THE PRICE OF THINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3831, 16 August 1927, Page 7

THE PRICE OF THINGS.

FOUR CENTRES COMPARED. WHERE THE DIFFERENCES LIE. ‘‘Where’s the money gone?” the lord and husband may well ask his wife and housekeeper, when he learns that the retail price of the three food groups went down 7 points m June on the index of the month before. The Government Statistician explains that “a further general reduction in the price of sugar has been mainly responsible for the fall of 10 points in the groceries group the 18-point reduction .n dairy produce is the result of a considerable reduction in the price of eggs, which has veiled the small but steady increase in the price of butter. Meat prices have remained practically stationary, an increase of 4 points being due to slight fluctuations in the prices of beef. It will he noticed that the increase in the price of butter : s there, although it is “veiled.” It is pointed out (says a writer in the Evening Post), that expenditure on food constitutes somewhat less than two-fifths of the expenditure of the average household. Comparing prices current for food and clothes, light, fuel, and rent, the position to-day is that- things cost 61 per cent, more than what they cost in July, 1914. In other words, it takes 32s 2gd on the average to produce what could be bought for then for £l. Then the Government Statistician, looking closely into things, makes an interesting comparison of prices of things in the four centres. How they vary ! But why? Clearly, while one could buy for £1 in July, 1914, what costs 32s 2?d to-day, speaking generally for the Dominion, it seems that in some of the four chief centres one cannot buy as much for the money as in others. PRICES OF FOOD.

Take bread. It is given at 6|d for the 21b loai in Dunedin, and in Auckland—a very big difference. Flour, too, is nearly {d per lb more in ‘‘the Queen Citv of the North” than in Dunedin; but oatmeal is cheaper in Christchurch by 2jd the 51b bag than it is in Dunedin. Tea seems about even at from 2s to 2s 6J<l but. here a demand for a higher quality in one centre than another may account for the difference. A iDlb bag of sugar will cost Is 3d more in Dunedin than in Auckland where sugar is refined, and rather less in Wellington than in Auckland. Christchurch has the cheapest, bottle of sauce in the Dominion, but Wellington the cheapest tinned salmon. So there arc compensations. Chri.-tchurch, again, buys its salt for Id per lb, but in Wellington salt is 75 per cent, dearer. Here, again, there is a set-off in favour of the Capital Citv. for its 2oz tin of tobacco is listed as Is 6jd as compared with Is 6|d in Christchurch and Is 8d in Dunedin.

There is a wide disparity in bacon, for in Wellington rashers run at Is 4|d, as compared with Is 3«u in Christchurch and Auek land, and quite a big d.tferencc in the price of butler, for Dunedin pays Is 7d as compared is sjd in Wellington. Rump steak is £d per pound more m this cits than in Auckland or Christchurch, and mutton chops at 83 are Id per pound more than in Dunedin. Even so. if the citizens of the modern Edinburgh get their chops cheaper, if they purpose having tripe and onions for tea, they have, to pav 3jd per pound more for the basic material' than in \\ ellington, where 5Jd appeal's to be the market rate. Cheese has not a strong argument with the New Zealand consumer albeit some of the finest cheese in the world is exported from this country. Its popularity in the Homeland, where it realises best, is due to its being an indispensable accompaniment of beer—and mak tng a good meal. too. But the national beverage of New Zealand is tea, and cneese and tea are an affront to any self-respect-ing palate.. Even so, cheese is dearer in Auckland than in Wellington by 21d per lb, a big difference on. sav, a shilling article. CLOTHING. Looking down the list of prices for clothing. some striking differences will be seen. Children’s boots—and who does not know how large they - loom in the outgoings? Quality and style may vary, but school boots listed at 14s 3d in Dunedin appear at 15s 8d in Christchurch, and light shoes at 15s in Auckland are shown at 16s in Wellington, Boys’ suits in Dunedin aro 3Cs, compared with 40s in Auckland, and 39s 9d in Wellington. Women’s wear prices seem to vary very little, but men’s denims or working clothes are given as 5s ipjd per pair in Auckland and 9s 2Jd in Christchurch—a wido margin. Generally men’s wear is dearer in Wellington than elsewhere. Unless there is some marked difference in quality, it would pay the housewife in Christchurch to send to Auck-

land for her sewing cotton, where 3s 10£d. as against 6s 2jd, buys a dozen reels of 2K) yards each. LIGHT AND HEAT. Household coal is given as cheaper in Wellington by 3s 9d per quarter ton than in Christchurch, and coke by Is 6d per sack. Gas costs the same in both cities, and 2d per 1000 ft more in them than in Auckland. In electricity there is a great difference. Prices per 23 units are as follow Auckland 8s lOd, Wellington 5s lid, Dunedin 4s 8-d, Christchurch 3s lOd. In some other respects the cheapest markets arc: — Auckland for aluminum saucepans enamel kettles, clothes pegs, and buckets. Wellington for linoleum, white metal tablespoons, pattv ?nms —sjd per dozen less than Dunedin's Is l-jdalso those famous irons which immortalise the name of Mrs Potts. Christchurch and Dunedin tie for the cheapest haircut —viz.. Is 3d as against-Is 64 in Auckland and Wellington. John Chinaman's prices for collars are uniform in all four centres at 2s per dozen. The tram faro record for cheapness is held by Dunedin at I.lBd per 160 chains; Wellington is dearest at 1.34 d for the same distance. Probably if all prices were thoroughly gone into ami compared, one set against the other, the average would be about the same for each of the cities.