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TRE/.SUft T LI,,T/.RY COST OF LIVING COMMISSION REPORT OF ENQUIRY r-€N PERSONNEIJ OF THE COMMISSION. COMMISSIONER,S. IIrs IIoNouR, SrR J. W. Benru, Kr., c.B.E. (Chairman). IIrs Ifonoun Mn. Jusrrcs G. H. Prcrnnrrc (Chairman in the absence ol Sir Jacob Barth, lrom Kenya). 'Isp How. Corvrvey Hlnvpy. 'WAr,ron, Mn. A. Statistician to the Governors' Conference. Mn. H. E. Wer,nv, District Commissioner, Nairobi. Mn. A. E. Fonnpsr, Principal Assistant Treasurer (Seuetary). Mn. A. A. I-:pcer. Mn. W. Tvson. Mas. Ar,rcp Bperorv. Mn. T. A. Wooo, o.M.c., Irr.B.E. 1 Mn. J. Gneuelr Dewsolr. lrr : Mn. A. IfonNsv. t Mn. U. K. Oze. Assistant S ecretaries. Mn. K. IJ. IfuNTEn, Assistant District Commissioner, Nairobi. Mn. w.w. Broour. t , ! a , LIST Otr WITNESSES AND CORBESPONDENTS. PAGE. PAGE. 1. Anglo Baltic Timber Co. 60 31. Kilima Kiu Estates 1 59. Anonymous 59 61. Legat 11 60. Anonymous 21 30. Ley, Colonel E. M. 34 63. Anonymous 31 33. I-.,iston-Foulis, Chs. 4 2. Agriculture, Acting Director of .. . 46 35. I:urnbwa Co-operative Society t4 ,)n !). Aronson, J. G. B9 Mayers, G. R,. 9, 77 4. Bailey, Mrs. M. P. 16 38. Nfaxwell Davies, W. H. 4L 5. Beaton, Mrs. A. 12,13 41. Nervrnark, D. 47 6. Beckley, Mrs. D. 8, 15 16. Nicholson, Major R. (the late) ... 4t 7. Blacklaws and Brown 35 42. Ogden, NIrs. 40 8. Blowers, A. II. 69 43. Patterson, Major J. t)l I Brassey Edwards, Major 44 57. Raf{les Cox, Mrs. 30 10. Brown, Major C. E. 72 44. Ramisi Sugar Estate 11. Rudheo. N. M. 4l 1. Robinson, Ir. P. 60 12. Rrrtter lletailers t2 45. Sands, A. B. 56 13. Churuber o f Commerce, 39. Srnithfield Rutchery ... 16,37 ated of E.A. 5 46. Steele, Major C. 54 L4, Cole, Hon. G. 2 26. Stockbreeders l)irect Meat 57. Cox, Mrs. Ra1fles 30 Supply, Ltd. 3B 15. Corbett, N. 6 47. Stollard, Miss K. l5 16. Dalgety & Co. 4l 48. Stronacli, J. C. 67 17. Delamere, Irord t2 o. Sukari, Ltd. B9 57. District Commissioner 12 22. Tannahill, A. C. 61 18. Eadies Footwear, I-"rtd. 35 49. Torr: J. 34 19. East African Estates, 30 50. Town Clerk t4 20. E. A. W. League 30 19. Tucker, Colonel W. K. 30 21. Elliot, M. S. & Co. 33 44. Turney, Major F. 91 22. Equator Saw Mills 61 5L. Unga, Ltd. t7 23. Fochs, Mrs. M. 54 62. \reterinary Dept. Officer 62 25. Gasson, R. V. I 9. \ieterinary O{ficer, Acting Chief... 44 26. Ilarris, l\{ajor 3B 37. Victorla Nyanza Sugar Co., Ltd. 9, 77 2. If arrison, E. 46 oJ. Watkins, Mrs. 24 27. Iifenderson, H. E. 74 bl. Welby, H. E. 72 28. Ilowse & McGeorge,. Lttl. 36 54. White, A. A. 36 29. Ilunter A. C. 3 bu. \Yhiteaway I=laidlaw & Co., Ltd. 24 30. Jacobs, I-.,,tcI. 34 55. Wilson, C. J. 6 2t. Joiner, J. D. 33 5(t. Wimhurst, Ltrl. itz , 1 31. Joyce, F. de Y 1 I r I I Irr REPORT OF THE COMMISSION. Youn ExcuJLENcY, Your Commission was appointed to inquire into and report upon :*- (a) The reason for the rise in the cost of commodities in Kenya and particularly in Nair,obi, with special reference to local products; ancl (b) The e,ost of living in relation to salary and earnings. 2. ft appearecl advisable in the firsb instance to determine the extent of any changes in the level of prices of commodities in Kenya, and advantage rvas taken of the Statistical organisation functioning' under the Conference of East African Governors to collect and analyse returns of prices for as many articles as possible cluring the past four years. 3. Consiilerable difficuliy was experienced in securing returns from retailers ancl this delayed the analytical work for many months. It was necessary in the first place for the Statistical Department to prepare forms and clistribute them to the various retail and wholesale establishments, then to collect and analyse the results. 4. The tables showing the changes in the price level of cornrnodities were at first brought up to June, 1928, and the results, wliich depentl on about 120 articles, q,re shown as relative index numbers on Jautary, L927, as base, group by group, in Table 2 of Appendix A. The actual values will be founcl in Table 1. As so much delay had occurred in printing these tables, it was considered advisable to extend them and bring them up to October, 1928. This was accordingly clone, and the results are shown in l'able 3 of Appendix A for each of the months July, August, September and October, 1928, computed on 1927 and 1924 as bases. 5. The articles are cliviiled into 7 groups as follows:- 1. Groceries. 2. Clothing. 3. Household Requirements. 