0081 OF LIVING

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10560, 10 April 1920, Page 9

0081 OF LIVING

COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY WORK OF BOARD OF TRADE REVIEWED. STATEMENT BY PRIME! MINISTER. An important comprehensive survey of the position with regard to the cost of living, was made by tha Prime Minister to a- “Times” representative yesterday. Mr Massey stated that ho had watched carefully the trend of public opinion in respect to the increased cost of living, and wanted to take the opportunity of lotting the public know thc_ action taken by the Government during recent months. The Government had been accused of unsympathetic administration of the Board of Trade Act of last session ; and it was necessary to reiterate that the Government was determined to do all in its power to check profitooriifg. THE LOCAL TRIBUNALS ACTIVE.

His .action in appointing four district -was, he claimed, proof of this determination. In the personnel of the tribunals, regard had been paid by the Government to their special fitness to conduct such inquiries and to warrant the confidence of tho public. The gentlemen appointed were representative of all classes of the community, and were showing, an earnest desire to assist the Government in carrying out the intention of the existing legislation. The Government now looked to the public to do their share in making the tribunals of the maximum uso by bringing under their notice all matters regarding unreasonably high- prices, which they would investigate and report upon. The tribunals had now been in operation for three weeks, and the arrangement made was that they should meet on three davs in each week; hut experience had shown that they would probably have to sit much more frequently in order to cope with tho amount of work involved. Numerous complaints as to unreasonable high prices had been brought before the tribunals. covering ten. furniture, hardware, meat, coal, 'tobacco and rigaretfes. sugar, agricultural implements, cutlery, binder twine, thread, mediseeds, flour, oatmeal, _ footwear, b“nzme, leather, and house rents. Accountants had been attached to each of the tribunals for the purpose of making the npcessarv inquiries and investigations. For the purpose of investigations concerning articles with pclatir-n to' which , women’s , special knowledge, was required. Mr Ma.sspy stated that he bad _ approved of tho services of women being employed, and it was probably in this conueetion that the expert ingnectors attached to the Labour Department would be utilised. METHOD OF WORKING. Ho wished specially to stress that the names of persons making complaints were not disclosed by the tribunals in connection with inquiries. The procedure usually followed was for

the inquiry instituted by any complaint to bo made in the first place, by the accountant; -and, following this, tho person against whom tho complaint was made was generally called upon to appear before the tribunal. Tlio result of the inquiry was then communicated to the complainant, who was advised of the opinion of the tribunal respecting tho complaint. As was naturally to bo expected, in a large number of cases tho .result of the inquiry was sufficient to satisfy the complainant that the charge rif unreasonable prices oould not be maintained; but in eases where the tribunal considered that action should bo taken, such action would take tho form of either —(a) A demand for a refund in cases where the overcharge was obviously due to a mistake; (b) publication of facts for general information; (c) recommendation to the Board of Trade that proceedings bo instituted. EXCESSIVE RENTS., Several of the tribunals had reported that cases had been brought before theiy notice dealing with excessive rents, and Air Massey stated that, although these cases did not at present come within the ecope of the Act, ho had asked the tribunals to inquire into cases of sales of house property at excessive prices, and to bring under tho notice of the Labour Department cases where excessive rents appeared to bo charged, as the legislation already cx. isted enabling tho Labour Department to* take action. PROFITEERING CASES. Prior to tho establishment of tho tribunals, the Board of Trade had instructed the various Crown Solicitors to institute proceedings under section 32 of tb«- Board of Trade Act for charging unreasonably high prices. One case had already been heard in Wellington, and’other cases wore pending in Hawera, Lawrence, Dunedin, Christ church, Now Plymouth, and Auckland. The foregoing statements had relation particularly to the administration of section 32 of the Act, which covered specific cases of the charging of unreasonably high prices, Tho povvei fas, however, provided in section 26, of the Act to make regulations providing, inter alia, for tho prevention or suppression of unfair methods of competition, the suppression of monopolies, the establishment of fixed oi maximum prices,, and the general regu. lation of px-icos. Regulations under this section had already been drafted, and were at present under considera-, tion by the Government. PRICE CONTROL.

