WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 102, 2 May 1929, Page 20

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

COST OF LIVING. HIGH IN CAPITAL* PROVINCIAL COMPARISONS. (From Our Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Mar 1. Since tie war Wellington has. borne the unsought reputation of being the most costly place of residence among the four large cities of the Dominion, and, according to the "Abstract of Statistics," just issued by the Government Printer, it deserves this "evil report." The Government Statistician has taken as the basis of his comparison the figure 1000 as representing the average prices prevailing in July, 1914, the month before the outbreak of the Great War, and has shown the subsequent annual increases and fluctuations. It would be tedious to enumerate the average prices for commodities and rent year by year between 1914 and 1929; but it may be said that by 1915 the average prices for groceries had risen from the figures 1000 to the figure 1167; for dairy produce from 1000 to 1091; for meat, from 1000 to 1096; for fuel and light, from 1000 to 1013; for clothing and footwear from 1000 to 10S9; for miscellaneous commodities, from 1000 to 1025; and for rent from 1000 to 1010. The average for the whole of the groups combined was an advance from 1000 to 1072. By the conclusion of the war, at the end of 1918, the combined figure had reached 1426.

The Four Cities. The 'figures for the four large centres of the Dominion—Auckland, Wellington, Christ-church, and Dunedin—all starting from the index number 1000 in July, 1914, showed very substantial increases in February, 1929 though they did not reach the high levels touched in 19lS?and 1920, the tWb years following upon the conclusion of the war. The average level of prices at the beginning of the present year was 1600 in Auckland, 1773 in Wellington, 1596 in Christchurch, and 1540 in Dunedin. Bent was the highest factor in each of these centres. Compared with the index number in 1914 (1000), Auckland showed an increase of 84.6 per cent, Wellington 145.8 per cent, Christchurch 90.7 per cent, j.nd Dunedin 71.5" per cent. It is rent, of - course,, that makes Wellington the most costly place of residence in the Dominion. In the three food groups— groceries, dairy produce, and meat —it compares favourably with the other centres. Dunedin's current figure in these groups is 1490, Auckland's 1480, Wellington's 1463, and Christchurch's 1450, comparisons which the Labour members of the Christchurch City Council may be trusted to exploit to the fullest advantage in the interests of the municipal markets. Smaller Centres. Dealing with some of the smaller towns in the same way as he has dealt with the larger ones, the Government Statistician shows that, so far as the three food groups are concerned, it is no cheaper to live in the rural centres than in the urban centres. In the urban centres Wellington, in February last, showed an increase of 44.5 per cent upon the prices ruling in July, 1914. Auckland an increase of 45.3 per cent, Christchurch an increase of 48.0 per cent, and Dunedin an increase of 53.9 per cent. Taihape showed an increase of only 37.4 per cent, Greymouth 38.3 per cent, Napier 40.2 per cent, Alexandra 42 per cent, and Oa-maru 42.3 per cent. But against these comparatively moderate increases there are in the list many substantial ones. The Blenheim figure has increased by 61.2 per cent, the Palmerston North by 58.4 per cent, the Masterton by 53.1 per cent, the Wanganui by 54.2 per cent, and the Waihi by 52.2 per cent. Obviously in this respect the rural districts are faring -no better than the urban.

Power of Money. In another table in the current issue of the "Abstract of Statistics," which probably will bring the whole matter of prices to the closer understanding of the average observer, the Government Statistician shows how the sovereign of • 1914 has declined in purchasing power today. In the groceries group it now represents only 11/11; in the dairy produce group, only 14/9; in the meat group only 14/6. In "the rent group it is worth 10/6; in the fuel and light group 11/3; in the clothing and footwear group 13/10, and in the miscellaneous group 12/2. Taking' the whole of these groups into account the purchasing power of the sovereign had fallen between December, 1927, and December, 1925, from 12/5 to 12/4, a decline of one penny. It is a popular assumption that the increase in the cost of living with the outbreak of the war and started to decline with the termination of hostilities; but as a matter of fact peak prices were not reached until two or three years after the conclusion of the war, and to-day the cost of living in New Zealand is substantially higher than it was when the nations.laid down their ■arms, more than ten years ago.