and 1916 the principal increases may be traced to the diminution
or difficulty of supply (cereals, sugar, flax) or to acuteness of
demand (wool) or to both (timber). In 1917-8 the prices of
nearly all commodities whose supply was threatened or for which
the demand was increased were controlled. The quality was
changed definitely in the case of flour and indirectly when the
prices are averages of several grades as in the cases of meat, flax,
leather and timber.
Table V.—Continued.
| 1913 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | |
| Minerals | |||||||
| Iron | |||||||
| Scottish Pig* | 100 | 109 | 137 | 146 | 154 | 215 | 326 |
| Cleveland Pig* | 100 | 112 | 142 | 154 | 163 | 235 | 357 |
| Common Bars | 100 | 136 | 177 | 177 | 181 | 249 | 366 |
| Copper | |||||||
| Chili Bars | 100 | 107 | 170 | 183 | 170 | 135 | 143 |
| English Tough Cake† | 100 | 112 | 182 | 185 | 171 | 135 | 153 |
| Tin, Straits | 100 | 82 | 91 | 118 | 165 | 128 | 150 |
| Lead, English Pig | 100 | 125 | 170 | 169 | 169 | 154 | 209 |
| Coal | |||||||
| Wallsend in London | 100 | § 143§ | § 128§ | § 128§ | 156 | 211 | 149 |
| Newcastle Steam† | 100 | 136 | 266 | 194 | 216 | 293 | 332 |
| Average Export | 100 | 122 | 177 | 193 | 219 | 331 | 572 |
| Total | 100 | 118 | 150 | 160 | 174 | 205 | 276 |
| Textiles | |||||||
| Cotton | |||||||
| Middling American | 100 | 84 | 128 | 236 | 318 | 280 | 330 |
| Fair Dhollerah | 100 | 77 | 123 | 240 | 301 | 259 | 248 |
| Flax | |||||||
| Petrograd* | 100 | 176 | 226 | 333 | a 353a | a 353a | a 353a |
| Russian, Average Import* | 100 | 161 | 207 | 368§ | 379 | 423 | 837 |
| Hemp | |||||||
| Manila, Fair roping*. | 100 | 120 | 172 | 266 | 313 | 185 | 207 |
| Petrograd, clean* | 100 | 159 | 187 | 278 | 439 | 388 | 385 |
| Jute, good medium | 100 | 80 | 117 | 149 | 148 | 189 | 169 |
| Wool | |||||||
| Merino, Port Philip* | 100 | 119 | 182 | 258 | 262 | 372 | 444 |
| Merino, Adelaide* | 100 | 114 | 174 | 245 | 247 | 338 | 337 |
| English, Lincoln half-hogs | 100 | 140 | 162 | 169 | 152 | 183 | 178 |
| Silk, Tsatlee | 100 | 89 | 148 | 195 | 234 | 236 | 351 |
| Total | 100 | 112 | 156 | 214 | 269 | 272 | 320 |
| Miscellaneous | |||||||
| Hides | |||||||
| River Plate, dry* | 100 | 105 | 119 | 162 | 163 | 182 | 166 |
| River Plate, salted* | 100 | 116 | 139 | 167 | 149 | 206 | 192 |
| Average Import price* | 100 | 116 | 135 | 180 | 185 | 198 | 233 |
| Leather | |||||||
| Dressing hides* | 100 | 147 | 145 | 179 | 168 | 187 | 223 |
| Average import price* | 100 | 113 | 140 | 179 | 170 | 211 | 370 |
| Tallow, town | 100 | 108 | 138 | 181 | 242 | 255 | 218 |
| Oil | |||||||
| Palm | 100 | 98 | 126 | 130 | 127 | 197 | 198 |
| Olive | 100 | 104 | 120 | 234 | 400 | a 404a | a 404a |
| Linseed* | 100 | 122 | 167 | 228 | 257 | 375 | 356 |
| Linseed* | 100 | 126 | 176 | 247 | 288 | 306 | 345 |
| Petroleum, refined | 100 | 105 | 141 | 190 | 252 | 204 | 298 |
| Soda, crystals | 100 | 102 | 166 | 189 | 174 | 249 | 317 |
| Nitrate of Soda | 100 | 110 | 156 | 217 | 237 | 216 | 215 |
| Indigo, Bengal | 100 | 486 | 486 | 373 | 327 | 332 | 527 |
| Timber | |||||||
| Hewn, average import* | 100 | 147 | 205 | 244 | 268 | 344 | 400 |
| Sawn, average import* | 100 | 150 | 236 | 333 | 430 | 369 | 416 |
| Total | 100 | 148 | 182 | 217 | 247 | 268 | 312 |
| Total Materials | 100 | 129 | 165 | 201 | 234 | 252 | 304 |
| Grand Total | 100 | 135 | 170 | 212 | 234 | 251 | 312 |
| Silver‡ | 100 | 86 | 114 | 151 | 172 | 207 | 223 |
*The entries in these cases of similar commodities are averaged before inclusion in the index numbers.
