THE COST OF LIVING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15097, 13 September 1912, Page 4

THE COST OF LIVING.

SEEKING A REMEDY. frnoM. our. owx correspondent.] Sydney, September 7. Thought and discussion on . tho dear food problem, which is coming, into increasing evidence here, havo been greatly aided by the publication of the report of the Now Zealand Commission on tho cost of living. That report has helped to crystallise thought, and has at least a high suggestive value. Newspapers have taken it for a text, and tho man in tho street is drawing comparisons on its chief features. So far, concrete resolutions on the question havo como only from Labour organisations here. Suggestions for remedies by these bodies run largely in the direction of taxation. A typical discussion in this connection was that which took placo a few days ago at a special sitting of the Labour Council, in Sydney. The discussion was on a motion That in view of the present exorbitant prices of meat, wheat, potatoes, onions, and butter, the import duties on such commodities should bo at once removed; and, further, that the Government be urged to at onco consider the advisability of making provision for tho automatic suspension of all import duties on foodstuffs during times of drought or natural scarcity." An amendment was moved to the effect that tho State Government be asked to take immediate steps to control the distribution of foodstuffs. Another amendment was to ask tho Federal Government to placo an export duty, on a sliding scale, on foodstuffs equal to the difference between the European and colonial markets; plus 5 per cent. Both amendments were rejected, and the original motion was agreed to. The latest development is a move to organise boarding and lodginghouse keepers, so as to secure uniformity of charges' on a higher _ level than the present. A first meeting to this end has already been held in Sydney, and the main idea was well received by those who attended.