The Daily News. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1913. THE COST OF LIVING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 234, 21 February 1913, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1913. THE COST OF LIVING.

iiie uutcu-siml cost oi living n-unim- a pioblem that is causing very serious misapprehension among the labor uud the middle daises all the world over; and there really seems lo lie a very considerable excuse /or the complaints that are being made. In New Zealand there has been to some extent a corresponding increase in the remuneration of k.bor. but it is urged thai the advance : ! wages does not nearly meet ihe ineieased cost of tile necessaries 0 f life, i'urther afield, however, the position appea l's to be worse. According Lo a cablegram from London, published yesterday, the liritish Board of Trade estimates thai the increases in the prices of foodstuffs since 181)5 represent a decline ill the purchasing power of the sovereign from :il)s to )Us :id. The figures show that the rise that iias taken place within the last fifteen years is stiil continuing, and that its speed has been accelerated since 11)1(1, when figures of a startling character were first published ill tiie M<ither t'ounf ry. The Hoard has not: yet attempted to discover the reasons for a movement which is imposing a crushing burden on millions of poorly paid workers, but some of its recent calculations have provided plenty of material for thought. Jf the average price

of foodslull's between 1890 and ISO!) is ] given the index number of 100, the | British prices in 1910 represented 108. the New Zealand prices 109, the Canadian. 128, the United States 134, the Germany 125, and the French 101. The striking features of these figures are the comparatively small rises in Britain and New Zealand, and the remarkable steadiness of the prices in France. Britain's advantage undoubtedly arose from her free-trade policy, and it is notable that New Zealand, although a protectionist country, has removed the Customs duties from most foodstuffs which are not produced locally in abundance. France is a laud of small holders, who use the ,ioil to the best advantage and supply their home markets with their own foodstuffs. But even this is not materially easing the significant disparity. We ourselves are seeking for population, and we have a political as well as ii Biblical behest to "keep our cradles full." but the advice comes with anything hut impressivenoss to the man who finds that it costs as much to-day to piovide for a family of two as it did a decade ago to supply a family of four, without any material compensation at the other end of the beam. Of course it is the working-man upon whom the disparity weighs heaviest, and although his attempts at a betterment of his position are not all as well-advised or as logical as they might be, he has still the justification of necessity in seeking a solution of the problem for himself. The problem has, indeed grown to be one of the most serious economic question of the day, and there is need of an Imperial organisation to gather information upon the subject and read its lessons for the benefit of the whole Empire. This social problem, in fact, bids fair, if its dimensions increase, to threaten the supremacy of the race, and social and political economist* would do well to turn their attention to it without further delav.