THE COST OF LIVING.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 284, 1 December 1915, Page 7

THE COST OF LIVING.

K.ETAH. PRICES FOR 25 YEARS.

Following the lines already laid •down by the Statistical Departments •of the older countries, and of Canada, and Australia, the New Zealand Statistical Office is extending the ' range of its work to coyer the production of statistics relating to industrial economic inquiries, and the first monograph on economic matters 5s now issued in the form of a "Report on the Cost of Living in New Zealand from 1891-1914." It is lioped that in the future it will be possible -to publish the results of similar 'investigations into the wholesale prices, wages, unemployment, [household budgets, and other problems of this nature, so as to provide a complete compendium oi information relating to New Zealand

-economics. Tli© present report deals primarily with retail prices in the Dominion for -the last twenty-five years. In all, &?ty-nine of the commonest household . necosnries me considered, and their prices are averaged and tabulated for each of the four main centres of New Zealand, over the period covered. These commodities are divided into four main "'groups—groceries, dairy produce, meat, fuel and light—and each group'is treated separately, and all groups are then combined. In addition,, rent for various classes of houses is tabulated for the four centres. The method of the investi- j iration is "similar to that used by tho Commonwealth Statistician, so that the results are readily comparable iyith those obtained in Australia. In 191-1, iiie investigation was extended ta cover twenty-five towns ~ which are representative of the Dominion's vnrioufc interests, and included in tho report is a discussion of the oo&t of living in these towns for -the four quarters ot 1914, and the first two quarters of 1915. A separate chapter is devoted to "War Inra-i'/ises" i» t«ft period from Tulv 1914 to Auanst, 1915. Indexuambcrs arc-. compiled for ca«h group month by ir.G-itli in iha twenty-five towns. And sepal-ate tables f ve ™° percentage increases since July, l»14. !Tiio cmvzo of pikes is further I'Jus-

ti':»ted by sepaiale treatment of the pruf of I>re;id, and ol butttT, and by a roi>fodu'-'^<> n "t }U1 "ssuniod household budget, priced at the different lovels for :xncti mouth.

The index-numbers of the report iare freely illustrated by graphs and supported by the actual average prices on which the whole report was based. The prices are given at length in three appendices to the report, consisting of prices in the four centres from 1891-1913, quarterly average prices in 1914, and monthly figures from July, 1914, to August, 1915. These figures not only give* the foundation on which the investigation was built up, but also provide a valuable source of information for future use.