LOWER WAGES

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20743, 1 March 1939, Page 9

LOWER WAGES

JUSTIFICATION ARGUED FALL IN EXPORT VALUES THE COST OF LIVING * (Special to Times) WELLINGTON, Tuesday The contention that if the factors which prompted the Court to increase wages in 1937 were examined to-day they would justify a reduction was made by Mr H. E. Otley, a timber merchant, of Christchurch, in giving evidence befpre the Court of Arbitration to-day in the Dominion enginedrivers’ dispute. He appeared on behalf of kiln operators in the Dominion. Mr Otley recalled that when pronouncing standard rates of wages for casual workers on September 8, 1937, Mr Justice O’Regan had said:. “The position of New Zealand’s exports is quite healthy. Wool prices have increased substantially and should be maintained if not further increased.” Overseas Trade "If the rates were based on that assumption,” said Mr Otley, “the present position would justify a reduction in the casual hourly rate. For Lhe. year ended December, 1938, the value of the Dominion’s exporls decreased by 12.5 per cent from the previous year, the figures being £66,713,379 and £58,376,283. Imports over the same period dropped by 1.3 per cent from £56,160,695 to £55.422,189. The excess of exports showed a substantial drop. For 1937 the excess was £10,552,684, and for 1938 £2,954,094, a drop of £7,598,590 or 72 per cent.” Wages and Living Costs Mr Otley added that wool sold during 193 G-37 was valued at £14,900,000, or 15.82 d per lb., for 193738 £8,800,000, or 10.04 d per lb. The net drop was £6,100,000, or 36.5 per cent. -Cost of living statistics were quoted by Mr Otley, who said that from 1928 to 1935 wages were slightly ahead of the cost of living, but from that period on they had increased rapidly, forcing up cost of living, although remaining substantially above it. Between 1935 and 1938 the increase in the nominal wage index was 27.7 per cent and the increase in the cost of living retail prices (all groups) was 15.5 per cent. In 1936 wages were 9.9 per cent ahead of the cost of living, in 1937 12.2 per cent, and in 1938 13.3 per cent. Mr Otley made the point that there was no particular reason for wages to be so substantially above the cost of living, more so as they increased all other costs.