398 Prices of Commodities during last Seven Years ( 1886 - 92 ). 
heavily in 1890 and 1891, were on the average again lower. Cotton, 
middling American, on the spot touched 3j\d. per lb. in March, 
futures being even cheaper, and was practically on a par with the 
lowest price in 1848, which was 3 \d. It rose, however, to 5 \d. 
when it became known that the new crop would be much smaller. 
The average prices of cotton, as well as of wool and silk, were the 
lowest on record, and flax and hemp have only been very slightly 
lower before. 
The index number of 68 for all commodities in 1892 was 32 per 
cent, below the standard period of 1867-77, 14 per cent, below the 
period 1878-87, and 5| per cent, below the average of the last 
ten years (1883-92). 
The monthly fluctuations of the average index numbers of all the 
forty-five descriptions of commodities were thus (1867-77=100) : — 
December, 1889. 
737 
„ 1890. 
7i*i 
„ 1891. 
71-4 
January, 1892_ , 
70 
February, „ , 
70 
March, „ . 
69-1 
April, 1892 , 68 -9 
May, „ . 68 - 8 
June, „ , 677 
July, „ . 67-8 
August, „ . 67-4 
September, „ . 66'8 
October, 1892 . 67 - 4 
November, „ , 68'2 
December, „ . 677 
January, 1893 , 68 - 4 
February, „ . 69-0 
March, „ , 68 'i 
The figures declined until September, when the index number 
was only 66 - 8, the lowest on record ; since then there was a very 
slight improvement, which made a little further progress at the 
beginning of 1893. 
Silver was on the average 12 per cent, lower than in 1891. It 
fell to 37 Id. per ounce in August (index number 62-3, or nearly 38 
per cent, below the old parity of 15^ silver to 1 gold), which was 
the lowest price ever known, equal to a proportion of 24'9 to 1 gold. 
It recovered but slightly from this decline, and was worth 38 ^d. 
at the end of December. On March 22, 1893, it touched a still lower 
price, viz. 31 ^\.d. per ounce, but rose again to 38gd. at the end of 
March. 
Average Prices op Whole Periods. 
The whole epoch since the crisis of 1847 has been divided into 
five periods, viz. : — 
10 years from 1848 to the crisis in 1857. 
9 „ 1858 „ „ 1866. 
11 „ 1867-77, after which year the index number fell below 90, 
10 ,, 1878-87, when prices touched the lowest point. 
5 „ 1888-92, and still in progress. 
Table III. gives the averages of these periods, and I have added 
three periods, comprising the time from 1818 to 1847, though I do 
not attach any great value to them, as prices in England in the first 
half of the century were so greatly interfered with by legislation — 
protective duties and prohibitive laws. 
The average of the last five years is 29 per cent, below the old 
standard period and 10 per cent, below the next period from 1878 to 
1887. The fall is greatest in the case of textiles and corn. 