Mr Massey pointed out that the wort of the Board of Trade had been considerably relieved By the establishment of the profiteering tribunals, enabling tho board to give time to , tho control of tho distribution and prices.of essential commodities in short supply. Tho control exercised by the board was in the nature of rationing such important

commodities as petrol, wheat, flour, foment, and sugar, and .this control had been exercised without undue interference with ordinary trade and buying methods, lu all these lines, prices had been controlled, tho, board following tho policy that a shortage did. not necessarily justify an' increase in price such as might have obtained had the ordinary economic law of supply and demand been the sole factor. The Board of Trade had in hand the following woyk: PETROL. Tho control of the distribution of petrol throughout Now Zealand, Tho cchemo of control involves: (1) Tho compilation of statistics from time to time ehowing stocks in hand and afloat; (2) distribution of stocks throughout New Zealand; (3) allocation of stocks to various users; (4) control of prices; and (5) supervision of the work of tho petrol sub-committees in tho various centres.

WHEAT, FLOUR, AND BREAD. The lifting of the purchase in Aus tralia of some 60,000 tons of wheat and its distribution on arrival to thu various flourmiflers in New Zealand was an important duty undertaken by the board in. conjunction with tho control of the price, sale, and distribution of wheat grown in New Zealand. Similarly the board controlled tho price of flour and its' distribution, and special steps had been, and wore being, taken to control hoarding for speculative purposes.. In regard to bread, tho board was engaged in a comprehensive investigation into the cost of manufacture, cost of distribution, tho receipts from its sale, arid the net profits. Every baker in the Dominion was to supply this information and the work of checking, dissecting, and compiling would be considerable, But would furnish the Government with more information in regard to the bakery business than had ever Before Been obtained. WOOLLEN GOODS. Tile board was engaged in a comprehensive inquiry respecting the -prices of woollen goods, and was how investigating tho accounts of the various woollen companies of tho Dominion. When this inquiry was completed it was proposed to extend it to warehouses, tailors, and retail shops. As a result, of his inquiry much valuable information should bo obtained, and the board should be able to check any undue increases in price in regard to locally- ' manufactured clothing. ■ CEMENT. Owing to the shortage of supplies, due mainly to tho abnormal demands for building purposes and to the shortage of output resulting from insufficient supplies of coal, the Government found it necessary to inaugurate, through the Beard of Tirade, a system of allocating such cement as was available to the more essential users, in order that the houing scheme of the Government and urgent necessary works should not be unduly hampered. A scheme of .dlstrbution had Been agreed upon -to ; prevent duplication of orders, and to assure supplies reaching essential users. This scheme had come into operation this week, and should allay the dissatisfaction that at present existed in regard to distribution. . The work of finding shipping, not only for cement supplies, but for other essential commodities, had been placed upon tho board, ns the Board was often the best authority to judge which parts of New Zealand were most urgently in' need of supplies, whether'rit'-be. oepfent, benzine*, flour or sugar. , SUGAR, As was well known, the Board of Trade was allocating available supplies of sugar to the respective industries usin<r sugar and conserving as much as possible tor household use. Tho board had under preparation a comprehensive scheme of control so as to check duplication of orders through merchants nnd ensure fair and equitable treatment to consumers generally. ~ : ' HIDES AND LEATHER.

A control over the export of hides had been exorcised for some considerable " time, and the Government after a conference with representatives of all parties concerned, had recently Issued regulations with the object of ensuring that while producers of hides would receive the market price for their product, tho tanners of New Zealand could not, as . a result of expert, be in the position of having insufficient hides for their requirements. Follow, ing the increase made by tanners in leather prices, tho Government had instructed the board to institute an inquiry under the following heads:— (1) Whether tho tanners were buying prior to the lifting of the embargo on hides in excess of tho gazetted rates, and if so, tho conditions of purchase nnd from whom they were purchased; (2) stocks in hand immediately prior to the raising of the embargo; if Below normal how far short this was of normal requirements; (3) date tanners increased prices of leather and date they commenced using tho higher-priced hides; (4) whether the margin of profit under embargo conditions was reasonable, and whether the matrgin of profit under present conditions is reasonable. STANDARD BOOTS NOT ABANDONED.

