COST OF LIVING

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3091, 23 May 1917, Page 6

COST OF LIVING

PUBLIC SERVANTS' DEMANDS SOCIALISTIC PROPOSALS GOVERNMENT SHOULD COMMANDEER AND SELL CHEAP Another complaint about the cost of living was made by a delegation from the State Servants' Association *wliicli waited upon the Acting-Prime Minister yesterday. This body comprises all associations of State servants, including tho Teachers' Institute. Mr. 0.-AUport, Secretary for Marine, and also president of the Public Service Association, read to the Minister a written statement, which he declared re[iiesented the considered opinion of the council of the association. He read that owing to the large increase in the cost of living the council of the State Servants' Association had, al'lier ■careful consideration, come to the conclusion that the time had arrived when, in the interests of their 21i,000 members, they must approach the Government with a request for some relief. Ones of the proposals that Ihe council had considered was tlmt a demand should 1» made for a special increase in wages, but they had at length come to the conclusion that >i better and fairer way to tho community in general would be to take steps to obtain a reduction in the prices of food and clothing to something like pre-war prices. He quoted the Government Statistician's percentage figures to show that the rise in prices had been considerable. He admitted that theTO •jiiah!: l -! ! dilHeulty iu controlling the prices of goods brought to Now Zealand from abroad, but he suggested that no such 'difficulty existed in ihg regulation of prices of goods produced in New Zealand.

Farm the Land. As to the method by which the Government should proceed to supply cheap food he made a suggestion in the following terms:— "If it becomes necessary iu the interests of tho people we would urge that the State should take over the farms and other means of production in the country and work them during the war, paying;" their owners- a fair rent for them, and perhaps employing the owners or managers to manage them. The men. who have been balloted but provo unfit for military service could then be employed by the State on the work of pror auction and distribution i" the countrv. No man unfit for military service could reasonably object to this. It mnst. however, be clearly understood that while wo do not object to such of our members who are unfit for military service being employed on such State service as I have sup-rested, we do most stronglv obiect to their being required to -work for private persons either on farms or in other avocations, as we believe that no person who is called up in the ballot should be compelled to work for the private profit of another. Tt. was suesosted, also, that the Government could proceed to commandeer produce bv fakins from tho accumulation of meat and other, produce now held in this countrv awaiting shipment, ami that the task of fixing' m'ices might be lelt to the Arbitration Court.

MINISTER IN REPLY THE IDEAS EXAMINED. Sir James Allen said that tho National Government and the Government which had preceded it had been anxious ever since the beginning of tho Avar to keep down the cost of living, but to keep down the cost of living iu war time was extraordinarily difficult. 'The deputation had admitted that the Government had no power to control the cost of imported commodities, and no power to control tho freights to be charged. They know what the Government had done with regard to meat—meat could now bo purchased wholesale from the freeziug stores at tho prices at which it had been purchased for the Imperial authorities, and it could be retailed at a correspondingly cheap price to the people of New Zealand. "Do- you suggest," he asked, "that we should commandeer meat at a lower price than the Imperial Government are paying for it?" Voices: Certainly, certainly, sir. Sir James Allen: Very well, I shall submit that question tq. Cabinet, and see what Cabinet says about it. He went on to refer to what tho Government had dono regarding the price of wheat, flour, and bread. The Government had, ho said, fixed prices for these commodities, and hoped to be able to maintain those prices until the end of tho war if it was possible to do so. It was within tho knowledge of the deputation that New Zealand had not grown sufficient wheat for its own requirements inrecent years, and that in all probability we should have to buy wheat from elsewhere next season. Did the deputation suggest that it would be. fair to the Now Zealand farmer that the Government shold pay more for that wheat than it allowed to the New Zealand farmer? Mr. Allport: We suggest that the New Zealand farmer should receive a price equal to tile price obtained beiore tho war, together with the increased cost of production. Sir James Allen: Then you are faced ■with the question of whether the New Zealand farmer will grow wheat. Mr. Allport: If ho will not, we thini the Government should take over tin farms, and grow wheat. Sir James Alien: Do you, then, put it forward as a practical suggestion, that the Government should take over all the farms? Mr. Allport: Yes, we do. Sir .'lames Allen: Very well, I shall submit this as your practical suggestion to Cabinet; but I don't think Cabinet will-consider it a practical suggestion Our Position Good. The Minister, continuing, said that New Zealand was in a better position so far as the cost of living was concerned than any other country in the world. As to the increases that had occurred, lie would be very much obliged if they would get from their members particulars of actual increases in expenditure. Tie did not want the information in percentages, but in actual increases in cost. He would be very glad to have this information gathered as widely as possible, to give as exact figures as possible for the increase in the cost of living of the mail with a family living on an income of JL'3OO a year or less. Then it would be passible to see to what extent the extra cost of living was covered by the 10 per cent, bonus. -For the ordinary public must understand that Public. Servants had received a war bouus, and. so far as he knew, the payment of the bonus would be continued. Mr. Hampton: Why not take the Government Statistician's figures? Sir James Allen said that ho did not want percentages, because he knew how misleading these could bo, "but the actual facts as discovered by experience. He had been making some investigations into the cost of living of_other workers outside the Public Service, and he was beginning to see a little daylight. He wished to have the exact facts, "and no Mini bug uJjout it." "

About Sacrifice. While the war lasted everybody had to make sacrifices. Even the man with an income of from ,£3OO to »I'soo a year had to make sacrifices when he went to the war. Indeed, these, men had his great sympathy. Something had been done for them in the way of extra financial assistance, for the nayiuont of rent, interest, and insurance, and he was glad to say that the scheme for the giving of this financial assistance was now in working order. It had dealt with a very large number of cases, and many allowances were being recommended for soldier.-. Hut the men who remained behind here in Zealand in safety were not called upon to make any sacrifico of their lives. He suggested that they were culled upon to make some sacrifice for New Zoaland, and he wag perfectly certain that the Public Servants were willing to do this. Ho did not suppose that tlio.v were asking from the Government that all the extra cost of thejwa.r should bo made up to them. Mr. Hampton; Why should the wool-.

growers insist on getting a fifty-five per cent, increase on pre-war prices? Sir James Allen said that tho Government did not fix tho price of wool. This was fixed by the Imperial Government. But tho Government had imposed upon tho wool-growers what they had never had before—an income tax—and the Government had also taken from the woolgrowers by taxation 45 per cent, of their excess profits. It would be apparent when the finances for the year were availablo how heavy had been the levy made upon the -wool-growers and the other people earning excess profits. There were, however, a great many men who were not making fortunes on the land. Some farmers who had been trying to grow' wheat in the droughtstrioken districts had not only not made a. profit but had made an actual loss. He thought the Public Servants should show some little sympathy for the farmers who ha<l suffered losses. They ought to have tfllnie little sympathy also for the dairy farmer who toiled early and lato iu tho most uncomfortable conditions. It was true that they had got more for their butter, but he questioned whether the small dairy farmer had made any more money than he was making before the war, and ho did not think they should seek to exploit these men.

All he could say was that tUp facts as placed before him were riot sufficient for him to form a sound judgment as to what the extra cost of living to Public Servants had been. The statement would be submitted to Cabinet, and this was all he could say in the meantime.