viii 
On the outbreak of war, London stocks had attained the very 
high figure of nearly 100,000 cases and the price was only 6i^. per 
cwt. Normal commercial demands were cut off and at first the mili¬ 
tary demand for shellac, for the inner coating to shells and for electri¬ 
cal and other fittings, was not of itself sufficient to stimulate the trade. 
By August 1915, London stocks and prices were much what they had 
been the year before, and it was not until 1916 that stocks were re¬ 
duced ; on the 1st December of that year they stood at 56,000 cases, 
while the price had risen to 139^, 
By this time, the military demands for shellac on account of Great 
Britain and the Allies had increased ; and, in view of the serious rise 
of prices in London, measures of control became necessary. 
In December 1916 a delivery price of Rs. 42 per maund for 
Government shellac f.o.b. Calcutta was agreed to at a conference 
between Government and the principal Calcutta shippers. Open 
market prices in Calcutta were more than double that rate, and the 
loss on each Government consignment was made good by the shipper 
on his sales to foreign consumers. 
Although, throughout the period of control, Calcutta prices 
remained fairly constant between Rs. 90 and Rs. 100 per maund, 
the London price steadily increased from 144^. in January 1917 to the 
enormous figure of 450per cwt. in April 1918, by which time 
the stocks had declined from 54,000 to 18,000 cases. Thereafter 
supplies improved slightly and by December 1918 the price had fallen 
to 320 j. These prices, of course, represented the rates which ihe pri¬ 
vate consumer in London was willing to give against declining stocks 
with no near prospects of replenishment. The Ministry of Munitions 
had throughout secured its supplies at the Calcutta price of Rs. 42 per 
maund, plus the usual freight and handling charges. 
In December 1918, war control came to an end and the reversion 
to normal conditions began. Although foreign markets were starved 
of lac, it was naturally some time before the various manufacturing 
industries recovered sufficiently to stimulate the demand. Moreover, 
Government was known to possess considerable stocks and this know¬ 
ledge depressed all markets. The London market fell from 303^. in 
January 1919 to 2055*. in April. Subsequently there was a recovery 
as the various industries consuming shellac awoke to their former 
activities. From that month London prices rose steadily again, the 