Questioned ns to the effect of the increased prices of leather upon the standard boot scheme, Mr Massey stated that this did not mean the abandonment of the scheme. The Board of Trade was at present engaged in getting the several samples recosted and would fix new prices based on the extra cost of leather, materials, and ’abour since the scheme was first established. It was still possible to buy standard boots in Wellington at the old price. TIMBER: A control had for some two years past been exercised over the prices and export of timber.. An impression seemed to be abroad that the shortage of supplies of building timber at the present* lime was . due to »he axport of large,- quantities to Australia. Mr Massey stated that ho had from time to time supplied figures to the Press showing this to bo incorrect, and ho could assure the public that at the present time very considerably loss timber was being exported than at any other time in the history of the industry. The shortage was entirely due to the abnormal demand for the erection of buildings. The export of building timber was taking place only from the We«t Coast of tho South Island and from ports in tho extreme north of the Auckland Province, and to ft great extent to utilise sp-'ce ,on coal boats returning to Aiis'-al'a, ns it was essential that back freight for such vessels should bo*supplied*. . IMPORTED GOODS. Admittedly, he said, in the case ol the commodities referred to in the foregoing statement, prices had increased when compared with those ruling in pre-war days, bub in every

case justification had to bo shown to oho board for the increases, and evidence in support of such increases was in the possession of - he board. Whilst tho board could exercise control over essential commodities manufactured »n the Dominion, and over the prices charged for same by merchants, there was eonsideraulo anficußy Mi contre>ing the very largo number of commodities that had to be imported. The prices of these imported commodities —inciudiug dried fruits, tinned hsn, tea, cocoa, coffee, rice, and other grocery lines, tobacco, hardware, paint, woollen and. cotton goods, . linoleums and furnishings, crockery, chemicals and drugs, and artificial manures—were dependent wholly upon the landed cost, and. all that the Government or the Board of Trade could do was to ensure that tne profits made bv merchants and distributors in New Zbiland were reasonable. Mr Masses stated that a return had been prepared lor tha Government by the board, showing tho increase in cost ot these imported goods, which . disclosed that, taking tho price in 1912 as equalling the index, number of 10C0, in 1915 tho number rose to 1210: in 1(117 to 1889; and in 1919 to 2238. NEW ZEALAND BETTER OFF.

Air Massey stated, in conclusion, that ho had had the opportunity of studying conditions abroad at first hand, and hi-, feeling was that in New Zealand tho people were infinitely better off than tho population of other countries. The position in New Zealand undoubtedly called, for close watching, but the forces affecting prices were often beyond effective control here; and control, unless properly exercised, might menu famine in tho future. The following table showed that wo still held a most favourable position, with respect to food prices, as compared with other countries : FOOD PRICES COAIPARED. Table showing the percentage of increases in cost of living, between July, 1914, and tho months shown, in various coubtrice«—

Note.—The increase in Now Zealand between July, 1914, and December, XOl9. was 55 per cent., which would place tho Dominion second on tho list, as at tho end of 1919. Evoryoi e in commerce knew the ex-treme'-difficulty in securing supplies, and at no'time in tho Dominion’s history was 'the demand for goods so great and tho shelves so bare. The Government would do its duty in facing the position fearlessly, but it had to be careful and just. He would again stress that the Government had given every possible opportunity to the public of having full investigation made into all cases in which they considered unreasonable profits were being made, and the Government looked to, the,in to.,exercise their; powers in this direction, as without the assistance of tho public the full benefit of tho legislation recently passed could not be realised.

Comparison In. Country. between creaea July, 1914, and p.o. India (Calcutta) .. November, 1919 SI Spain March, 1919 57 Australia December, 1919 58 Now Zealand March, 1929 62 South Africa November, 1919 67 United States November, 1919 88 Canada November, 1919 93 Holland (Amsterdam) November, 1919 103, Denmark July, 1919 112 United Kingdom ... January, 1920 136 Switzerland September, 1919 141 Franco (Paris) ... December, 1919 185 Norway November, 1919 197 Sweden Belgium (Brussels) December, 1919 207 October, 1919 246 Italy (Rome) November, 1919 246