urn to the daily newspaper and Ewe become alarnied for the peace of; 'the l'uture. There is disco\'(:l'Gd in~: [(:l'vu:s'c:.l reniuueratiou. for ruil\\':lj,' ser-ll l vunts, post and rt-lt.‘gl'zlpll. ollicvrs, uudl l for the Civil Sc-r\'ice g‘euer:til_\'. .\'lin-l iisters are p;oillg‘ to add several ilun~4 l (lrwls of pounds a _\'ear to their lxon—, i orurimu uuvl, or(linar_\' 1uoml)€-.1-s of ‘li’zl-r- I 3 liumenl urv gwiixig to be _¢_'{i\'m} ;1 I-isu of gfroln s<'\'eul‘_v—li\'r-. to one lrumlrrrlfl per lcent. for the .«:.plemli<l sor\'i('.v-: Illcyl } rem,l(*r in l{('(‘l|lll{_f up the x-ounlr_\"s supEplj; oi" l:l\\'.'~‘~, to avoid loss ml’ t-In}>lny-lint-nt for the l(-_s;';1l proi’r*.~'.<iml. that is linml‘ iulp<vrt::nl'. \\’lllo.n; flu‘ ("lowermT lll(.‘lll' lmra illvr4":l.=v<l I'c:nllller:ilirm. .<ucll_. as just nientinned, it‘ sols about raising’ ’r'l'eigllts‘am_'l .l’al'(-s to ‘pay ruilu'u_v in.-2 (areas:-s: pu.‘~.‘luge.~< and l'<-‘leg1':1111s to I pay the postal servicenwn; but loop-.l_v| the civil. service gcneral':_v. .\l(‘ll’ll)0l‘S’: llonorurium.<: and ;\lini:~'l'cri:xl .~:ala.ries.’ an inc"n::se(l amount: has to be extortod from the general taxpayer. ’l‘ol nuret. (’ll.\‘(.‘S sucli «us .\Tew Zeulaml poo-l ple are f:1ce(l Willi .\‘t:ltesnleu in otlicrl producing countries, u*l‘lr.-n their expenditllre increastls in one f'lil'l‘*‘fioll' tlle_'v endeavour to produce mo‘l'<‘ Of the primary products in another to! foot the bill. It’ everythiu-{_: in (Illa-t connection fails they fall back on questionably acqui.red war wealth, and avoid irritaling the general mass of Workors.thl‘oWillg' them out of prodnc-_ ing health and spirits, last. In New Zcalaml it is assumed that the drones alone can live ‘without work. and that the workers must. work or starve~——a dangerous po-sl:ul:11:e. To allay trouble xvngges are increased 10 to 20 per cent. ' all round, then the cost,o.f living goes‘ up from 50 to 100 per cent. to com»'

pensatc. We assume, rightly {gr wrongly, ,that: workers are such fools that

they will be so smug in their increased wage that -they will‘not notice the 11l1T1d1‘eCl5 POI‘ cent. increase '01" .'ii’e necessities, when they go to buy them. It is apparent to all fa-rseeing men who are not ~too llieeply !(}0'I1Cl0f:‘nC(l with boosting up of prices that the GoV'ol'llm€llt of this country is in an intensely dangerous drift. While Mr M3880)’ is telling.Parlian'lent that the cost -of living is decreasing, he is also telling the country that bread has gone up another penny per four—poundp 10af; that sugar ha.s,increased by just upon one hundredpcr cent.; that butter is going up to twenty-eight pence or thirtypence a pound; that cheese and milk must go up in sympathy; that freights and :Cares are to be increased; that postal _a.nd.telegrapll serViC€S are to go up; land values and rents continue to soar upwards, and it should be ‘obvious to everyone zhat every additional load put upon shopkeepers must he added to cost of articles, and passed on.to the consumer. Freights are a special tai: upon shopkeepers, manufacturers, builders, and producers; it is a tax,that alinost entirely frees the w‘e'alt'hy merchant in the large cities. They sell the goods they receive per ocean but they do not pay any railway freight in distribution, their crzstnzuersdn Taihape and elsewhere pay railagc; Thereforeit is the country consumer that will largely be called upon to pay whatever freight increases Ministers may decide to levy. The Premier has persistently stated that cost of living is decreasing, and now he says it has decreased, but let it be thoroiiglily understood that by, Cllri.<tmas the cost. of living will warrzint \\*orkers insisting‘ upon another twenty‘ per cent. increase of wages. Let the truth be faced at once; let there be no misunderstand» ing -about what increased prices of sugar, butter,~,chcese and all dairy products mean; what the increasing price of the stafi of life, of other cereals, of stkores generally. through increased freights and po.st.ages;_‘wh'at the increase of house rent owing to insane inflation of land‘ values and high cost of everything, including 111.bour, in lmildin-g" erection; what the rapidly A increasing cost __ of all kinds of fuel and machinery :':ll.‘m_ean;'in detcrinining what theifuture can only bring forth. Ispthere found anything to induce. a feeling of opt.i_nlisnl‘? The national feeling is largely tincturcd with fear and misgiving; huge increases in prices‘ of everything the masses require to ‘sustain life are c.rusllin_z2* out the last.-vestiges of hope, and in only a very few months railway, postal and civil service increases will be more than scooped up in a. new and alal'n'iingly higher level of prices. The 11pwai'(l Whirlof ‘prices. and wages is fast becoming an. insane wallow.