THE COST OF LIVING
[To the Editor of the SrEeTATon.] Sin,—In your article last week, " The Truth about the Cost of Living," the statement appears that " a large number of people employed by public authorities are still given a bonus which varies according to prices in the wholesale markets." Is this correct ? I am under the impression that the Ministry of Labour's cost-of-living figures, on which certain wages rise and fall, are based on retail, not wholesale, figures, and that the principle of ascertainment is this : a typical weekly budget of quantities of articles in daily use is extended on the retail price lists of about one hundred large stores, and the totals thus obtained are compared with the same quan- tities at the prices on those lists in 1913 which are taken as the standard figures. The amount by which the monthly total varies from these standard figures is the basis of per- centage of increase in the cost-of-living figures. Perhaps you can tell me and other readers whether this explanation is the correct one. If so, it would seem to be, so far as the articles which are included are concerned, most accurate and satis-
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