MONDAY, JULY 19, 1920. THE COST OF LIVING.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 19 July 1920, Page 4

MONDAY, JULY 19, 1920. THE COST OF LIVING.

: 4 One often wonders why it is that so much discontent and unrest arise at various periods in the world's history. ' Man is naturally a restive being, and frequently progress has been the outcome of his dissatisfaction. But there are various kinds of unrest and want of contentment. The humble worker ' may desire- to rise to a better station in life, and by dint of hard work to fit himself for something better he may achieve success. Unrest or dissatisfaction in such a case is good, but it should be noted that the discontent! which makes for progress is closely j allied to the will and determination to work, and there is an absence of any spirit savoring of bitterness. Such, Bowever, is, alas, not generally the kind of 7 discontent and unrest' so marked in the world to-day. The, masses to-day are seriously disturbed; they desire to reach some new plane, but there is a disposition to avoid the sacrifice necessary to reach that plane.. The upsetting influence of the war is still being felt. We all expected so much when the war ended. W9 have been sadly disappointed. Moreover, the unfair advantage taken by two extremes—extreme capitalists and extreme Labor factions—has produced a feeling of bitterness. The great bulk of the people have been and are being squeezed between these two extremes, and the tendency is to increase the difficulties. It seems to us that both extremes are equally guilty of placing the national life in danger, and the only thing that can bring improvement is the development of a new and broader outlook on life. If those who think that' £hey have the right to squeeze the uttermost farthing out of their trading activities could only see that life is for a nobler purpose than that of profit-making; if those who are striving to gain six-hour days and fiveday weeks would only realise that work is really a great blessing—how soon there would come those happier days I for which the, masses wait. The trader should regard his place as one of honor; he should have too noble a oonception of life to allow the prospect of benefiting by the suffering and hardships of others to turn him from his duty to make only reasonable profits from his trading we find this sort of thing: When the miners adopted a "go-slow" policy last year the j

price of coal was increased by the ownjrs by 3s 6d a ton. Then came tJie i settlement of the trouble, in February \ laat, and the men gained an increase 1n wages. The price ot coal was again advanced, but although the "go clow" policy was called off, the 3s 6d increase j which was put on because, of it was j not taken atf. Then again the price of 1 meat in New Zealand has not varied £ in accordance with the market changes • for the price of stock, though there j have bee.n decided falls in the prices ' farmers have been receiving, .bacon went up to 2s a pound for rashers \ when the controlled price was removed. Pigs brought as mucn as 10id and. even ll|d to the farmer, for a time,! but have sine© dropped heavily—down ; to as low as sixpence, we are told— but have recover«d to about ninepence , recejitly. Yet the consumer has been' paying consistently high prices forj bacon in shops. It is hard to think that such trade methods £.re fair to the public, though who is to blame we «lo not know. Surely if the prices ho the producers of the necessaries of life fall! the consumers are entitled to a corre-' sponding measure of relief, and we are j quite at a loss to understand why a drop in retail prices has not accompanied the fall in cost to traders. Hides have fallen in price, but boots have not been reduced. The public expects to be dealt with fairly in these matters, and unless satisfactory treatment is given, to consumers it is useless: trying to stem the tide of indignation j which is so prominent today owing to! certain high prices, which eveji people! of moderate views regard as unreasonable. We hope that the near future will see a return of tne days when! traders were willing to give their cus-1 tomers ths benefits of every fall in' prices, and recognised clearer than they apparently do at the present time that they, just as much as the workers, have a duty to their fcllowmen. Nobody desires that business men should be denied a fair and legitimate profit from their trading, but if it be right and proper that extreme Labor should be attacked for unreasonable methods, then it is equally fair that traders who do not provide relief in the cost of living, when there is a fall in the cost of goods in which they trade, should be similarly charged with unfairness. The great majority of people, we are sure, are prepared to pay prices demanded without demur so long as they feel that there is no manipulation 1 of markets going on, but they do object, and rightly so, to-having to pay the same high prices when the cost of goods to traders falls, as they have done in some cases. True it is that there is a world shortage of foodstuffs, but are there not in existence agreements in some powerful quarters to eliminate competition and to keep price.B up? We think that the producers should proeet, as the Farmers Union at Wanganui did over the cost of footwear, when meat and bacon remain at the old retail prices in spite of the fall in the prices which the farmers receive for* their pigs and stock. ;