The press FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1918. The Cost of Living.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16214, 17 May 1918, Page 6

The press FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1918. The Cost of Living.

p During the recent short .session of Par- '* liament the Prime Minister made a t statement in which lie refuted very effectively the .allegation that the Go-

vernment haß done nothing to check' the steady increase in the cost of liv-

ing. There are certain leading factors tending to bring about this increase which it is doubtful if any Governmont can control. These are thus sumriiarised in a report of the Board of Trade which Mr Massey read to the jl v House: —

"(a) Supply of money outstripping tlio volume of trade." "(b) Gigantic purchases made by every belligerent .Power for food ft . ■ products, equipment, and every sort v. . of jnunitionment; '"(c) Withdrawal of huge .'armies . of men frpm productive work, and i tjio consequent - U J "(d) Serious diminution in the r* . ' production of the prime necessaries of life; ' 'i "(a) Depreciation in the value of ' labour owing to the best men having joined the Expeditionary Forces." * Of these factors the first, which has to do with the inflation of the currency, is • tfce only one in our judgment which is . * capable of being modified by Government action, and'it must be admitted that so--far ; our own Government has made no attempt to deal with this aspect of the question. On tlio contrary, V by defraying the whole cost of the war out of loan money, instead of paying as much as possible out of current taxation, tho Government is helping to bring about inflation of prices. Tho same result will bo produced unless the people apply themselves more seri- .. ously to the task of inakics fresh sav--1 . ings to invest in tho WarTioan instead of relying so much on bank credits for that purpose. Apart from this aspect of the ease Mr Massey was able to make an exs : ceedingly good defence for the Government. He showed that the Board of Trade have been exceedingly active to - prevent anything like exploitation; ..■■■■ Statistics show that t food-prioes have advanced during the war-period to a lesser degree in this Dominion than in qny other part of the British Empire. All suggested charges of exploitation / : Vftve been referred to' the Board of fradq! for investigation, and• the result tpf. their, enquiries shows that no undue has been taken of the con.atjltyipg public. In all cases inveati-|jfated.-hy the Board where increases in place, it -has been

proved that prices are not in excess of those quoted to merchants for restocking. It will be news to many of our readers to learn that the Board now exercise control over 57 main commodities dealt in by wholesale grocery merchants. These are mainly imports. They are also arranging the control of tho prices of all classes of goods manufactured in the Dominion, such as, for instance, soap, candles, condensed milk, jams, biscuits, matches, baking powder, etc. It is, of course, impossible to prevent some rise in the prices of imported articles because there is not only an increased cost of production, but freights have been enormously increased. Incidentally Mr Massey mentioned that the freight and charges on one hundredweight of butter now amount to no less than £1 13s 3d. What tho Board docs do. however, after coing into .the facts of the case, is to see that undue profits are not chargcd by the importers. 1o prevent undue increases in the prices of hams and bacon, the export of these commodities was stopped. Perhaps tho Government's greatest success has iecn in the matter of sugar. Arrangements have been made between the Board of Trad© and the Colonial Sugar Company tho effect of which is that in spite of further rises in prices throughout tho world, tho supplies for New Zealand are maintained to the consumer at the samo prices as hitherto existed. Tho advantage which New Zealand enjoys by reason of this arrangement will be seen from the following comparison of sugar prices:—Now Zealand, £22; New South Wales, £29 ss; Victoria, £29 7s 6d; South Australia, £29 17s 6d; Western Australia, £31: America, f.o.b. New York, £33 15s: Great Britain £41 12s 6d. Taking prices as a whole New Zealand occupies a most highly favoured position, as is shown by tho following statement, giving the percentages of increases, in the cost of living in different countries since the war broke out: Austria, 211.6; Germany, 110.5; United Kingdom. 102; Norway, 144; Sweden 77; Holland 91; United States, 41; Canada, 44; Australia, 29; New Zealand, 27.4. The truth is that the majority of New Zealanders do not know how well off they are as compared with other nations during this time of stress and stringency. Instead of grumbling they have every reason to •be profoundly grateful for the blessings they enjoy.