COST OF LIVING.

Evening Star, Issue 15480, 30 April 1914, Page 10

COST OF LIVING.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—Your correspondent Mr Frank ' Seoullar is quite correct in characterising ' the cost of living question, as an ever- ' present " nightmare confronting the modern housewife,'* and his reference to the * present increase in the price of bread by the Master Bakers' Association ie but ' another gentle reminder of the presence of that nightmare. ' Your correspondent's mathematical analysis proves conclusively that even with the increase to £lO 10s per ton the Bakers' Association were not 'warranted in increasing the loaf to 7£d. So far, we are all ' agreed. But the remedy that your correspondent proposes as a , means to check further increases and also to effect substantial decrease is the point on which we must totally disagree, and the euffering housewives must in the meantime suspend judgment until the alternative remedy is placed before them. Mr Sconllar's remedy is to put an export duty on, flour until the supply exceeds the demand; " for," says he, "if the supply exceeds the demand the price must come down." May I ask your correspondent, what he means by "the price must come down." The price of what? Flour? Yes, but not the price of bread, for he proved conclusively that even with flour at .£lO 10s per tin there was no necessity to increase the price of bread. Thus, on his own showing, your correspondent's remedy is futile. Export duties on flour will not prevent the Bakers' Association from increasing the price of bread. Export duties will not compel the Bakers' Association to decrease the price of the staff of life. There is, however, a real and effective remedy, and that remedy will not only check the endless rise, but will actually decrease the cost of your loaf by nearly half its present price. "How?" say the worried housewives, in chorus. Well, 11 shall tell how: By doing what the Labor Government in New South Wales did—by I establishing an up-to-date State bakery, I and producing bread at 4d per 4lb loaf. Are you in favor of that, housewives of i Dunedin? The Reform or Massey party 1 are against a State bakery producing bread at 4d per 41b loaf. The Liberal party are against a State bakery producing bread at 4d per 41b. But there is a party that stands pledged to establish State bakeries that will produce and sell bread at 43 per 41b l'-tf. That party is the true people's part;-, the producers' and consumers'party, and" its name is the Social Democratic party. So, housewives, if you want a better and cheaper loaf, you must vote for us, and you must work and vote for the partv who stand pledged to give it you ; but if you don't want a cheaper loaf, then vote for the other party.—l am, etc., I. SILVERSTOXE. Hon. Organiser Local Branch of Social Democratic party. April 28. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I write to endorse every word that Mr Frank Scoular wrote on the subject of tb> Hgh prices of the necessaries of life. ]•'•( tiie question of the rise of bread goes ,Vn. v .y than the price of flour. In the : -imiv; of, a meeting of a Farmers' Union, -.vliic!: T read recently, the farmers were reports! to have come to an agreement not tf l'hiw more wheat than was sufficient ft- tli' use of the farmer's family, and a lit:' for export. So far as the Dominion was. tir.cerned, the farmers agreed not to grow sufficient wheat to supply the needs of the rest of the population' of the Dominion until such time as the price of locallv-grown wheat rose to the ■ price of the imported cereal. Now, if any Employees' Union ask for a small rise of ■wages theTe is a great howl of indignation, and an outcry is raised that the general public or consumer is being exploited by Labor, because the increase in wages is passed on fourfold. What, then, shall be said of the farmers, who are banded together, and have alsolutely refused to grow sufficient of the Taw material for the manufacture of the chief article of food—namely, bread. When the poor fishermen formed a union in order to limit the catch of fish, so that they could receive a fair price for the products of their labor from a very dangerous occupation there was a great outcry and an agitation to n«ttionalise the fishing industry was started. Now, in Dunedin we have a large body of citizens belonging to the Dunedin Expansion League, formed for the special purpose of increasing the population of Dunedin and suburbs to 100,000 persons. The action of the farmers, if persisted in, will seriously injure this progressive action by unnecessarilv raising the cost of living. It is time the public of Dunedin formed a consumers' protection league, and I would suggest that the new Mayor should call a public meeting for this purpose. The newly-formed Otago Labor Council should also take immediate action in this matter. In conclusion, I would like to draw the attention of the public to the patriotic action of the Teviot Fruitgrowers' Association in the manner in which they reduced the price of fruit, by getting into direct touch with the consumer.—l am, etc., Poor Laboeeb. April 29.