The Auckland Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. MONDAY, MAY 13, 1912. THE COST OF LIVING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 114, 13 May 1912, Page 4

The Auckland Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

MONDAY, MAY 13, 1912. THE COST OF LIVING.

For the comae «£■* ttekm mmUUntm, For the w*mg that need* rtSMrtagw, For the f*tmrc m the distance, Ami tie good the* we omm da.

At the opening of the last session of Parliament the Governor's Speech pro-' vided a large number of valuable suggestions for public consideration. Not the least interesting of these was the appointment of a Standing Commission if Industrial Investigation representing the landed, industrial, and commercial interests. The scope of the projected inquiry was certainly very comprehensive?, as it included the cost of living, the existence and operation of monopolies, and "other pressing 6ocial and industrial problems, ,, such as unemployment and insurance against sickness. In our opinion there is a distinct need for su;h an investigation, and we hope that the new Prime Minister and his colleagues will see the advisability of carrying into effect in this particular the proposal put forward by Sir Joseph Ward. The work to be undertaken by sucli a Commission would necessarily be heavy. As the '"Evening Poat" recently pointed out, "land, labour, and tariff are al] involved: the system of education has to be considered, the habits of the people have tr> be observed, so that the present 'standard of comfort' may be compared with the standards of other times." Indeed, if the Commission were to carry out Sir Joseph Ward's scheme in its entirety, 'it would have to sketch the lines of a national pojicy covering the primary and secondary industries, which would necessarily bring the land and the tariff under review." Possibly the present Government has hardly contemplated this extensive programme seriously; but we are convinced that any such inquiry, carefully conducted on sound economic line.*, will result in the compilation of a large amount of statistical material of the greatest possible value to the Dominion and its people. Pending further action by the Government, .however, it seems that an inquiry of a limited sort on the lines already indicated has been attempted by the Department of Labour. The statistical information as to the cost of living collected by the Department from yeaj to year has been put together and publiehed in pamphlet form; and the returns for 1910-11 now lie before us. Unfortunately the basis of this investigation is very narrow. The method employed was to issue 2,000 account books to agents in the four chief centres of population, to be distributed among heads of households, and to be returned at the end of twelve months with complete statements of the family expenditure for the period. The inquiry was supposed to be limited to families living on less than £5 a week—as a matter of fact the returns ultimately sent in covered family incomes from £170 a year downward. Unfortunately only 09 of the I,SOO account books issued were kept and returned under the prescribed •conditioru. But though the figures thus rendered available dca.l only with the income of some 300 people, the returns are by no means without value, more especially for comparison with returns recently secured ia Australia, where a similar investigation has just been carried out by fae Federal Labour Department. Taking , together all the Xcw Zealand iamiliss that sent returns, it seems that tho general average of income was £3 14/3, and the average expenditure was £2 10/1 a week. But it is an ominous fac". that families consisting of over four members, and receiving less than £]-13 a year, could not keep tliedr expenditure inside the limits of their income. The general average of expenditure for alj these 69 families earning from £143 to £169 a year was dose on £3 a week, which, taking into account the schedule of charges, suggests that £ 150 a year ■comes near to the lowest limit on which the average small family, including at least two children, can be supported i:i comparative comfort here. It is noteworthy that in the Australian returns dealing with families of approximately the same size and income, the average expenditure is about £2 14/2 per week—considerably below the New Zealand average. But it must be admitted that the Australian figures cover smali towns and rural districts as well as the larger centres, and this probably makea considerable difference in the results. By analysing the general results and comp?ring them with returns from Australia and other countries came very interesting conclusions may be reached. Thus, in regard to the proportion of outlay on separate items of expenditure, it appears that house rent costs 20 per cent, of the average income in New Zealand, against about 174 per cent in America, 15 per cent in Germany and 13 J per cent in Australia. The evidence as to the cost of food is particularly interesting. Taking the average size of the family at this level of income at from four to six members, it seems that the average weekly expenditure on food in New Zealand is about 4/6 per head, as against 5/ in Australia, 5/6 ia the United States, and about 4/S in England and Germany. As to house rent, comparative returns from the four chief centres piace Wellington at the top of the list and Auckland second, whether we take four, five or six-roomed houses ac the

standard. The pamphlet from which we have quoted contains an elaborate analysis of the outlay on all other ordinary charges excluding housing, food, clothing and fuel or light; and a further comparison with the Australiaa figures for families on about the same social and financial level appears to show that we s>pend a good deal lees per head than our Australian friends on alcohol, tram and train fare 3, medicine and sport. The very large extent to which trams are used in our cities is represented by a substantial fraction in the weekly outgoings. We have already pointed out that these figures, being derived from a very sma). number of observations and instances. cannot supply any conclusive evidence of a permanently valuable character as to our social and industrial condition. But the Labour Department at least deserves credit for initiating a system which we hope to see carried out on a far larger scale by the projected Commission of In quiry. In this connection we may point out that an esitremely useful investigation of this sort has been recently con ducted by Dr. J. W. Mclltvraith, of Canterbury College, who in his "Course of Prices in New Zealand" has compiled a large amount of statistical evidence es. tending over the past 50 years, and ha? endeavoured to handle it according to strict economic principles. We cannot find space to follow Dr. Mclhvraith's inquiry just now, but it ie certainly note ■worthy tbat the tables of wholesale ■prices that he has compiled give very little support to the theory that the cost lof living has increased rapidly of late ycare in New Zealand. Evidently there is a vast difference between retail and I wholesale prices in this country, and an 1 inquiry into the operations of "rings' , and i middlemen here would certainly provide I scope for the energies of the promised i Commission. But no satisfactory resul: [ can be Teached on. this question without J allowing ior the great and inevitable rise !in general prices throughout the worid 1 due to the increase in the output of gold and a's consequent loss in purchasing power.