PRICE RISES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 95, 20 March 1940, Page 11

PRICE RISES

TREND IN DOMINION. EVIDENCE OF CONTROL. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, March 19. The. announcement that, in spite of increased costs overseas and increased costs of shipping, the all-groups price index for January, the latest month for which the figures are available, was only 1.3 per cent, higher than that for the last pre-war month, August, 1939, was made by the Minister of Defence (Hon. F. Jones) in an address to the annual meeting of the AVellington Chamber of Commerce to-night. “This figure compares very favourably with tho United Kingdom figure, which has lately shown a tendency to rise to alarming levels,’’ Mr Jones said. “The value of the Price Tribunal is further seen in the iact that, whereas prices have risen only 1.3 per cent in five months, in the corresponding five months iollS'Wing the outbreak of the war in 1914 prices rose by almost 9 per cent. “A further reassuring factor is that, while the early months of the Great War showed an unbroken rising tendency, the early months of this war show that prices are responding to control. Prices remain very steady up to October with a slightly rising tendency. A sharp rise in November was followed by a drop in December, and a further sharp drop in January. This gives one to hope that the war psychology of 1914-18 which gave rise to that odious term ‘profiteer’ has changed to some degree and has been replaced by a higher standard of business morality. Some increase of prices we must have. That appears inevitable, but what we must avoid is that dreadful spiral of rising prices followed by rising wages and resultant costs to industry. Few may gain by this process but tiie majority must suffer.” Mr Jones said it was a, sad reflection, on human nature that after good men had risked their lives in ships bringing merchandise to our shores some men—and he though they were in a minority—would uso that same merchandise as a basis for making unfair profit. A fair rate of profit was difficult of definition, but every man knew in his own heart when his profit was excessive. Tho commercial community could make a definite contribution to the war effort by avoiding the war psychology that prompted people to take advantage of a strong demand existing side by side with a war scarcity. The Price Tribunal had done much to prevent prices from rocketing. It had acted as a steadying feature and it could do even better work if it received the co-operation ol the business men of the country.