THE ROBBER IN THE KITCHEN

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 308, 23 September 1943, Page 8

THE ROBBER IN THE KITCHEN

THE GOVERNMENT RATTLED. Nothing in the election campaign has got the Fraser Government so badly rattled as the PLAIN UNVARNISHED FACTS about the rise in the cost of living. When prices of everyday commodities have been quoted showing the absurdity of claims to have kept living costs under control, the Fraser propaganda machine has been put tu work at once in an effort to refute the damaging evidence. However, the task is hopeless. Tlie Government. Ims tried all sorts o,' devious to tlisgtii.se the rise in costs, which began long before the war. 11l efforts to delude the public, it has authorized the sale of shortweight loaves, it has allowed the increase in cii,-t> . n mw-priced articles to he loniled on to more expensive though equally necessary lines, and it has ladled out big subsidies, condemned by I lie Economic Stabilization Committee as “dangerous,” in order to conceal the real position. Back in 1939, before the war, prominent Trade Unionists like F. P. Walsh ami Peter Butler were getting worried about the effect of soaring living costs on the worker's budget. Toda, they soft-pedal that issue, but consumers can't be fooled any longer. Labour's invisible wage cuts have gone on long' enough. VOTE NATIONAL. -Advt.