WELLINGTON NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 September 1918, Page 5

WELLINGTON NOTES.

INCREASES W WAGES. VIEWS OF LABOR. By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent. Wellington, Last Night. A special reporter obtained some views of representative men as .the the schedule prepared by the Government Statistician showing increases of wages during the war peripd, which has created considerable interest in. Labor circles. It is agreed that the figures present the true position, but it is feared that if they are taken alone they might create a false idea. Labor does not admit that the increases are proportionate with the increased cost of necessaries. The wages figures published covered thirty-three groups, the average increase being roughly 17 per cent.

The latest figures published by the Government Statistician, covering" three food groups only, show the following war increases: Groceries, 42.05; dairy produce, 30.33; meat, 37.12. The above are weighted averages, the whole Dominion average for the three groups being 39.35. The difference between the increased prioes and increased wages is 21.65 per cent, in favor of the former. The official figures dp not cover clothing, under which head cotton alone shows an increase of ,200 per cent. Footwear, too, has increased enormously. It is contended by Labor that there is absolutely no justification for the big increases in local products, such as dairy produce and meat. Labor is very seriously considering what steps it can reasonably take in order to readjust matters more to its liking.

UNFIT FOR ACTIVE SERVICE.

QUESTION OF DRILL EXEMPTION. A representative of the Defence Department, in reply.to Mr. Frazer, S.M., at' the Magistrate's Court, to-day, stated that the Department was treating men classed as unfit for active service as exempted from Territorial drills,' pending the decision of the Supreme Court in an appeal to be brought to test a ruling by Mr. S. E. McCarthy, S.M., on this question. It will be remembered that there are two conflicting magisterial decisions on this point. INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC ABATING. _ Influenza continues to take toll of the civilian community in Wellington, but the epidemic is abating at Trentham Camp. To-day the admissions tp hospital were only 29—about half the average number for the past few days.