COST OF LIVING.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 1 May 1922, Page 8

COST OF LIVING.

H EFE R E NC fo B^> SARBITRA .

uJI hen uhe .Arbitration Court last I \ 5 £ Assistants' Union, said that He thought tue retail prices would fie costs 'ifJf-a^l-J™™ ± h** land^ costs. He did not know that retailers were to-day adding higher rates of profit than before the war, but as the prices were higher the actual profits were -Qigner. His Honor: Our list shows that the increase in clothing is still 113 per cent above pre-war prices. > j Mr Scott (employers' representative) said that Mr. Croskery's prices appeared to be absolutely right, but the list or goods chosen was not indicative of a household budget. Witness said that he had gone through Mr. Parlane's list of drapery as allowed by the Basic Wage Commission. He did not see that it would be possible to reduce the clothing scale seeing that New Zealand was a colder country than Australia. He had carefully eaxmined the articles and the costs, and considered they were fair, erring on the conservative side. The weekly requirement for drapery was therefore £1 13s 7d; certainly not less than that sum. If the family were cut down to two children the reduction would be about 5s a week.