THE COST OF LIVING.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 10113, 22 October 1917, Page 6

THE COST OF LIVING.

ADDRESS BY MR JAB. THORN. The question of the cost of living was; dealt with by Mr James Thorn in an ad-i dress at,the Rosy Theatre last evening. | There was, a good attendance, and Mr It. j Hh-s presided. j Mr Thorn first expressed regret lor the; unavoidable absence of Mr McCombs, who to have hobji prosoiifc and who, ho al leged, was an authority on the cost of living question, as d existed in New Zealand at.present. The meeting that night was for the purpose of drawing attention to the question %%ith a- view to compelling the Government to provide a solution ol the problem. Jt could not be said that the cost of living arose through the war it was lelt a few years before tin l war, and since the commencement of hostilities the position had become more acute, and was creating nnrest and discontent among (In. working people One. thing that has been apparent people. One Thing i hat _ had been apareiit right, through was the agility of the various Governments in providings solution and bringing the cost of living reasonably within the earning power oi the mass tlie people. Since (he war the Board of I ratio V.ai son Up, and after enquiries extending over about two years it, was referred to a parliamentary Committee, which presented its report only a few days ago. Iml the report was referred back to die eommiUee for further report-. All this showed die Government’s inability to deal with the mat ■ tor. Even prior to die war t oivnnissions on'the same question had been held, and thousands of pounds had been spent, all to no purpose. The speaker went on to refer to what happened immediately after the outbreak of wav. The. Government Lad brought down legislation to the effect dial prices of certain articles must not exceed the,prices ruling in August. 1914. A penaltv up to a £2OO fine was fixed, but although prices had soared _ higher and higher, the Government s legislation nan never ' been brought into use, and it appeared that the only remedy was lor the people io bring such pressure to bear on the' Government that it •would be forced to tak" come action in this important matter. Mr Thorn then referred to-the increases m the cost of the fltree mam food groups, meat, groceries, and dairy produce. fab met"'-toil Ninth, he said, rad the nnenviihle reputation of being among the town,-, showi,i> tlm largest increases m tnese three croups There were only throe towns m the Dominion where the increases m prof.„ric9 were greater than m 1 almerston. where the increase was 28.92 per cent In Wellington it- had been 34:46 per cent the IJehost in Now Zealand. In dairy produce, ju -pile of living it; the inchest dairying di.-tric. in New Zealand, IVJmersUmshowed an inerPit.se of 39.54, Invercargill being next with 50 per cent increase. Our increase m meat, had been 57.46 per cent, am! Wanpimi showed a rise* of 45 per oeni. lakin*; the average increase all round, the cost ot living in Palmerston had risen 40.91 per cent, nearly 41 per cent, stnet the oiitbreau of war. This had reduced the value ot the sovereign by 8;v 2d. and the wage-earner who was receiving £5 at Ihty beginning of the war would require to receive £-( as now ■so be in the same position financially. ,A ren per conk increase had br(-n grant ( d a portion of the lower-paid section oi tinworkers in this district by the Arbitration Court-, but how far did that _go to eaten up to the 41 per rent, increase in the co-'-i ot living? Mr Thorn then quoted a- reran! article showing (he increases that nad taken place in the value of our principal products. It would be vemembeted mat nil advance, of 46 per cent was offered the squatters for their wool, but that was not accepted, and they gathered from all parts of the country and demanded from the Imperial Government 55 per cent. The speatier then quoted the profits made by the producers of wool, butter, choose, skins and tallow, showing that millions had been accumulated from locally-consumed produce, and 31 millions from that exported, a total of 49 millions. These people who had ac-cumulated-iue.se profits out of the war, were next offered the opportunity of investing ■their profits in the war loan in 4? per cent, tree of income tux. And tie- investment in the war ioatt was called patriotism. What had the politicians done? After the cam break of the war the two political parlies joined forces and the National Government was formed, Sir Joseph Ward retaining the right to bring down legislation dialling with the cost of living'. This was in .Inly, 1915. He brought down legislation, which provided for iho creation of the Board of Trade, whose' ditties, according to the Bill, were “to enquir'd into and report” and “to investigate and report.” The' Bill was passed and handed over to Mr Massey to administer. Twelve months after this, the cost- of living had further increased in.spite of Sir Joseph Ward’s legislation, and the Liberal papers stated this was owing to Mr Massey's maladministration of the Aer. When Mr Massey and Sir Joseph Ward wont Home, the administration oMhe Ant was handed over to Iho Hon. Mr Mac Donald, but -a Mill further rise took place, and although it fell slightly alter Mr Massey s ■return ten months later, it had since pone up higher. In January, 1916, Sir Josep.i Ward claimed that the increase in the cost of living was brought about largely by the higher freight charges, but it. was significant that groceries, which were imported. did not. (-bow the .same increase as airy produce amt meat, which woke produced in the country and upon which no freight was charged. This showed how inaccurate great politician!; could bo on occasion. Refeiiing To wheat, the speaker said that in 1912 the values were 3s 8d per bushel, in 1913, an average of about 3s lOd, and lor the first seven months of 1914 it was from 3s fid io -3s lid. In August, 1914, at the outbreak of war, it jumped to 4s 3d, and had been jumping ever since. In September and October, 1914. the values were 4s- 9tl, in November and December 5s 3d, January 0s Id, February bs 11, March 7s, April,7s 2d, May and .Ituto 7s 2d. the highest figure ever reached in New Zealand. -Mr 1 horn contended that Mr Massey had deliberately misled the country about that time, regarding the Dominion’s wheat supply, by- Mating there'was a shortage when there was actually a surplus. A strong agitation was set afoot, and in March, 1916, the price had receded to 4s 9d per bushel. It, was then that Bir Joseph Ward brought his Board of Trade in being. It would bo remembered that the Hon. Mr Mac Donald had bargained with the wheat-growers to, take their grain at 6s 3d [ler budtol. The increase m wheat values since the outbreak of war was 66 per cent. When the farm*: ers were afraid of not getting what they wanted, they adopted a go-slow policy, or a reduction In the area under cultivation. What was. the treatment meted out- to the milters when they were charged with a go-slow policy ? Numbers were put in gaol. Touching on the establishing ot, Go\ eminent meat .shops uc Auckland, widen ",'‘ u to reduce the. prices ot meat, tin' -result Lad been just, the opposite, and the same had happened, at Christchurch, where the Government had attempted .to fix prices. Jin speaker referred to the alleged statement ol Mr Massey and Bir Joseph Ward that, “as a result of their .trip Homo they had been successful iu securing a “lew extra ilioiisaiuls | out of the Imperial Government for the,, benefit of (tic exploiting classes of this country.” It the people wished to progress at-cl to better their conditions of living, the\ must, unite, use their votes, .and through Parliament, seek to remove the pressure, amt bring' about, a hotter slate of allairs. The following motion, was earned: “That lids meeting of ciii/ens of Palmerston North endorses tlie prot-ese ol the 1 almerston North Labour Representation Committee against the ever rising cost of living, and demands that the Government take immediate steps to make melt arrange incuts to prevent exploitation ol the people.”