Sessional_Paper_1907 — Page 968

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1/10 since the 11th October, 1904, and has never risen to 2/4. Several important firms have reduced their prices between 10 and 20 per cent. since that date. The statement that "so far as European tradesmen are concerned the price of goods has for long been at the rate of one dollar to one shilling charged in Eugland" is not applicable to all goods nor is it correct to lay down that customs duties in other Colonies "at most add 10 per cent. to the price." Though $200 a month may be the mean rent of houses on the Peak for officials in the position of the signatories of the first memorial (of whom one however is provided with Government quarters) it is certainly not the average rent of houses occupied by Government officers. The statement that "landlords do not find house property a profitable investment" put forward to show that "it is hardly possible to anticipate any reduction of rent" is incredible; I am informed also that there has during the last year been a tendency of rents of houses in the Peak and Upper Levels of Victoria to fall slightly. The statement that servants' wages are "roughly no less than $100 a month, including 4 chair coolies" does certainly not apply, as it is said to do, to "all classes of officers". Subordinate officers do not keep 4 chair coolies and conveyance allowance of $15 to $40 is given to officers whose duties require them to make use of rickshas or chairs.

In spite of these inaccuracies which it has been my duty to point out there is much in the memorial worthy of Your Lordship's consideration and I would draw special attention to its 11th paragraph.

4. The second memorial puts the case of officers on the whole moderately and correctly, except that in my opinion Table A which is intended to show that a head of a junior department requires to live reasonably $9,924 or, say at $9 to the £, £1,100 per annum and a junior officer $4,290 or say £475 per annum does, as secins to have been anticipated by the memorialists in para. 8 of the document, prove some- what too much. But I am satisfied as to the general accuracy of the statement- and figures in Tables B and C and that it is not overstating the case to say that the cost in dollars of those items of living which are paid for on a silver basis has gone up at least 20 per cent. since 1902 when the Sterling Salary Scheme was intro- duced and during which year the average gold value of the dollar was 1/8. A factor which has undoubtedly contributed to this rise is the increasing wealth of the community, as evidenced by the growth in the revenue of the Colony, from $4,901,074 in 1902 to an amount estimated at $6,448,025 for 1907, no fresh taxation having been imposed to account for this increase of about 30 per cent.

5. The remaining petitions call for little comment. That submitted by the Medical Department does not gain force by being signed by the entire staff of nursing sisters to whom much that is contained in it does not apply. Though the Police are undoubtedly prejudicially affected by receiving a smaller number of dollars. now than they did formerly it must be borne in mind that they get considerable extra silver allowances and free quarters, fuel, light, uniform and passages home and out again for themselves and families; they are thus better off than other European public officers in the Colony.

6. From a consideration of the memorials and petitions and of such other information bearing on the matter as I have been able to collect I have come to the conclusion that the case for the memorialists and petitioners can succinctly and fairly be put in the following terms :-

In the last five years the number of dollars received on account of sterling and exchange compensation salaries has been reduced 25 per cent.

In the same time dollar payments which make up about rds the expenditure of senior and some- what more of that of junior officers have increased by rise of prices at least 20 per cent. while sterling payments which account for 3rd or less of the total have decreased by not more than 10 per cent.

7. The purchasing power of an official's sterling salary according to the above statement is in 1907 :-- ( ? × 1 + 1 × } } ) or 67.5% of what it was in 1902.

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Neglecting rise in prices for local produce and labour as being probably independent in its cause of the alteration in the gold value of the dollar the proportion of purchasing power of sterling salaries in 1907 to what it was in 1902 resulting solely from this alteration is (+× ¦¦.) or 77.5 %.