TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 31, 6 February 1925, Page 11

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

iv IM'l -I I.'IAI. TliA.Ml'., r\ii'\ hi i'i'im.s inn -i in-; xxt.kk. Sunil.iv. I - i-:i; in s Mm,,,- Workers. M""1 1 . I • ''in iii ■■'. - workers' annual. rnn.i ■ 'He-. !'■' - "iiJ 1". - Knjrineerli,.. Tr-i.l' - "' :'■ Ill' 11. l\',,|n,-,iin-. 1 ..l.ruiir.i 11 -Aueklnnd far- ).. ll": ■ '-I- 1c,id...,.-,.-. H.„.i,„aK.rs. Krid",-.. V"i' -i'i'ij i'" ' "ciirrli rs. A PROGRESSIVE SPIRIT. M.i ' n...i;- in thi- clumii ,-i fm-t. uieli' nf •'" Ine I'lHcipris,. shown |,v the Mi.l i.-nil Painters' Ci,,,, in ,„.,,. riding 'ic-ii -•' i.-i.-iry x. ill, :, „,., v motor irii'i- ,ii 'i" '"I" skirts ~, t i„. ~j, v | lav< , ,-\. H--1 s .in, interest among i 1,0 other iini,.ii-. iiml '■!,'• nr two ~t' them urc inking si, p.. 1,, provide their officials wiih p-w'-r iiicclcs f,,r n like purpose, l'rogr, -i\c ~- i his. i s i',,,- Auckland, irr are s'lll i "ii-cri al i\ c coiiipared xvith Anici.cni unionists. wliu not , m | v ] mv , muter .i- for organising purposes, but the worker- themselves possess their own ■ -ii - li.r Irniisii 1,, iUI ,| f,.,, m (li.-if ivork. i 'I •■■•in s ( , ihe cist nl' a car in Ihe Nat. - i- cmisideriibly less tlmn hall "1 .i new car tn an Auckland ifiii'k-i r. and benzine is „ M |y out--t'ourtli "I ,! "' I"""-'" i" Hie Uniiiiiiinii. L„ r ,l llirkeidn .nl writing ~f ,|„. prosperity nl Ihe Mniki-is in ihe I ijit t ',| Mate's -ays: "\ siguiiiciiiit illustration of this Iticl limy lie giicit. There are innrc motor cars in ih,- Sim,, nf Nexv York llinn I here arc in ihe whole „f the world ! apart liiun that Si mc. Six out uf ten i w.irkiiig men own -~,,,„ kind ~f ■~ j llivxcr. I. tux-cli'. siixx n great buihliiig | vi process ni" i-iiiistrucl ion in tl„. ' .•nvirniiiiiciits „f I hicago. around which l!S small in,dm- car- ucr,. wniting In carry 11. artisans hnmc after their i day - work. Truly American workers i arc lucky."' Another cxtrnct f,-,,„, ~„ ' exchange: " Ihe nthci- morning txvo labourers were working ~„ a new building. when, ni a i|iiiirter past ci„ht ' -"clock, n stylishly drc-.-cl young lady I droxc up in :i car which xvas not b*v j any means the cheapest make. Out ' steppe,] from ih,. ~;ir a well-dressed ' man, and ns the young hnlv dime oil' I 111. new iminl -ai,l : -Say. lii.l. this the lii'iss ruining-;' -Ih.-s |„, hlowi-d'.' that's ihe plasterer.'' After this who shall say! 1 that the worker is not coming into hi. I' nxvn'.' I. NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL IN i FRANCE. I An official cmnmittee has drawn up » ' preliminary scheme for the statuico <,i llie National Economic Council in - France. The committee proposes that tl oiincil shnuld be composed of SI! ' member* representing the various social and economic forces nf the nation. The council xvill include representatives of the consuming public as xvell :is of , labour and of capital. The representatives of the c..„-„,„i„g ~„i,1i,. xvill re- , present consumers' co-operative societies,, and purchasers' unions, (he Association' nf Mayors and I'niiui of Towns, the 1 . Users of public services, fathers an.l | . mothers of families, and mutual benefit societies. WORLD PRICES ON THE INCREASE. There arc still many who have tlie - id,-., that after gi\-in«_ 'time for the cost ' of ihe war to lie paid, prices of articles as xvell as wages rates xvill revert to ' something near pre-war rates. But it is increasingly evident that those limes have gniie never In return. To a large extent this impression is fostered by ' the fact that the Government Stat is- ' tieian in announcing his periodical I returns of the cost of living, lixes his index number by comparison with the IIM-1 basis, and' also his percentages. The latest index numbers of wholesale prices published by the International Labour Office, those for August and September, show a tendency for prices to rise in certain countries. This movement was most marked in Poland and ' Germany, but xvas also appreciable in ' Belgium, France. Luxemburg. Finland, Sweden. Denmark. Italy, ilic I'nited Kingdom, and the United States. In Austria. Switzerland, Canada, Australia, India and Japan, wholesale prices fell, while in other countries for which new figures arc available the level ! appears to have been stable or the movement insignficant. The cost of living has recently been remarkably stable in nearly all countries, and in very fexv cases is a change nf more than one per cent, indicated by the , latCHt figures. The object of the National Economic Council is to consider questions concerned xvith the economic life of the country, to liud solutions fur such questions, and to propose to the Government the adoption of these solutions. "WHY FOOD IS DEAR. Following the appointment of a commission to investigate food prices in Britain, there lias been a lively discussion of the subject in the British press. Writing to "flic Times," Mr. F. .1. Blakemore suggests that the high prices for foods may be attributed to two specific circumstances. The first is the change in tlie economic conditions of food-producing countries and the second I is the change ill the habits of life ot j the peoples of the world. He remarks j that, even before tlie war there had I been a gradual tendency for the cost of j living to rise in Britain, and tliat- xvas j due in the main to the fact that the j development of agriculture xvas grad-j nally being s-acriliced to the development of industry. In ISIM Germany, xvho had been a considerable exporter of dairy produce, ceased to produce .surplus food goods, and instead diverted supplies to her shores from Denmark. Sweden and Holland which had been coming into Britain. The years IUOIMOI4 saw a similar transition in the fond exports of the , United Stales. Since the elimination j of Government control of food supplies, j the law of supply nnd demand has operated fully nnd freely, ami there-j fore the reduction in the exports, ml food goods from those countries to Britain and their importation of dairy | produce !, au , hud ii vi'i'v profound influence ii] food prices'. As to the second cans,,. Mr. Blakemore -ays that the tastes of the people, so far as food goods arc concerned, have greatly im- ! proved 5i,,,,, the war. This may be partly due to the demand for :i higher standard m' lix inp. but tbe effect "f fioveriiiiien: ,-ontrol dining the war bus influenced ihe position considerably by j aceustoniiiic p,.,,ph> to foods of higher quality imported from Europe. Tastes | and habit- across the seas ale chunk'- [ »g. The Easiern races, particularly •Japan, are year by year consuming «">re wheal and Western food rather tlian rice and Eastern food, xvhich previously obtained. Large cargoes ot Australian xvheat were this year shipped to Japan instead of io Britain. i