NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.

Grey River Argus, 14 April 1916, Page 7

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.

AND COST OF LIVING. TRENCHANT COMMENT BY "RAILWAY REVIEW." "TWO BLACKS MAKE A WHITE.' "To cover up its inertia, or its lack of courage, in tackling food exploiters, the National oGyernment,' says the "Railway Review (the organ of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants) "has adopted the well-worn method of 'two-blacks-make a. white' argument. Elaborate statistics published by the Prime Minister show that, whereas the purchasn»' power of the sovereign has dim hushed by 2s 9d during wartime in New Zealand, the drop in its effective value when used to pur-: chase necessaries of life in Austra lia is equal to 5s 10|d This would appear to be a remarkable triumph for the do-nothing policy as compared with the Australian met hod of setting a legal limit to com mercial greed. But the Prime Minister omits to mention, in con nection with his figures, that Aus trala sufered from severe drought during the period covered. Labour Government are .not able to cope with natural phenomena of that kind, but it is quite evident that the human speculative opera"-

In January, 1916, when the Prime I Minister's comparison was taken, the New South Wales price was only a half -penny per lb higher than before the war, while at the same time we were paying in ( New Zealand (which had a record season) Is 4£cl per lb. NEW ZEALAND SHOULD HAVE PAID LESS. "If natural causes and supply and demand really negulated the price, we should have been paying much less than our neighbours. The Necessary Commodities Control Commission, reporting on the .price of butter in New South Wal,es in January last, declared that lat Is 3£d it was too high. In ordering- a reduction of 11s 8d per CAvt., it reported : "The price mjj commended is still somewhat high er than the actual market value, .but as the producers have experienced a trying season, the Commission "■ thinks that that fact should be reflected in the pricerecommended. We are also of j opinion that the profit allowed to the retailer is higher than the wholesale price warrants, and should be reduced by £d per lb ' A "HALF-HEARTED BLUFF." ! "Cheese," adds the "Railway Review,' 'which stood at Is O^d .per lb in July, 1914, in New South Wales, is now lOd, or three ' farth ings less per pound than in New , Zealand, . where flour • has not interfered with production. Flour, ! another highly n ecessary a rtiele ,of diet, stands at 3s 9d per 251 b. 'under State . regulation in New (South Wales, and at 4s Id in the prosperous country where a halfhearted bluff by way of an expensive deal in Canadian wheat is the only method adopted to keep bread prices within bounds. Even then we are -not as well oft* as N»ew South Wales. "LEFT TO BLIND CHANCE.' "Meat,' concludes the 'Review/ "is the only commodity which stands comparison to suit the Mas soy figures. Thanks to the Imperial meat purchase scheme, and our wonderfully steady climate, we ca.n buy meat not wanted for export — technically termed ((rejects" — for less than the prices paid by consumers in the Australian State. This is where the Aus tralian sovereign suffers depreciation, but as the Australian worker can still get his cereals, his but ter, cheese, a.nd his dwelling cheaper than the New Zealander, Ihe has only to vary his arrangments to make up the. difference We have no Fair Rents Act in ope ration in New Zealand. Nor have we a State-controlled fish supply to protect the people from monojply. Everything has been left to blind chance in. New Zealand, and the exploiter has had a better soa son than the wool kings. We should fervently thank God that New Zealand had no drought last year. ' '