RISING COST OF LIVING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16375, 1 November 1916, Page 8

RISING COST OF LIVING.

MUTTON AND LAMB PRICES.

HIGHER THAN EVER BEFORE

INCREASES IN THREE YEARS.

[BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN' CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON. Tuesday. The recent increase in the Imperial purchase price for mutton and beef is being reflected in the upj ward movement, of local meat prices. . To-day sheep are realising higher i prices than ever before, yet they are I about the same in number this year as I lart, and more by a million than in 1912. Short supp _» cannot be urged in extenuation <J the high prices. To-day, in the midst of plenty, the resident consumer is P '.ying more per pound for mutton and 1: m'u t't.an ever before, and the buyer of meat hi live condition is also paying more than over before. Meat, at any rate mutton, is now realising prices that its cost of production cannot, it is claimed, by any stretch of imagination be said to warrant. For reasons that can only be explained by the original buyers who forced them up, prices in excess of market rates were paid for stock, particularly sheep and lairbs, that the majority of buyers at first could not, or would not, pay, but eventually they had to fall into line if they wanted the stock. Statistics had nothing to do with the case. There has not been any undue scarcity here similar to Australia's flock fluctuations through drought; Beef prices were not affected in like proportion. It was only sheep and lamb prices that went up and up, and are still rising. The j sheep returns show that flocks in New Zealand dropped by 113,271 in 1916, but the drop is only negligible. For ordinary purposes of comparison it may be taken that New Zealand flocks for the past four years have been practically stationary, averaging 24,828,000 per annum, but how does the live meat price compare? The | following figures will show the great ' appreciation. They are for fat sheep, i woolled, *»nd for the last week in October | of each year at Burnside yards:— J Wethers. Ewes. I s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. 1911 ... '21 0 to 31 6 22 0 to 80 0 1915 ... 32 0 .. 36 0 30 0 „ 36 0 I 1916 ... 31 0 .. 44 6 31 0 „ 89 0 I The foregoing is elaborated in a special article in the Post, which discusses the origin of the high prices current, but , reaches no definite conclusion as to the culprit. It is not apparently due to Gov- ' ernment purchases, for at the period when export was in lull swing wholesale prices to trade were one half-penny above the Imperial price, which itself was, before the recent increase, highly acceptable to the producer, as Sir James Wilson testi- ; fied. The article concludes: "Mutton and lamb are certainly costing wholesale distributors more, but who originated *he current fancy prices for sheep and lambs? Mr. Massey is in London, so, too, is Sir Joseph Ward. The former is a producer, the latter a freezer. They are experts. They can derive information on the subj ject from sources sealed to most other inquirers. Both producer and consumer in this country are anxiously awaiting further light on the subject. Meanwhile, the public is most keenly interested on what jit must pp - over the counter. The report has been made recently that the Government's increased price will not mean a local retail increase, but tradesmen say it is inevitable."