A DEARER LOAF

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 153, 25 March 1925, Page 8

A DEARER LOAF

BAKERS’ ACTION CRITICISED DEPUTATION’S PROTEST TO THE GOVERNMENT SIR F. BELL AND MINISTERIAL ANXIETY A protest against the increased price ot bread, which has lately been levied by the bakers in Wellington was the subject ot a deputation consisting of the three local Labour members of Parliament, Messrs. P. Fraser, A. L. Monteith, and R. McKeen, which waited upon Sir Francis Bell yesterday.

Mr. Fraser at the outset recalled that the price of Hour was decontrolled on February 28, and on March 1 the price went up from £l5 10s. to £l9 per ton, which, no doubt, he said, was in response to a world movement in wheat prices. He said they had a suspicion that Distributors Ltd. had also something to do with this increase. He contended, together with his colleagues, that the extra Id. on the 21b. loaf in Wellington was not justified, and the Minister of Commerce, the Hon. J. G. Anderson, had indicated this to the bakers themselves. A fair average of the number of loaves baked out of a ton of flour, remarked Mr. Eraser, was 1300, and the increase of a Id. on a 21b. loaf which had been imposed in Wellington gave an increase per ton of £5 Bs. 4d. The actual increase in the price of. flour was £3 10s. per ton, so that the bakers were charging £1 18s. 4d. over and above what they had to pay out on the extra price of flour petton. ■ Mr. Anderson and the Board ot Trade considered that at the present time no action should be taken, but the deputation was there that day, said Mr. Fraser, to urge that the time had come for something to be done. This increase meant that a considerable amount of money was being put in the bakers’ pockets without their giving anything in return.

Nothing in Return. If the number of houses in Wellington was taken at 18,000, and there was allowed for each about ten loaves per week, it would be found that this would take about 138 tons of flour a week, and the bakers, as a result, would net about £164 per week in addition to what they legitimately charged. In return for this the bakeis were not giving any extra service or extra commodity, and it was felt that this was a matter with which the Government should grapple. The amount of the increase per ton justified more than a halfpenny on a 21b. loaf, but it did not justify a Id. increase. He realised there was a difficulty in adjusting it, but it might be done over a quantity, and he felt that Mr. Anderson and the Board of Trade could deal with it. There had been a big slump in the price of flour in Britain, America, and now Australia, and that might affect New Zealand. "We believe that the farmers of this .oimtrv should be paid sufficient to enable them to grow wheat in this country ” said Mr. Fraser. “We are not complaining about a fair price being paid to the wheat growers; at the same time we think the matter should be closely watched, for we do. not think the present price of bread is justified. In regard to the price of flour, we believe the millers rather than j the farmers are benefiting by the increased price. The bakers in Wellington are not entitled to charge an extra Id. for a 21b. loaf, and if the Government established a bakery in Wellington to keep a record of the prices so that \vc could ascertain Sir Francis Bell: Why do you not start a municipal bakery ? Mr. Fraser: I have advocated it for a considerable time. Sir Francis Bell: A Government bakery in Wellington means Government bakeries all over the country, and if the urgency is great you have the statutory power to establish a municipal bakery.

History Repeated. Mr. McKeen said during 1916 a similar position in regard to the price of flour had arisen, and after an exhaustive inquiry by the Board of trade it came to the conclusion that the distribution of the food supply of the Dominion could not be left to an unregulated svstem of supply and demand. The same contention, lie said, applied to the situation to-day. In the. past every rise in flour meant a halfpenny rise in the case of the 41b. loaf, and on figures which he quoted he submitted that the price of bread, a 41b. loaf over the counter, ought to be 10fd., and as the Hoard of Trade had formerly allowed Ijd. for delivery, lljd. ought to be charged when delivered. Mr McKeen was proceeding to quote the instances of the Government’s attitude towards the meat shops in 1917 when the Minister interpolated: “We have not the powers now like we had * Mr McKeen recalled that the Government's action then was responsible for reducing the price of meat throughout the Dominion. Sir Francis Bell: I was a member of the National Government ami Parliament did not interfere with us then. The National Government was arbitrary and Parliament backed them up in everything they did, but I cannot be arbitrary now. Mr. McKeen: There would be nothing to hinder the Board of 1 rade doing now what it did then. Sir Francis Bell: In regard to the price, we have still the power, but we have not the power as regards the starting of a State. Bakery. Mr. McKeen said they would be extremely pleased if the Government could go into this matter again and bring a just solution to the problem. It was quite obvious that if the figures were correct as laid before the Board of Trade in 1917, the price to-day should be IOJd. fir a 41b. loaf over the counter and lljd. delivered. Mr. Monteith said that as a result of world conditions we were likely to have cheaper flour in New Zealand, and it seeimil extraordinary in view of this that the price of the loaf should go up over and above what the bakers were entitled to. The Government should give close attention to this. in order to prevent the people from being exploited. Government’s Anxiety. Sir Francis Bell, replying, said nothing had given the Government greater anxiety than this question of the price of bread, and in connection with which be had been, in conference with the 'Minister of Commerce more than once. The Government were at oresent making a very close investigation of their powers in regard to the question. Mr. Fraser, said the Minister. had referred to the real difficulty which was that they had to show the price was unjust befote they could attack anv shopkeeper; it became a question of fractions, and that was the real difficulty. "W'c have not stopped at that difficulty, or given up flic Idea of interference,” said Sir Francis Bell. “We had hoped that the price would not have been raised

to the extent it has been by the bakers, but the consideration of the subject is still going on, and it is not being neglected. I have been verv much obliged by the verv temperate and moderate way in which voir have put the subject to us, and it encourages us to have that kind of help from opponents. With regard to the establishment of competition bv the Government, I have indicated bv my interruption what the position is there, and I think vou must all understand that the Government cannot, and indeed will not, assume the arbitrary powers which the National Government assumed during the war. It is not ony a question whether we would be supported by Parliament in the assumption of such powers, but it is a question of acting constitutionally.” The deputation then submitted a request to the Minister affecting land taxation, which is reported in another column.