COST OF LIVING

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 78, 2 April 1931, Page 10

COST OF LIVING

"SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTION"

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

'■ According to a statement made by the Minister of Internal Affairs yes- . torday, inquiries made in tho four main centres by the Industries and Com--1 merce Department showed that there has been a considerable reduction in the cost of living. The Minister said the Department was, and had been, active in making full and close inquiries into a number of important matters. Tho cost of production, and tho prices of flour and bread wero still under investigation. Prices of bread in a number of towns had been reduced, and with the prospect of some reduction in the price of flour a more general reduction in bread prices should follow. MEAT AND FISH. The prices of meat had been under review, and the Department had assured itself that there was at present ample competition in this trade to ensure that the public received a fair return for its outlay. In this, as in other instances, the purchaser could protect his own interests by seeking his supplies in the cheapest markets. The buyer who demanded the best quality "cuts," and who .called for delivery and credit, could not expect to secure the greatest possible measure of reduction in costs. , In tho case of meat, and also other commodities, it had to be remembered that while there had been reductions in wholesale or prime costs, there had been little or no reductions in costs of delivery, etc., which sometimes represented a large proportion of the total cost charged to the consumer. The prices and distribution of fruit and vegetables formed the subject of an inquiry by a Parliamentary committee last session, and further investigations by the Department in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture were proposed. The prices and cost of distribution of fish had been under inquiry in several centres. It was expected that this investigation would be completed and a report submitted to the Government within the next few weeks. The Department was also working on price investigations relative to petrol, cement, and bricks.. Among other subjects which had been under investigation in different localities in recent months, the Minister mentioned price inquiries relative to sugar, butter, bran and pollard, eggs, fertilisers, and bacon. HOUSE RENTS AND CLOTHING. "In Christchurch and Dunedin there have been rent reductions of 10 to 15 per cent., while in Auckland, where the tendency toward reduction appears more general, numbers of cases were noted of reductions Tanging from 15 per cent, to 20 per cent.," said the Minister. "With respect to clothing, drapery, itc, it is found that the reductions in the cost of imported goods have not been very marked, but in the ease of locally-manufactured goods of most classes the reduction ranges from 5 to 10 per cent. "The reductions in moat prices have been substantial in all the principal centres, such reductions ranging in Wellington and Christchurch from 10 to 20 per cent, for mutton and beef considered together. In Auckland prices for beef show a 10 to 20 per cent, adduction, and mutton 15 to 33 1-3 per cent. In Dunodin tho estimated average decreases are beef 30 per cent, and mutton 40 per cent. GROCERIES AND FOODSTUFFS. "With regard to groceries and foodstuffs, the reduction in all the four main centres could be fairly set down at from 5-to 10 per cent., this being due in a measure to the rapid growth of 'cash and carry' stores causing very keen competition, and consequently lower prices. These stores offer the general public opportunities of making substantial savings in the cost of living. ' "The price of milk in Wellington was reduced from Gd to 5d a quart as from 23rd December last. "Again, in regard to butter, a substantial decrease occurred. The price of first-grade butter in Wellington, for instance, which 12 months ago was Is 6d and Is 7a, has fallen to Is Id and Is 2d per lb. '~,,, "Cheese, which was retailed for lid and Is per lb a year ago, can be purchased to-day for Sd and 9d per lb. Many grocery shops.to-day retail bacon at Is per lb, as compared with Is 2d and Is 3d twelve months ago. Competition in regard to bread, which ' a year ago was selling at 6Jd for tho 21b loaf, has made it possible for the public to purchase at certain stores an Wellington for sid." The Minister concluded with the remark that in Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin there had been similar reductions, but that the instances given showed that it was a fact that there had been a substantial reduction m the cost of living during the past twelve moirihs. -