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Grey River Argus, 1 September 1917, Page 6

"I don't think the people of the present day realise the conditions under which the old settlers of New Zealand lived," stated Sir Robert Stout at a meeting of the parly Settlers' Association at Wellington. "There are great outcries now against the price of food. Only the other day I found a document which shows the prices of food when I first arrived in New Zealand 53 years ago." A 41b loaf of bread cost ls to ls 6d, beef ls per pound, mutton lOd to ls, ham ls 6d to 2s, lamb, 10s to 12s a quarter, pork Is to ls 3d, bacon (imported from Ireland), ls to ls 6d per lb, veal ls to ls 3d, milk 8d per quart, butter'2s 3d to 2s 6d per lb ("there was no butter fat then, ' ' commented Sir Robert Stout amidst laughter), cheese (colonial), ls 6d, eggs 3s 6d to 4s per dozen, fowls 10s to 12s pei' pair, potatoes ljd per lb, tea 2s 6d' to 3s per lb. Sir Robert said that it would be seen that some of the articles were much dearerdearer than they .were to-day, although the wages were lower. However ,there -were never any grumblings, and everything went* along smoothly, and the 1 people seemed extremely happy.