6 INCREASED COST OF IMPORTS DURING WAR 



a serious item in depreciating the Empire's credit. The 

 consumer also is doubly hit in the price he has to pay 

 at home ; he pays more because of the fall in the 

 Exchange ; he pays far more because of the freight 

 difficulty a general war creates, and of the magnitude 

 of that difficulty we had no conception before this war 

 began. The following comparison (Table II) of the 

 quantities and values of the more important articles of 

 food, for the years 1913 and 1915, shows the enormous 

 extra cost of food in war time : 



TABLE II. — QUANTITIES AND VALUE OF CERTAIN IMPORTS 

 OF FOOD, 1913 AND I915 



(Accounts relating to Trade and Navigation, Dec, 1915) 



