THE COST OF LIVING.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXX, Issue 14975, 22 April 1909, Page 8

THE COST OF LIVING.

10 TUX EDITOB. Sir, —Your leader in to-day's papef on the cost of living was an eye-opener to mo. I think the sooner we get the. Christchurch canal, the better; , and every father and mother of a family ought to use their best endeavours to get the work put in hand at once. Vo could bring our groceries here from Dunedin, and after paying railway charges on them we could be considerable gainers. But the most glaring piece of extortion practised on the _ long suffering people of Christchurch is tho price we have to pay for our meat. Many people ' cry out about the price we nave to pay for our bread, but I do not see that we have any reason to coinplain about, the baker’s charges. His flour oosts him 21s 6d per sack, whilst the cost of production is about ten shillings, that, is counting firing, wages, and delivering, making the cost per sack 31s 6d. He gets sixty-five loaves from a eack of flour. At seven-pence, this leaves him a profit of about <3s lid por sack which I am sure is not verv much to pay house rent and taxes and maintain his family on. Your quotation for beef at the Addington market last week was from 14s to 20s per one hundred pounds, whilst mutton was selling at about the same rate. When we deduct the price tlve butcher receives for hides and skins we are paying over forty shillings for the meat wo consume, or about 2( por pound more than we ought to pay. If the baker overcharged us a penny on tho loaf it would cost us two-pence per head more to live per week, whilst if wo consume one pound of meat per day it costs us seventeen pence halfpenny more por week to live than wo should he paying. , _ Our best beef is selling in London at from 2)cl to 3d per pound, and our best, mutton is selling in tho London market to-day at from 2ld to 3) per pound, whilst our butter is sent homo and sold at about 3d per pound less than wo are paying for it here. —I alii, etC ” A .MOTHER OF A FAMILY, Lin wood. April 21, 1909. ■ ; — e