THE PEOPLE'S EXPENDITURE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 1407, 1 June 1916, Page 6

THE PEOPLE'S EXPENDITURE

WAR A-ND ECONOMY,

(Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTO'N, this day

Tho annual Paa*liamentary return showing the consumption within the -Dominion of articles, of common use is of particular , interest this 1 yeaV on account of the light it throws on a number of domestic problems arising out of the war. The figures for 1914 covered only live months}' of the war period, but the- figures, for 1915 cover, a full year, and* Suggest that there has been no slackening of expenditure .-.upon-; the articles included ut the list which v may ba -'fairly classed as luxuries. Tho consumption' of spirits, for instance, which in 1914 had reached 2.53 gallons per head of the adult population, the largest on record up to : that .time, ran up to 2.75 gallons last year. The consumption of bser has remained practically stationary" during the last three years, the trilling increase in the' use o f >-h.o New Zealand brewed article just about balancing the decline in imported beer. The total :in 1913 was 13,39 gallons per head of jthe population over lb .years of age, iii 1914 13.42,ga1--10n5, and in 1915 13.41 ''gallons. , Nor has drinking succsss to the A'lies or ! r tl ebrating their victories materially affected the demand fot, Wine.'* In 1913 the 1 - conpumptipn of ' this beverage was 0.19 gallon, per head of the population dVeY 15:.yeai*s of age, in 1914 0.20 gallon, -vnd' in 1915 0.21 gallon... The Goverpment Statistician assumes that only the.,jadult niales in the, population drink, spirits and that the whole of the pdpiif lation Over 15 years of age drink heei* and wine, an assumption.} that probably gives a jktrger consumption per ' head than actually takes place in tlio case of spirits and a smaller in the isase'of beei* and \vinfe. . »

TOBACCO AND TEMPERANCE DRINKS. ■

Tlie consumption of tobacco has undergone no very startling change since tho .commencement of the war. .There was actually a decrease of some 7000 pounds in the quantity smoked in 1915 [compared with the quantity smoked in 1914, but this, no doubt, was due to 'the number of adult males iu. the country having fallen by nearly 8000 during the year, owing to' the dispatch of .reinforcements to the front, and the quantity per head increased from 6.97 pounds, to 7.11 pounds. ' Cigars and cigarettes, which certainly' were smoked by others thaii maLe adult* to whom they are all credited, showed a large increase, tlie duty dii these articles amounting to ' £229,547 in 1913, to £247,442 in 1914 and to £258,---825 in 1915. 'Tea drinking, as indicated by the imports, largely increased during 1914, the consumption par head of the population over 15 years of age advancing from 6.23 pounds to 8.72 pounds, but last year, owing probably to conditions apart from the war, it fell to 7.90 pounds. The use of coffee and cocoa, on tho other hand, calculated on the total population, fell from 0.53 pound per head in 1913 to 0.49 pound in 1914, the lowest figure for some y;ars ( and rose to 0.67 pound last year, tho highest since 1899.

The consumption of sugar which, calculated on the same, basis stood at 122.51b per head in 1913, declined to P5.1 nounds in 1914, but rose to 124.8 in 1915. an increase of no lesl^han 20 pounds on the figure of ten years before. The duty paid ,on ad* valorem goods last year, which is perhaps more significant of the economies practised by tho mass of the people than are any ot' the other figures, amounted to £1,---315,611. a decline of £244,036 on the amount paid in 1013 and of £211;16'4 on the amount paid in 1914.'

Taking it as a whole and accepting it for what itjs worth, tho ParliajneniJirv return confirms the popular opjj^ion that the community is living during Wie yar as it ljyed heforo. and has not yet set itself seriously to the task of cutting dowr. its e?panditurd upon either the luxuries or the necessaries of life.