ENGLISH AND COLONIAL PRICES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXII, 11 May 1912, Page 9

ENGLISH AND COLONIAL PRICES.

It- is often said that it is cheaper to live in England than in the colonies. The London correspondent of the Sydney Daily Telegraph tries to show that this is a mistaken idea, that, on the whole, living is cheaper in Sydney than in London. One pays less for rent, clothing, and furniture at Home, but food, especially meat, is cheaper in the colonies, and taking all lines of expenditure into consideration the correspondent thinks that the difference is from 5 to 10 per cent, in favor of Sydney compared with London. For instance, beef varies from 4Jd to 7d in Sydney, and from 8d to Is 3d in London. A leg of mutton that can "be bought for 4£d in Sydney, costs 7£d or lOd in London. Bacon, however, is cheaper at Home, and there is not much difference between the two prices of pork. The conclusion that a sovereign purchases more in Australia than in England may seem startling, in view of the fact that wages are so much higher in Australia, but the correspondent points out that the standard of living must be considered. In England neither the working man, nor the middle-class man with an income of £200 to £500, lives so well as his cousin in Australia. The working classes eat less, and waste less, and their food is lower in quality. For instance, fresh meat for breakfact is almost unknown in working class or middle-class in England, and bacon and eggs are regarded as extravagant. While the Englishman of moderate means will make his lunch in town the principal meal of the day, the Australian will have both lunch and a hot dinner. As regards fruit, the Englishman is better off than some colonials might think. Oranges and bananas are actually cheaper in London than in Sydney, and strawberries go as low as twopence and threepence a pound. The correspondent says that his conclusions are supported by the experience of English people who have gone to Australia.