4. Motor Transport. 5. Pharmaceutical Products. 6. Milk. 7. Meat and Fish. The mean inclex numbers for each of these groups from L924 to October, 1928, on January, L927, as base, are as follows :- Epoch Gnoup t926 t927 1""; 6-ctoirer 1928 1928 l. Croceries tM2 1062 1039 1007 1010 995 2. Clothing .. I115 1 138 t046 999 983 987 3. Household Requirements 1110 1033 1099 98B o<a 942 4. Motor Transport 1232 1264 I 135 974 960 930 5. Pharmaceutical Products to44 983 t0t2 tao2 995 995 6. Milk 756 865 1000 1000 1000 1000 7. Meat and Fish 890 972 tot2 1006 1110 1110 Unweighted N{ean.. 1049 997 X'rom these figures it will be seen that the unweighted means of the 7 groups increase slightly from 1030 to L052 between 1924 and 1925, anrl then clecrease to 994 in October, 1928. 6. fn order to ascertain the change which hacl taken place between . 1924 antl 1928 shown as a percentage of the value rn L924, the prices in the various groups for October, L928, were calculatetl as an index number on iv 1924 as base, and it will be seen that prices have fallen by 2.4 per cent. of the value in 1924. It shouid be noted that all these values depend upon the average of the highest ancl lowest recorcleii values. t? 7. While this rnethod indicates the tlend of prices of commodities, the r:ost of living of the individual should in realiiy be the minimum at which such articles of consumption can be procured on the local market. The tlifficulties of distribution, however, and the methods of marketing to which housekeepers in Kenya are condemned, make it almost impossible for individuals to take advantage of these minirnurn prices, so that the average appears to be a more representative figure than the minimum under the conditions obtaining in Kenya. The difliculties of distriklution and marketing will be referrecl to in later paragraphs of this report. B. It is not an easy matter to determine the proportion in which these various groups enter into the ordinary faniiiy burlget, but one or two carefully- conirolled schedules indicate that the following proportions may be taken as fairly representative, the total expenditure on the groups being taken as 100 :- Weigh,t in tamily budget Group. efrpenses. 1. Groceries 49 2. Clothing 15 ro). Household Requirements 6 4. lVlotor Transport 11 I 5. Pharmaceutical Products 4 6. Milk 4 7. Meat and Fish 11 I 100 ,l This leads to the following relative mean weighted values for each year :- 7924 1060 1925 L724 "l 1926 1048 1927 1040 June 1928 1005 I October 1928 997 I Ii will be seen in c,onsequence that the tendency has been downwards since 1925. Under Group 1 : Groceries, local produce was then separated from imported articles. The two resulting index values are as follows :- For 76 articles ol I Iocal groaery For 39 im,ported produce. articles. 1924 955 1100 l-925 1050 1071 1926 1052 1043 1927 1006 1002 June 1928 1014 999 If to ihese local grocery products are added Meat, Fish and NIilk the following figures are obtained for the 19 articles :- For 79 arLicles of local produce. 1924 938 7925 1034 L926 t052 7927 1013 June 1928 1023 lr' The corresponding figures for Milk, Meat ancl Fish are as follows :- Ju,ne Oct. 7924. 7925. 7926. 7927. 1928. 7928. Mirk 7DO 865 ... 1000 1000 1000 1000 Meat 890 969 998 992 1110 1110 X'ish BB9 1009 1167 7t57 1111 1111 Mean 845 L From these values it is seen that the local prices have increased from 938 in lg24 to 1023 in October, 1928, or by 10 per cent. on the 1927 valueS, while imported articles have clecreased from 1100 t,o 999 during the same period. The Commission is inclined to the belief that the trend of prices of the local produce has been the principal factor in determining the demand for inquiry into cost of living values, as popular attention is arrested more easily by the comparatively few and very essential articles which are produced locally than by the multitude of irnported articles which are in common use, while the relative value of each is overlooked in ihe budget expenditure 10; The relation between wholesale prices and retail prices of the principal articles of local produce was next examined, and the result is shown in Table 6 of Appendix {. The percentage difference between the wholesale price anil the retail price is computed both on the w'liolesale price and on the retail price respectively, and shown in the last column of this'Iable. 