May ^, 1920.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



Prices of Cotton and Cotton Products.' 



WAR Industries Board.— Bulletin No. 

 23 dealing with the prices of cot- 

 ton and cotton goods, is one of 50 

 inquiries into wartime prices in diffcn-nt 

 industries. The aim of these studies is to 

 make the price quotations, gathered by 

 various government agencies, available to 

 men interested in problems of business re- 

 adjustment and also to provide a perma- 

 nent record of the great revolution in prices 

 during the six years ending in 1918. 



To throw as much light as possible upon 

 the course of price fluctuations, this bulle- 

 tin begins with a brief account of condi- 

 tions prevailing in the cotton industry. 

 Data regarding production, imports, ex- 

 ports, stocks, government purchases, and 

 government control are woven into the ac- 

 count, and the factors that e.xercised spe- 

 cial influence upon markets are emphasized. 



The price charts scattered through the 

 bulletin are drawn on a uniform scale. 

 Since the inquiry centers in the effect of the 

 war. the charts are made to show the 

 movement of prices away from the pre- 

 war level. This effect is produced by con- 

 sidering the average of the actual prices 

 during the 12 months preceding the out- 

 break of war (July 1, 1913, to June 30, 

 1914) as equal to 100 and reducing the 

 actual prices for each month from Janu- 

 ary, 1913, to December, 1918, to the form 

 of relative prices with the prewar average 

 as base. For example, if the selling price 

 of a commodity averaged $2 a pound in 



ELATivF. rRicF:.s. — Cotton to Producers 

 United States, and Weighted Index Nun 

 hers of prices of Cotton Y.nrns and Cotto 

 Manuf.ictures.— By months, January, 191; 

 to December, 1918. (Average quoted price; 

 July, 1913, to June, 1914 r; 100.) 



I EIGHTED I.NDEX NUMBERS OF WHOLESALE 



Prices. — Cotton Class and "All Commodi- 

 ties." — By months, January. 1913, to Decem- 

 ber, 1918. (.Average quoted prices, July, 



r, lyjff. (..'werage quo 

 13, to June, 1914=100.) 



'.■\t>str 



1914 r; 

 from War Industries Board BuUc 



Cotton. Up- 

 land iMiddliuK. New Yorii; Long Staple 

 lotton. average of four scries; and Sea 

 Island Cotton, E.xtra choice Savannah. By 

 months. January. 1913, to December, 1918. 

 (.Average quoted prices, July, 1913, to June, 

 1914 = 100.) 



the 12 months before the war, and if it fell 

 to $1.80 in October, 1914, the relative price 

 in that month would be 90; if the price 

 rose to $4.60 in July, 1918, the relative 

 price would be 230. On this plan, the price 

 charts are comparable one with another. 



For those who wish to know not only the 

 fluctuations of particular prices but also 

 the general trend of prices in different in- 

 dustries, "index numbers" arc provided. 

 A simple average of the prices of com- 

 modities sold — some by the dozen and some 

 by the ton, some by the yard and some by 

 ihe bale — would obviously have little value. 

 Therefore, in making index numbers each 

 commodity is "weighted" by multiplying the 

 monthly prices for 1913 to 1918 by the 

 amount of the commodity produced in 

 1917, plus imports. Nineteen hundred and 

 seventeen was selected as the weighting 

 year because the tables are intended to re- 

 flect wartime conditions, and because data 

 lor 1918 were unobtainable for many com- 

 modities when the bulletins were being 

 written. 



.\n enumeration of the successive steps 

 in making these index numbers will show 

 their meaning. First, for every commodity 

 included in the computation there was 

 made an estimate of the quantity produced 

 in the United States in 1917 plus the quan- 

 tity imported. Second, the price of the 

 commodity in each month in the six-year 

 period covered was multiplied by the 

 "weight." Third, the products of the dif- 

 ferent commodity prices tiines their weights 



her ci "All Commodil 

 by James Harvey Rogc 



