THE PRICE LEVEL

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21631, 15 November 1935, Page 14

THE PRICE LEVEL

IREI.ATiONSHIi 3 TO COST! ! IN RECENT YEARS j MCONO.MJC TKKXUS KEVIEWEI I BY MINISTER ..-: ia hi, '!<.-> -rut rio.ss.) GKRALDrNE. November M. !■,:...a ■. si in'- graphs giving a jiictur' •a" die iiidvi'iivil of prices during th ia: i low ;. ears atal iUustrat in;.; th diliictih.io.-; in brinain;; trnether the re 'aii. price \< vol and. the low price ■iceived by fanners, for iheir produc were u--ed b." the Postmaster-Genera ti-o riou. Adam Hamilton) whei -p:al:e; ;--l a social yathcrine a Geraldkio y-iMeraay. Aii' ilamilfeu said lhat. ftom Ihwanh b would be noticed lhat start he.; on Ihe basis Jfll-h the fai-mers hat .ei o\-er the rest of ihi communhy up till JO2O. This had bee; ;. period when, in hi:; opinion, a .urea mistake had been matte. The mune; rweived from Ino rise in.prices dur i; .: bio war .should have been com maiMt eeed for war purposes. Farmer i.oub.i have been eiveu from 2(1 pe wnt. to kb per rent, of this rise U met; n.-iny cosis, and ihe balane; :-b. -übi lii-e.-e been taken to pay for th; '.'.ar. Vvli-in there would liave lleei oeari. v.'iolle.ll lo iia\'e imiinced th, l .', ar wiibout boi'i-o\\-im.a Ihiriii;- thi P, rir,d tlu l.iniiiib price level' ha, rbaa: ie a point about li:j per cent ab< \e Ihi- Jii-e-war level. A 'it ;i)!)!)iarv Decline 'l'bo !!*22 .-.lump was indicated bv ; b.ll ironi Ihe above budi. price" b n.-'u'i> I'll i-'-f i".")l ab.ivt: Ihe IMb f. \ ■ i. or a dt op el more Ihiiii -1(1 pe: ere!. The !:,22 i-luniu had been, bow ev; j'. wrv sheri-li > i d. and lii'ict--. :ia, risen :■:.■;,in ::ll bu-y reaehetl. in l!'2r 2a. iuaiier prii ■-.'-,■; loan a:>\ tiiiua dm in the '.car perio... The iariiicr... ai-.ain for ihese i-ro veai -. hati Jiad an an V.'i.'ir.y !",■■;■ the rr.-l of the con; imeb'.y. b would be nolieeo ihiit th. br'a i -:noi t oriois hat) reached th, phenomena! level of about VI p, , een! abo\e pre-war level. The veai lib:!, aoti 1!i27 had ex|)erieneed a i'aiib s.hai'p ilroii, 'l'b.e years l!J2li-Hl2!i hat been a:;ain rea'-'enabiy trood year, wiidi illlil), 11)21. and ' 1!I22 wiliicsse.. tb.e phenomenal drop in exoorl prices bronchi abeui by a fall in puces i. Hie Worltl's. m; rkei>. In Ibik! and llfia. c-niiniioi Mr llamilien. expert prices had reached tin phenomenally low level of 20 oer cent bebw Ihe 1!)1 J . level, while IWI. iba.2, and i!j:;.2 had been Hie worst throi >e: r.- of the' depro.wiun. In bi:;:i-!92-l Two i'aciers had eonlribuled to this rin-: !.-•.-■]. "tiic raisinu of the exchama iu -biuiiary. ltlib't, to v.\2r> for ,C 100, I oiKioo. and ;i! ; n a substantial rise, especiaby in iia- price of wool. Al the at. ninniii- o! l!i;ja there had been a firopback ai;ain in the pi ice level, but since Aucus, thci-e hiiii been ;: recovery. Retail Trice Trends The r"ta:l priet: line indicated teal the. reward to Ihe rest of Ihe comiminity !.'•!.• tfefi behioti the' exporters Ifotn l!)bl lo !!)20. when the rise had been abt til HO pe:- cent, above pre-war. whr-'e il hati continued fairly regular "ntil about 1020. Takim, an' average fro'fii 191-1 lil! about 11)20. it woidr) be seen that Ihe farmers or exporh rr. hati received about equal upl-and-downs in rewards with Ihe res! ' m' Hit 1 to.nmuity. but alter 1020 the i;;.p widi n-.-d way maea'alle ie retail p-'a-r... ihomd' iallim; subslant lall v. h:.il not lalU'ti anyibii;:: like the same eai e.ii a.- . .