†These commodities are not included in the Statist index numbers.
‡Comparative values.
§Approximate prices.aNominal prices.
Food.—The price of wheat rose immediately after the beginning of the war, and with it the prices of flour, oats, maize and rice. The prices were checked by the establishment of a government system of purchase at the end of 1916 and by the control of the prices of home-grown cereals in 1917; with this system flour of mixed materials was substituted for wheat-flour and the product sold at a price kept constant and relatively low, by the help of a subsidy beginning in the autumn of 1917. In the case of wheat and flour, the subsidy and control continued till the beginning of 1921 but the prices rose; the prices of other cereals increased very rapidly from the autumn of 1919. An attempt was made to control the consumption of oats in 1917-8, otherwise cereals were not rationed. The wholesale price of potatoes was fixed from time to time, the Government undertaking to make good growers losses, but the price was changed so frequently that the control had little effect.
Early in the war the price of imported meat increased more rapidly than that of home-killed, till in 1917 there was little difference between their retail prices. On the whole the price of meat increased less than that of commodities in general. Prices were fixed in Aug. 1917 and consumption was rationed early in 1918; after the Armistice control was gradually relaxed; but prices of beef and mutton changed very little during the two years after the first fixing of them. The prices of Irish bacon quoted are hardly typical; in 1917 a great quantity of American bacon of inferior quality was bought by the Government, who had difficulty in selling it at a price which covered the cost. The demand for high-class bacon could not be met, and its price after 1917 rose more rapidly than that of butcher's meat. The line in the table relating to imported butter is perhaps misleading since the supply was insignificant, and its inclusion unduly depresses the average; for the records of milk and its products we must depend on retail prices. Taken together the prices of animal food increased at a lower rate than the general average of prices except in 1916-7.
The price of sugar was of course dominated by the cutting off of the continental supply, and its increase was greater than that of any commodity always obtainable included in the table. The Government took over the whole supply at the beginning of the war and issued it at a fixed price; the control continued till 1921. There was no shortage of supply of coffee nor of tea (except in the autumn of 1917), and their prices rose relatively little.
When all food prices are grouped together as in the table, it is seen that they rose till 1917 more rapidly than the average for materials, but that the increase from 1913 to 1918, and to 1919 was the same in the two groups.
Materials.—The prices of different kinds of coal increased at different rates prior to the general control of coal mines which took effect early in 1917; with the stoppage of export of coal the supply was adequate even for the increased use in the manufacture of pig-iron, and the restriction in consumption from 1917 was only necessary to economize labour in the mines. For domestic and manufacturing use the price rose but slowly till 1919 and generally less than for goods in general. Iron and steel began to come under control as early as June 1915 with the initiation of the Ministry of Munitions, and their use was severely restricted for all civil purposes, so that there was no free market for more than three years. The prices were actually fixed in Nov. 1917, a government subsidy being given to steel and to pig-iron makers to meet any extra costs. The subsidies were withdrawn early in 1919 and the price of pig-iron rose from £4 15s. to £8 a ton, the pre-war level having been £2 11s. Reconstruction and repairs, for many years in arrear, caused a great demand for iron and steel, and in July 1920 pig-iron was 320% and steel rails were 283% dearer than in 1914; prices fell slowly in the autumn of 1920 (Birkett: “Iron & Steel Trades during the War,” Statistical Journal, May 1920). Copper, tin and lead showed no special inflation and were relatively cheap in 1919.
