PRISE OF STAPLE FOODS

Taranaki Daily News, 16 January 1931, Page 9

PRISE OF STAPLE FOODS

! < FALL WITHIN TWO YEARS ! ' FOOTWEAR AND CLOTHING LESS. i THE LOWER COST OF LIVING. Inquiries yesterday among tradesmen in New Flymouth revealed the fact that there has been practically a general drop in the retail prices of the staple foods and necessaries of. life as compared with those rul■ing towards the latter part of 1928. Bread is just the same at 61d for a 21b. loaf, but meat has fallen from Id to 3d a lb. • - ■ all’ -round. Speaking in general terms, . clothing and drapery articles have fallen in" price to the extent of about 20 per cent., footwear to 10 per cent, and grocer-ies-from sto 74 per cent. Thus, although for many reasons there may not be so much money circulating in the community the cost of living is decidedly lower. The price of bread as the “staff of life,” I is unchanged from that of 1928. The rea- • son. for this is not hard to find. A heavy sliding duty on flour and wheat imported from Australia is levied by the Government in order to protect the wheat industry in ..Canterbury. Hence flour costing £8 or £9 a ton in Australia is costing an importer in the vicinity of £lB 5s to land in New Zealand. Some bakers’ goods have fallen in price but this is due to the fall in price of the other ingredients used. Cake, for example, is cheaper, than it has ever been owing to the low cost of eggs, sugar, and fruit. It is interesting to note in this connection, that the best Australian dried sultanas can be purchased for the small sum of 44d per lb. LOWER PRICED MEAT. Meat shows an average drop of Id to 3d a lb. Beef was sold at from 6d to Is 3d in 1928 but to-day the same quality, can be purchased for 5d and 9d. Mutton brought from 7d to lid in 1928 and is now on sale at 4d and Bd. The opinion that mutton would be lower- still within the next day or: two was expressed by one ' New Plymouth butcher. Except for odd articles the prices of .most grocery lines are lower-this year and, ■ s over the whole, the fall has been estimated at between 74’per cent, and 5 per cent. Butter and cheese are both well d.wii. The former selling at Is, or 8d cheaper than two. years ago. Cheese has fallen about 2d a lb. Rice, tapioca and sago are all cheaper but tea. and potatoes remain almost the same. Tinned jams, fish and meats are all a Id less and dried currants and'"sultanas are also cheaper. Sugar has fallen' about 4s a bag, pollard 6s and bran 3s. - Oatmeal is the only cereal to show an increase in price and this is but a small one. 'The general reason advanced by grocers for this, fall in prices is. the stimulated ; production on all sides. EFFECT OF TRADE RELATION. , ,< Increased -production causing a fall of some 50 per cent, in the value oi the raw Materials used in manufacture has, in the opinion- of a'New Plymouth draper, contributed’ largely towards the general 20 per- cent, drop in .the price of clothing as compared with 1928 prices. Other factors entering into the question are those <jf. keener competition on the Home markets and a slackening of trade ' with two; such countries as. India and China where political, and internal troubles have seriously disrupted business relations. It must be remembered that, although the 'prices received for raw materials are less ■■ by ? half, another factor keep's up the price of the finished article —the cost of pro', duction. . This, is directly, influenced by. the labour cost ’ and the output of the labourer for the time’worked;’ The re- ’ dii’etion' id’ the price of drapery would be • ././greater .-still but for the high rate of exchange ruling at the present time. The fall in the price of footwear for the - publie-was estimated by a local trader to be approximately 10 per cent. Here the drop in the cost of raw materials is again the cause. It is- to be noted that it is mainly footwear manufactured within the. Dominion that has experienced this drop. The English product is down at the fac- i tory, but new duties and the high bank rate have kept its price in our shops approximately the same. The footwear made wholly from New Zealand leather in our own factories is lower priced than that * manufactured in New Zealand factories •• from imported * leathers. -The greater majority of New Zealand-made articles must bo classed under the latter category. Other factors influencing local prices are the newer methods adopted from time to time by the more-progressive of our factories. - .