\e-o I prices had dic:e. It n -ml 'prices had ::dien l'i-em about tit' i.ie;- o.'iit. above ihe pre-war level to about 2a per c, nl. above. Il was no! anlic.paled thai Ihe lines uidicaiim.; i!k- farmers' export prices and retail prices would ever come b,-.;.''! her liLiain. s;iitl Air fiamlUon, but il w.-..-. t-s-sential liiat ,hcy should be bi-ou-bl iiito some reasonable' relation:hii). and if export prices, could be maintained round about or above the 1.M4 level, ami retail prices (or external, eost.-o could be about 20 per cent, above, the economic posit inc. could then be n asonabl.y handled, and both exporters and the rest of the ce'iur.imiij would, receive some relative iewaids. HON. ADAM HAMILTON AT TK.MUKA l«M-:\ lIA\ OF !'iNAN( IAI. POSITION 'lie- iioo. Adam Hamilton. I'ost-masbrr-Geueral. addresst.'d a meet in.", of ('Lectors in the Elite Tiie-;.ti-e, T'-muka, on Wednesday cvenin:;. The Mayor tlMr A. W. Buzan'i pre.-irif:fl. The Minister said that; the aim ot the Government, was lo improve th'.' price.-; of New Zealand's products and brim; I lit.- costs down as the country could not afford to have its export, indndry ruined. Tie did not expect ><■ set tile' costs down very easily, but the Government was working steadily n; that direction. He had tried If. mid a country thai, had come thromih lii.e depression like New Zealand, but bad. faded. Speaking on the iinancial position, he said that iu three years depositors, had drawn !20.000.0U0 from the Pusi Olliee Savings Bank out of the enormous sum deposited. The Government had faced a heavy deficit and now not one depositor had been refused his money when he applied for if; not many other countries could say thai. There was mere than. .1:50,000,000 in liie Post Office Savings flank to-day. While the opponents: of the Government wore busy urm'ng the chanee ul the monetary system, Ihey had fmiie ior.aotier. lo state lhat the Government had cut down the interest bub A sum of C 1.000,000 had been s; \ ot!. wmch had made it possible for local, bodies to convert their loans lo -!', pei' eenb Quite a lot of people :!ii>u:.'.lit. lhat; Ibis action was too dr.is! ic: if hati, however, allowed people io nu ei their obligations. .'.'.peakin*; of the rate of exchange. the Minister said lhat the Democrats wanted to take Ihe exchange l off by d'oaTces and subsidise those who needed il; that v<«s not; good enough: all shoind bo entitled 1o be treated a; the one way. The Labour party would take eft the exchange rate and have auarariteed prices, but if omitted to explain how the difference way to be made up or where the money was id i.T-i'iic from. in conclusion, the Minister praised Ihe work of Mr .Burnett, who was present on the stage, saying Ihal he loped the electors would again return !'. i m. Mr ,1, O. J. Oliver moved a vote of iiianks to ihe Minister, which was, :■ arried by acclamation. CHUISTCHURCH EAST Mr S. W. Richardson, National caniidafe for Christchurch East, adIressed a meeting at the Rechabite lall, St. Asaph street, last evening. /Ir R. Webb presided. The candidate poke on the lines of his previous adiresses, and after dealing with a numicr of questions, was accorded a hearty ote of thanks on the motion of Mrs loughin, seconded by Mr A. Evans. Mr H. T. Armstrong. Labour candilate for Christchurch East, addressed a ;ood attendance at the East Christhurch School last, night. Mr J. E. tones presided. Mr Armstrong was iccorded a unanimous vote of thanks iiid confidence.