FIGURES QUESTIONED

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 94, 22 April 1931, Page 10

FIGURES QUESTIONED

ALLEGED INACCURACY

(By Telegraph.)

(Specie! to "The Evening Post.")

DTJNEDIN, This Day.

The accuracy of figures quoted in the report on the milling industry which was presented to Parliament was questioned by a Dunedin baker yesterday, and he had no hesitation 'in assuring the reporter that at least so far as Dunedin was concerned they were quite misleading. > Referring to the difference in the price of bread in Auckland and Dunedju, ho stated that this was explained to some extent by the fact that with 42 bakers in Dunedin competition was naturally strong, whereas in Auckland and Wellington bread was produced by larger iirms witli higher overhead expenses. It was nevertheless true that bakers in the North were making,much higher profits than those in Dunedin. The prices given for flour in the table liad been as follows: —Auckland, £17 lls per ton; Wellington, £17 3s Od; Christehureh, £15 16s 0d; and' Dunedin, £16 6s Sd. lie did not know what tlio prices in Auckland and Wellington were, but in Duncdiu the correct figure was £17 ss, and in Christchurch £16 15s. Prices given for bread in Dunedin were lid, cash over counter, lOd net price to the store, and Is delivered. .- These figures represented only the highest which were charged. In some cases the price was 9}d, and in isolated instances lOd. As stated in the report, almost all shops sold Ihe bread at lOd, and in his own shop as well as a few others tho price was 9-Jd and 9d for bread a day old. He knew of only one suburb in which bread was sold over the counter at lid, but in the report this price was stated to be general. If, as the report stated, the price to stores was 10d, he would show an additional profit of nearly £17 a week on a turnover of 4000 largo loaves. If the figures supplied with respect to other centres' were as misleading as thoso applying to Dunedin, the report was quite valueless, he said.