FEELING PINCH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 189, 12 August 1939, Page 15

FEELING PINCH.

CONSUMERS IN CITY.

WAGES AND LIVING COSTS.

WHAT SOCIAL. SURVEY SHOWS.

City families arc feeling the pinch of dear food and the rising cost of living. This i* the outstanding conclusion reached by the New Zealand Consumers' League in a social survey, not yet completed, of conditions in Auckland homes.

The league was formed early this year and has enlisted the services of experienced women investigators, as well as other experts. Although it originated ,u Palmerston North, its chief field of investigation has been the Auckland di-t riot.

In i ■articular the league is endeavouring to determine the proportion of wages and other incomes required to meet living expenses and to arrive ut the allocation of domestic expenditure into various grou|m for rent, groceries, bread, meat, vegetable*, fruit, light and fuel, amusements and the amount of savings of the average family. The figures compiled disclose a wide variation from those published in the New Zealand Ollicial Year Book. More Fruit and Vegetables. An attempt is also being made to ascertain tlio increase in consumer demand which would occur it' the average family had an additional 10/ available to spend each week. The answers so far received to this query show the existence of two distinct grou]*. In the city the desire of the housewife is almost universally for a plentiful supply of foodstuffs of good quality, including fresh fruit and vegetables, and for more variety in children's diets. Country coiii-umcrs. on the other hand, indicate a preference for more kitchen equipment, better home furuiehings and annual holidays.

From (lie early results of its work the league has found that there is no lack of material for an inquiry into prices and the cot of living. After its fnid-

have been chocked tho evidence will be tubulated for ?iilunist-inn if necessary to the < Jovonunoiit Price Investigation I'rihunal. Jt is liojx'd to have this aspect of tlie work well advanced before the league hold-' its tirst Dominion convention, probably next month. The developmental activities immediately in hand include an organised tour of the WaiUato and the Hay of Plenty, to be conducted by Colonel S. .T. K. t'losoy, the league's Dominion orptniscr.

Objectives of League. Explaining the objectives of the organisation to-day, Colonel C'loscy said they consisted of the organised examination of commodities and foodstuffs for sale, in regard to price*, quality, value, service, sales systems and policies, and the preparation of reports containing the results of such inquiries. In order to deal with the various phases of consumer welfare involved various committees had been set up. and the whole of the activities in the Auckland district were being co-ordinated under a provincial council.

In embarking on its investigation into diets and food values, he continued, the league had found that Auckland was more "food conscious"' than other centre** of the Dominion, tine largely to the work already carried out here by a number of experts. Dr. <"!. H. Chapman, who had had wide experience in this direction, hnd been appointed to the leagues Dominion council to direct its food inquiries throughout New Zealand.

Guidance From United States. To assist in building up the organisation, ho said, a committee had Ix'en appointed to assemble literature from local and overseas sources, dealing with consumers' interests and the scope and policies <if consumer groups, particularly in the Tinted States, where, in recent years, the movement had assumed remarkable proportions. Business interests in America had linked up with the consumer organisations at various points, and in some areas the movement hnd spread with (surprising rapidity. The (leneral Federation of Women's Clubs, with 2,000.000 members, was co-operat-ing, and had exercised a powerful influence on trade practices, its outstanding success being the standardisation of the description of textile products offered for sale to the public.

Colonel Closey stated that the New Zealand movement had been closely in touch with that in America, and the mas« of information obtained would be examined for guidance in tackling New Zealand problems. Special interest attached to a "temporary national economic committee," which had been set up in the United States for the investigation of price levels.

Interests of Consumers. As a definition of the interests of tlic consumers, lie stated, tlie league in tlic Dominion had adopted a declaration made at Washington in May last: "In a system of free enterprise the choices which consumers make in tho spending of their money provide the ultimate test of competitive virtue and distribute the rewards according to merit. We believe that whatever else may l>e recommended to improve the functioning of economic affairs towards abundance, stability and security, there can be no assurance that the benefits of such improvements will pass to the consumer in tangible and specific additions to the standard of living unless and until the consumer is given an active and significant role in the t cononiic system. There can be no free enterprise if the citizen as « consumer is not also free." On the basis of a policy devised to promote the interests of consumers in New Zealand along the lines laid down in this statement, concluded Colonel Closey, tlic league was working out a broad development plan.

Mr. A. Strongman, of -A Pine Street, Mount Eden, who whs injured in a collision with a car while riding his motor cycle at the corner of Balmoral and Dominion Road on Thursday morning, is still in a eerious condition.

Encyclopaedia."