162 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 944 



TABLE OP ANNUAL AVERAGES OP TWO INDEX 

 NUMBERS FOE AMEEICAN PRICES 



TABLE SHOWING THE FLUCTUATIONS OP THE PIVE- 



YEAE AVEEAGES OF THE TWO INDEX NUMBERS 



POE AMERICAN PRICES 



Dun-Gibson Norton-Sauerbeck 



1890-94 107 106 



— 14 —12 



3895-99 93 94 



-fSl +20 



1900-04 134 114 



+ 12 +32 



3905-09 126 126 



+ 8 +9 



3910-32 334 335 



It is clear that both series of index num- 

 bers agree rather closely in showing that 

 we have been living in an era of a pro- 

 longed advance in the cost of living dur- 

 ing the past fifteen years. In summary, 

 using my American Sauerbeck index num- 

 bers, the price level of 1912 is some 59 per 

 cent, above the level of 1896, and compared 

 with 1890, the percentage of advance is 

 21 per cent. 



Such instability in the average price level 

 is unfortunate, and, whether we attribute 



the causes solely to forces acting on commod- 

 ities or to fluctuations in the gold standard 

 or to both causes, the central fact remains 

 that the instability of the price level has 

 caused many hardships to our people. 



Let us now construct two index num- 

 bers by splitting up the component groups 

 into a food index number and an "other 

 than food" index number, using the aver- 

 age prices of each group, respectively, as 

 the two bases, one hundred per cent. The 

 purpose is to discover the relative move- 

 ments of the two groups, foods and other 

 than foods, over a period of fifty years. 

 Using the early Dun numbers, reduced to 

 the new percentages, we may present a 

 rough comparison, which, I think, throws 

 light on the situation. 



What has happened becomes obvious 

 upon inspecting the following table, which 

 presents the conditions of the price levels 

 of the two groups for selected years, dur- 

 ing the period commencing in 1860 and 

 ending in 1912. 



TABLE SHOWING THE FLUCTUATIONS OP THE FOOD 



INDEX IN CONTRAST WITH THE INDEX FOE 



OTHEE COMMODITIES FOE SELECTED 



YEAES. 1860 TO 1912 



Index Number 

 for Commodl- 

 Index Number ties Other 



for Foods tlian Food8 



3860 145 155 



1864 293 452 



1870 395 200 



1S75 167 160 



1880 138 155 



1885 117 112 



3888 326 112 



1889 124 112 



The above statistics are as of January 1. 



3890 102 117 



1891 321 107 



1S92 107 107 



1893 110 107 



1894 302 95 



1895 100 95 



1896 83 95 



