COST OF LIVING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16039, 4 October 1915, Page 3

COST OF LIVING.

- - -r —. i'*"• " ——•■ / '■■ BOARD TO BE ESTABLISHED FAIRNESS -OF . ERICES. VENDORS TO BE EXAMINED. [BY TELEGRAPH.—SPECXAIi correspondent.] Welkngton, Sunday. An important amendment is to be made m the Commercial Trusts Act before the session closes. .„ The difficulty in connection with this Act in the past has been that no person, or body, was able to deal authoritatively with ' the difficult matters arising out of the alleged exploitation of the public by combines. A member of the Cabinet stated tonight* that the National Government intends to establish a definite authority in the form of a board whose powers will include the right to call upon merchants and others to show cause as to" whether the prices °* "By commodity, or commodities are fair arid justifiable. INCREASE DURING WAR. FOODSTUFFS AND RENT. The investigation by the Government , statistician, Mr. Malcolm Fraser, of the | mcrease in the cost of living in the Dominion during the period of the war is the subject of a further report published in the September number of the Journal of the Department of Labour. figures are therein .given for the month of August, and Mr. Eraser states that ojvmg to a big rise in the price of meat the average cost of living throughout ' New Zealand was higher in August than ;in any other month during the period under review. The returns deal with 25 representative towns, and the fluctuation in prices from month to month is shown by reducing ! hem *° index numbers for which the base is 1000, representing the average annual expenditure in the four chief centres during the quinquennial period. 1909-13. It i has ( been objected," Mr. Fraser remarks, that the index numbers of retail prices represent an average over a great number of commodities which are relatively unimportant, but, in every case, the commodities included are weighted according to their annual consumption. An attempt was made at measuring all those prices which affect the average family, and the selection of commodities was made with this end in view."

Comparisons of Prices. In the latest report, Mr. Fraser mates a comparison between the prices ruling m July, 1914, and August, 1915, and, white the percentages are sufficient to show the rise in particular centres, a comparison among the centres themselves can he made only by eettine forth the index numbers. In each of the following tables the figures are given for the four principal centres, and for the town showing' the highest index number in the food group for August, and the Dominion weighted average is also shown. They indicate that when the prices of all food commodities are reviewed, living is leas expensive in Auckland than in Wellington. Groceries. July, Aucusti Increase . ~ , 1914. 1915. cent. Auckland ... 1.001 l.ieo 17.88 Wellington . 1,033 ; 1.25?! 21.30 Chnstchuich... 1,046 1.181 12.91 Dunedin ... 1,014 1,208 19.13 Taihape ... - 1.153 1.426 * 23.68 Dominion ... 1.033 1,210. 17.13 Dairy Produce. July, August, Increase * * Li 3 1914. 1915.. percent. Auckland ... 1,008 1,140 13 10 ' Wellington ... 1.163 1.259 * 8.25 Cfanstchnrch... 1,024 1,140 11.33 Drraedm ... 1.075 "'" 1.185 10.23 Alexandra ... 1,164 • 1.349 15.89 Dominion ... 1,057 ' 1.178 11.4s Meat. '"':'* July, Aupust. Increase ._ 1-1 a ... 1914 - !915. percent. Auckland ... 1,258 1.317 4.69 Welhnaton ... 1,090 1,171 7.43 Chnstehurch... 1,070 1.235 15 42 Dunedm ... 1,056 1,150 8.90 Greynumfli ... 1.361 1,377 1.18 Dominion ... 1,126 1.238 9.95 All Foodstuffs. July. August, Increase . , 11 , 1914. 1915. per cent. Auckland. ... 1,090 1.217 11.65 Wellington ... 1.083 1.226 15.20 Chnstehurch... 1,049 \ 1.190 13.40 Dtmedin ... 1,042 , 1.180 13 6 g , Taihape ... 1.144 1.347 17.74 Dominion. ... 1,070 £ai3 T ii^6 House Bent. Dealing with the subject of house rents, Mr. Fraser remarks that the fluctuations seem to follow fixed plan. It would seem that local causes operate in fixing the rentals, because there is no general tendency over the whole Dominion for rents either to fall or to rise. The index numbers are calculated on the same basis as those for food commodities, and the return shows a higher figure for Wellington at present than for .any other town Nelson being the next highest. „__. February. August, . 11 , 1914 - 1915. 1915. Auckland ... 1,032 920 963 Wellington • ... 1,272 1.274 ■ 1,292 Chnstehurch... 947 930 928 Dunedin ... 940 957 894 Nelson ... 892 946 1,016