The Waipawa Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 1917. CURRENT TOPICS.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 7919, 16 August 1917, Page 2

The Waipawa Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 1917. CURRENT TOPICS.

The Rising Scale. To the casual reader the “Monthly Abstract of Statistics” issued by the Government has no vital interest, but in these times of a steadily rising scale in the cost of living some of the tables published therein possess far more interest than in normal times. The Government Statistician deals with the cost of living under four headings, viz., groceries, dairy produce, meat, and rent. Clothing and drapery do not come within the scope of his enquiries, and yet some of them are “necessaries of life,” more perhaps than tinned fish or ground ginger. Coal is not included, nor train fares, nor druggist’s goods, and yet coal has made a recent heavy advance in price. But to the statistics, and the Statistician’s four groups. The average purchasing power of money for the four centres since 1907 has declined 3s 5Jd, taking the sovereign as a basis. In other words, to buy as much meat, groceries, butter, and cheese and milk, and pay rent, requires to-day £1 3s 4d, whereas the cost would have been 19s 10Jd in 1907.. That takes no knowledge of the increases in the price of boots and clothing, and any ironmongery.

Interesting Comparisons. But the chief point is the great variations of prices in identical articles. Taihape, for instance, has to pay Is per pound for rump steak and Invercargill 10Jd, whereas Dannevirke only pays 9}d. Chops are 7d per pound in Blenheim, lOd at Whangarei, 9d at Palmerston North. A little thing like cornflour is s)d per pound in Invercargill, 8d at Blenheim, Gd in Auckland, 71d in Wellington, GJd in Christchurch, and 6d in Dunedin. Christchurch has its tunnel dues to pay, yet Wellington is charged lid per pound more on this one article than Dunedin or Auckland. Wellington is not a milling province, and yet it obtains its rolled oats for Is 3Jd per four-pound bag, while Christchurch has to pay Is sd, and so does Ashburton, whereas Timaru pays Is 2Jd. While almost every place listed pays Is for the 2oz. tin (really lfoz.) of tobacco, Ashburton, Nelson, and New Plymouth pay Hid. Take tinned salmon. For one-pound cans Auckland charges Is Id, Wellington Is 4id, Whangarei and Dannevirke Is Old, New Plymouth lljd. At this rate Wellington is 5d dearer than New Plymouth on als 4]d transaction. On a little thing like pepper Wellington is lid per quarter of a pound dearer than either Dunedin or Christchurch or Dannevirke, and 2d dearer (on a Gld deal) than New Plymouth. Soap is 3d per bar cheaper in Auckland than in Wellington, but in Dunedin

soap is id dearer than in Wellington. New Plymouth obtains its breakfast rasher at 5d per pound less than Wellington, which is Jd per pound dearer than Auckland. In fact, Wellington’s price leads the Dominion, excepting Alexandra, where the price is Is 5Jd per pound. How to Live Cheaply. The variations are hard to understand. Proximity? A seaport does not explain why some identical imported lines of goods are cheaper in the inland towns than at the ports where no railway carriage is necessary. Being near a meat-freezing works or a butter or cheese factory does not necessarily make meat or dairy produce cheaper in the immediate vicinity. On the contrary, they are sometimes dearer. Dominion awards in wages may be secured, hut the Government Statistician’s list shows that the cost of commodities varies very much in the different cities and towns. The items above dealt with were taken at random. There are other disparities in the prices of identical articles that are difficult to understand. The way to live cheaply, according to the figures, is to rent a house in Alexandra,.buy the meat in Blenheim, butter and cheese and milk in Timaru, and groceries in Dunedin. But the dearest place of all—still taking the figures—is Wellington. In groceries, dairy produce, meat, and rent combined, it heads the list, The highest house rents, up to five rooms, in the Dominion are paid in Taihape, ISs, and the lowest .in Waihi, 8s Bd. Soldier Settlements. ‘ ‘ The suggestion of the lion, member is worthy of consideration, but, at the same time, it is well to remember that no country in the Empire has done so much up to the present in the direction of settling soldiers on the land as the Dominion of New Zealand. ’ ’ Such is the reply given by Mr' Massey to a question asked in Parliament by the Hon. D. Buddo, M.P. for Kaiapoi. Mr Buddo stated that the Canadian-Pacific Railway is preparing homesteads and advancing money to returned soldiers at an estimated cost of £700,000. British Columbia is grouping farms partly on the purchase and partly on co-operative lines, with an independent Board of Commissioners to select land, etc. Australia has set aside large blocks of land and makine 1 considerable nrennmtinn for

the return of her citizen army at the front, while the Mother Country is actively at work devising and carrying out schemes for the same end. And the hon. member asked 1 ‘ whether the National Government will take steps at an early date to set up a Parliamentary Committee to examine into and report on the best method of settling soldiers either on the land, or business, or employment suitable to the soldiers’ capacity, such committee to have power to associate themselves with any local committee in any part of the Dominion, or to add to their numbers experts in any calling or profession which may assist in the movement?”