The Daily News TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17. PRICE OF FOODSTUFFS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 17 September 1907, Page 2

The Daily News TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17. PRICE OF FOODSTUFFS.

The keynote of the lVeinit'r'.s pronoun- ■ cement in the last Wednesday during the debate on the retention or abolition of the Hour duty was the need for "a fair price." This is exactly what the public wants, been wanting, and will probably continue to want. Sir Joseph Ward stood on a very firm plank when he asserted that it was the duty of Parliament to ensure whit ought to be tl»e goal of those who were urging the removal of the duty, and his arguments against that course were such as would commend themselves to any rational mind. If only the best means for remedying tlr evil of abnormal prices were as apparent as the existence of the evil caused thereby the wage earner might hope for alleviation of his struggles in the near future. The Premier should be, and doubtless is, in a position to know far more accurately than most people the peculiar operations which cause the lluetuatioMs in price on the grain market. In wishing to ensure for the growers, the millers, and the consumers a fair price all round he takes up the only position i that is tenable. What about the fac- | tors or dealers? Not a word; yet time and again it is these operators who enriched themselves at the cost of the public.

To place the power in the hands of the Oovernor-in-Conncil to remove the duty on Hour when that commodity reached a certain price looks well on paper, but a moment's reflection shows that there are weighty objections to that course. Theoretically the Governor-in-Couneil has the interests of the people at heart. The king can do no wrong, but if the interests of the supreme authority are not as identical with those of the people as they should be, could it not happen that wrong might be done—not to the King, but to his subjects? There is altogether too much of the Governor-in-Council in New Zealand legislation of recent years, and we feel assured that no enactment relative to fixing the price of wheat or Hour will be satisfactory unless provision is made for the controlling power to be vested in an advisory board of experts outside the Government, independent of political control, and having no financial interest in the price of cereals.

It is no new matter for the State to undertake the delicate operation of fixing the price of brcadstulfs. Pliny, the Roman historian, records that something like two thousand years ago there were public granaries and public bakeries in Rome, .special magistrates being appointed to look after matters connected with the production of bread. Then wo have only to turn to the Old Country, where in 12G(i an Act was passed regulating the price of bread by a public assize. This lasted so far as London was concerned up till 1822, but in all other parts of England (lie Act remained in force till IS3G. The method adopted was the very simple process of adding a certain sum to the price of flour so as to give a fair profit. With flour at thirty shillings a quarter the price of the 41 j loaf was fixed at sixpence; when flour advanced to fifty shillings bread rose to eightpence, while, in the event of flour fetching one hundred shillings, the loaf was bought for one shilling and threepence farthing. Apparently the question of ensuring for the consumer that the stair of life should reach him at a reasonable price is s very old and extremely difficult evil to co])e with.

In Franco particularly there lias be™ much trouble on this head, and the remedy applied was the only one available—the price fixed by the State. As units tiie consumers are' absolutely helpless and at the mercy of syndicates, rings, combines and speculators. As a community possessing direct representation in the legislature they can claim as their just right the protection of that_ legislature by means of an Act of Parliament. This is by no means grandmotherly legislation, but llie outcome of necessity. The trend of the day is for financial magnates and others" to •'corner" all manner of produce. This can be counteracted by legitimate means, and it is, as the Premier remarked, the duty of Parliament to supply the requisite means for preventing the necessaries of life from attaining fictitious prices.

While admitting that to a large extent the price of wheat in New Zealand was governed by the price in London, Sir Joseph Ward was forced to admit the well-known fact that our wheat cannot possibly compete on even terms with that from America, Canada, Russia, or even Australia. Traced down to its source an abnormal price of wheat is mostly found to arise from speculation or cornering. Rarely is it justified by a shortage, though an estimated falling oil in supply from one of the main sources is readily taken advantage of to force up the price. The institution of public granaries might well be considered as a politic measure. If millers are content to trust solely to a fair remuneration for converting wheat into flour they would be ready and willing to buy from the public granary instead of 011 the market. This estimable class of the community, however, is just as eager to do more or less of speculation as any other trader, and the bakers usually know how to take care of their interests, so that the consumer when it is a rase of "pull miller, pull baker" has rather a hard time. The Government's proposals for remedying the existing evils in connection with food supplies will therefore be awaited with considerable interest.

If we are to assent to the dictum that prices of foodstuff ill Xew Zealand depend on the prices ruling in the London market, some explanation seems necessary with regard to the disproportionate prices paid here for meat as against the value received for our frozen beef and mutton in England. If in earnest as to ensuring the people's welfare a still further step may be tak n n by Parliament in the best interests of the community in the direction of grading the meat sold for consumption. The institution of municipal abattoirs was a progressive and beneficent measure. To make the system complete all meat should tie graded as cither prime, fair, or inferior. There is no difficulty in carrying this out., yet the gain to the purchaser would be immense, while to the fair-dealing butcher himself it would be more of au advantage than otherwise. If there is to be a good control bill as promised by the Premier we trust it will be as complete as possible. Wheat, oats, Hour, meat, potatoes, and all other foodstuffs for man and beast may well be included in the measure. The eliort to remedy the present evils is well worth the attempt. Time will show whether or not success will be achieved.