THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1917. THE COST OF LIVING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16671, 16 October 1917, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1917. THE COST OF LIVING.

Efforts to check the advancing cost of food supplies are being made in all countries, and it is natural and right thai the Parliament of New Zealand should seriously direct its attention to the subject. New Zealand and Australia have been, and remain, in a singularly fortunate position with regard to food prices. War increases have been less here than in any other country, belligerent or neutral, less even than in America before she entered the war, much less than in Canada, and enormously less than in Britain or Europe. This is a satisfactory circumstance, but it is no reason for discouraging any step that may be safely taken to keep the necessaries of life at prices which are within the reach of all. Those who read the report of the Cost of Living Committee of the House of Representatives in this spirit will find it it something to approve even if thes also see much that is doubtful, and, perhaps, dangerous. The recommendations upon which there car hardly, be any dispute arc the encouragement of the fish' ing industry and the better dis tribution of fish, and legislation te ensure the customer getting ful weight or measure. Both are ex ceedingly simple, and with regard t< fish a great deal could be dono to bring cheap food to the people b; merely removing restrictions am providing carriage facilities on fas trains. This is a portion of the re port which should not be overlooked The danger is. that it will h dwarfed in-' the discussion of les practical proposals, and that a rea opportunity of reducing the cost o living may be lost. The doubtful aspects of th< Committee's report all cent* round the recommendation to appoint a Food Controller, am the powers it is proposed to vest ii him. It was admitted by the Chair man of the Committee that the arbi trary fixing of prices has in othei countries failed, or met i.with onlj partial success. ,: Even this modesi j claim is open to challenge, for price! have advanced everywhere in spito or arbitrary maximums, which, ii Britain and elsewhere, have fre j quently been responsible : for serioui limitations in market supplies. The j organisation of trade is exceeding!} complex. It is "easy to say thai food-may not be sold beyond a givei price, but it is not so clear that th< price will produce the required qnan tity of food, nor" is it certain tha it trill, not ; have an i undesirable in flyena» in restricting necessary sup plies. The operation of cause am effect may be illustrated simply fron the report under consideration/ I is " proposed *to reduce • rents by re storing suburban train services. . Thi j strength of : this • recbmmendatioi Hies in the undoubted fact that hard [ship^has been : caused by /an illconsidered curtailment of train Be r vices, and in the probability that at improved service would tend to in fluence rents. ' But its weakness ii visible when it is taken as ar example of , how. interference ii one branch of ri industry . ? 01 trade rmay'reav.ti elsewhere). To run £ additional trains ; calls -foi labour. The labour must be fount by draining other industries, or bj curtailing services,, and in the end, unless .„ the . required working 1 strength "is 7 wholly v taken 'iron non-essential employments, -the gait is at'■; best partial This reaction not only of trade- upon trade, bul of ; prices upon supplies, has beer one of the /causes' of failure in all the price-fixing schemes, and it can not be otherwise in New Zealand if: the attempt is made. ■^. As to the ; recommendation ' thai the a: Consolidated ; Fund should be.^drawn:&upbn/ to reduce ; prices •ho',.-* one - who has followed the effects of /fcheV:' war in / other countries could dismiss it witl a sweeping condemnation. Circumstances have arisen' . wfeere such intervention has been necessary. The . question for Parliament tc decide is whether they have«arisen in New Zealand, and' the balance of opinion in the committee would seem to suggest that the. answer must be in the negative. Several of the committee's suggestions, such as encouragement, of co-operation are not strictly war measures. such as Government sale and distribution in exceptional cases, are already in operation under the despised Board of Trade. Others again, such as the elimination of waste in distribution, present difficulties which may be overcome by sensible and energetic action resulting in at least some improvement in present conditions. There is no recommendation of an export tax, although the chairman favours this, plan of reducing local prices. Now that Government purchases cover so large a share of New Zealand's products the time may be past for an export tax, but it can be said with confidence that if those who are loudest in their • protests against current prices had given their support to the export tax ■ hen it was first urged in the Herald something substantial might have been accomplished in the direction of keeping down the price of food in New Zealand. Nothing the committee has proposed can have a fraction of the result, the tax could have been allowed for when Government purchases were made, and the:farmers could have been compensated ° in- ; other ways without serious disturbance, either to Government finance or to the ordinary channels > of trade. .The opportunity -lost, and : those, who are now jlamorous for 'lower 'prices must share .blame with the Ministers .vho contemptuously/-dismissed a iound/and practicable scheme as mpossible • arid ) unworthy; of : ; ■ consideration. *"" v"" 1 v'!

THREE TEARS AGO.

Three years < ago to-day the Main Body sailed from New Zealand. The crowded ships stood quietly .to sea one grey morning, carrying away nearly eight thousand men in whom was the spirit of service. Crusaders they were at heart,, if in appearance and speech' indistinguishable from thousands of other New Zealanders, for- the faith of the 1 soldier is articulate in deeds, not words, and the landing on Gallipoli was to make manifest the devotion which inspired the hurried arming and , departure. For an unknown destination the ships sailed, and the burning sands of Egypt gave the New Zealanders their first brush with the enemy, affording them also an invaluable opportunity to extend their knowledge and practice of the intricate business of modern warfare. Then same the great test of Gallipoli and the Main Body became known to the world, with others of Britain's soldiers, as men who had achieved the almost impossible. Gallipoli was a revelation of the New Zealand soldier. It was more than that. It was the triumphant indication of the crusaders of a free country against the brute force that had called them to arms. Three years ago the cost was uncounted.. To-day it is told sadly, but with unflinching determination. More gallant lives have been lost than were numbered in the whole Main Body, and nearly 22,000 New Zealanders have been wounded. Even when we recall the losses we can rejoice that there was a Main Body and that its spirit endures in the people. If we have counted the cost, we Lave counted also the gain, and we have envisaged the peril and the shame we escaped by answering the first call to sacrifice. We have seen how Italy, fettered by an unfortunate association with Germany, struggled slowly and painfully to the light and now enjoys a full and fruitful partnership with the free nations. We have seen how the United States strove to avoid war, yet now fights for American liberty. We know now with a full conviction, what we realised but imperfectly three years ago, that this is a New Zealand war and that every vita] interest of the Dominion is bound up in prosecuting it to complete victory. Three years ago eager volunteers were competing for places in reinforcements to follow the Main Body. Successive drafts went to thetfront, and each reed worthy. The long campaign ra Gallipoli was tinged with the glory of their fighting spirit. The " Daisy Patch," the defeat of the great Turkish attack in May, and the battle of Chunuk Bair carry precious memories of the devotion of the Main Body.and the. earliest reinforcements. When the regenerated force—now a full division of 20,000— was moved to France it maintained the Gallipoli reputation.: The holding of thei. line at Armentieres was a valuable preparation for the glorious triumph, of Flers, and when later reinforcements fought this year against German strongholds at Messines, La Basse Ville, Gravenstately' Abraham Heights, and Passchendaele Bidge, they, proved that the spirit !of ' the Main i Body inspired them. Volunteering served the Dominion well, but at last the Legislature found it necessary to decide the conflicting claims of the home and the State by the operation of compulsory service. The recruiting reserve of single,; men has been sxhausted, but married men are no less loyal. The tradition of the Main Body demands 4hat the spirit which has inspired the people for three long years should be steadfast to; the end, even as the crusaders were steadfast' and counted no cost, fins is not a time for faltering. The lawn" is surely breaking. The mist rf'war is 1 already tinged with the ?old of victory,' and .soon, if only the lee nations stand firm, must come ;ho noon-tide of such peace and security as the world has neverj mown before, |