11. Dealing with these articles individually it is found that the per- centage difference in the case of Flour, based on the wholesale price, jncreasetl from 36.6 per cent. in 1925 to over 50 per cent. in the third quarter of 1928. 'I'his change was due to,a steady decrease in the wholesale price not reflected in the retail price until the fourth quarter of 1928.* Retail profits in consequence increasecl. In the case of Butter, the percentage decreased from 26 per cent. in 1925 to ab,out 10 per cent. in 1928; for this item it is the wholesale price which has risen more rapidly than the retail so that retail profits are less. Bcicom sholvs a decrease from 52 per cent. in Lg24 to 37 per cent. in the third quarter of 1928; to this comparatively low value in the third quarter, 1928, reference will be made in subsequent paragraphs dealing wiih the effect of the publication of the prices of staple articles, which has been. the policy of the Statistical Department lor the last 18 moflths. The percentage difference in the case gf Beer increasecl from r-2O per..cent.,in, 1924.to.30 per.cent. in 1928. This increase was due partly to a faljing off in .the wholesale price and partly to an increase in the retaii lrice. ' In the I case of Maize Meal , the percentage difference decreased from 37 per cent. in 7927 to 22 per cent. in the sec.ond quartel of 1928. The recorcls for previous yea,rs in respect of this article are defective. The percentage difference in ihe case of Milk fell from 135 per cent. in 1924 to 60 per cent. in 1928. The retail price of milk has been steady since 7926, while the rvholesale has risen by 100 pel' cent. since 1924 with consequent clecrease in retail profits. The percentage difference in the case of Su.gar has been very variable; it rose from 17 per cent. in 1924 to 51 per cent. in 1926, and fell to 1() per cent. in the third cluarter of 1928, fn the case of Cheese the decrease in the percentage difference is very markecl, having fallerr from 57 per cent. in L9'24 to below 10 per cent. in 1928 ; the wholesale price has increased steadily and niore rapidly than the retail price. 12. Further information concerning the trend of prices of imported articles was sought from the Tratle Reports, and the index values'of a large number of articles will he found'in Appenilix B. It has not been possible, *'I'he corresponding values for the fourth quarter, 1928, will be found in the resum6 on page 133. They are as follows; flour,35l; hutter, l2%; bhcon,29l; beet, 281 1 maize meal, 341 ; milk, 89f ; sugar, 2l)i, ztnd, cheese, 16f . vlr for obvious reasons, to arrange these groups completely couparable with those formed from articles reiailed in Nairobi, but a rough classification has been made into groups closely resembling them, as follows :- Groceries. Clothing. I{ousehold Requirements. Motor Transport. The mean index numbers derived from these Customs figures are as follows :- l. Index Numbers on 1927 as base. Me,u{ oF INDEX Nurrasns oF Arrr, Ilrponrno Anrrcrps AS DERTVED FRoM TsE Cusrolrs RprunNs WIIICE COULD BE CI,ASSIFIED INTO TIIF] For,LowrNG Gnoups. 7923. 7924. 7925. 7926. 7927. Groceries 1091 1019 1046 t025 .. 1000 Clothing LQBT 1340 1356 l22B .. 1000 Household Requirements 1118 1058 1010 l042 .. 1000 Motor Transport 1163 1071 .. 1000 Mean 1 I 1 l 2. Index Numbers on 1927 as base. I Mpe,lt or fwnnx Nulrnpns oF Arrrr flrponrnn Anrrcr,gs AS DERTvED FR,ol\t Cusroirrs Bnrunxs wHrcn cour,D Nor BE cr,ASSrFrED uNDEn, ANy ' oF TrIE l{n.rnrNos ABovE, DETATTJs oF wurcu I ARE snowN rr Appnuorx B. 7923. 7924. 7925. 7926. 7927. Building Materials L275 1203 1299 1113 1000 Office Material 7142 1166 1086 1116 1000 :l Agricultural Implements 1340 12Bg 1161 1079 1000 Sunclry (not classified) ... 1305 1254 1385 l2l5 1000 Mean Mean of all articles l2]5 1L77 1176 1110 1000 Separating the imported articles which have fallen in price from those which have risen we fintl :- FALLEN IN PRICE-GROUP I.-GROCERIES. Maize Meal and Flour. Tea. Sugar in bulk and in jaggerv. Sugar. Othe's, mostly in tins. Marmalade, fams and .fellies. Fruits, Bottled. Canned and otherwise Pre- served- Milk, Condensed. Butter. GROCERIES. Margarine and Marrorv-fat. Fish, Canned. MBIN INorx Nuusnns FoR ARTICLES Whisky. Pnrcrs oF wurcH Hevr Fanrx. Rum. Gin and Geneva. ' 1924 .. l1B1 Cigarettes. 1925 .. 1t23 Tobacco, Manufactured. 1926 .. 1069 Snuff. 1927 .. 1000 Spices. Confectionery. Meat, Tinned, Canned and otherwise Pre- served.

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