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Rh Cotton followed an exceptional course. With the cutting off of Germany from the market the price fell considerably in the first months of the war and was below the pre-war level till nearly the end of 1915. Presumably in consequence of the restriction of shipping, a rapid rise began in the autumn of 1916, and at the date of the Armistice cotton was at three times its pre-war price; then there was a perceptible fall for some months, but this was followed by a great increase, the reason of which has not been explained, which brought American cotton early in 1920 to more than four times its cost in July 1914; the reaction from this inflation gave the first indication in 1920 that the general index number was about to move downwards. Both yarn and piece goods rose more rapidly than raw cotton, especially in 1919-20.

The price of wool also fell after the outbreak of war, but the great demand for the Allied armies soon turned the scale and English wool especially became rapidly dearer in 1915. From June 1916 the Government took steps to assume ownership of all the wool it required and to control the rest; the distribution to manufacturers and prices was arranged by an intricate system involving the Government, wool-brokers and manufacturers (Zimmern: Economic Journal, March 1918). The price was very high in 1917-8 and rose rapidly in 1919 when the civilian demand for replenishing their wardrobes and households was acute, and the prices of yarn and manufactured goods outpaced even raw materials. There was no definite fall till 1920. As regards flax, the cutting off of the Russian supply and the Government demand for linen in airships caused linen to be practically unobtainable by civilians, and the shortage naturally continued long after the war. Jute and silk were less affected.

The variations in the movements shown under the heading “Miscellaneous” can in general be explained by known conditions of supply and demand. The supply of petroleum proved to be sufficient for war needs. The Statist index number is vitiated by the exclusion of rubber. Owing to the development of plantations before the war the supply was even excessive; the price was rarely more than 20% higher than in July 1914 and after the Armistice was lower.

(III.) Retail Prices of Food in the United Kingdom.—Accurate and useful statements of retail prices are in general only obtainable with respect to food, in part because most attention has been directed to recurrent and necessary domestic expenditure, in part because it is less easy to define the unit of purchase in the case of clothes and manufactured goods. The cost of other necessary items of expenditure is considered in the article , and this section deals with food alone.

The following tables show the average prices paid by the working classes in the United Kingdom, the result of the monthly collection of information by the Ministry of Labour (formerly by the Board of Trade) published in each issue of the Labour

Gazette, and described in detail in the issue of March 1920. The general movement in retail prices was similar to that of wholesale, that is, a nearly regular increase (23% cumulatively per annum) took place for three years after the outbreak of war, then for more than a year the rise was checked by control and rationing; there was a temporary fall in the spring of 1919, followed by a rise which became rapid in the summer and autumn of 1920 and a fall after Nov. 1920.

—Average Retail Prices in the United Kingdom of the Principal Foods as recorded* at the beginning of each month in the Labour Gazette. {|align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" rules="cols" border="1"
 * align="center"|1914
 * align="center"|1915
 * align="center"|1916
 * align="center"|1917
 * align="center"|1918
 * align="center"|1919
 * align="center"|1920
 * align="center"|1921
 * align="center"|1921





* The prices from Dec. 1914 to Dec. 1918 are calculated from the percentage changes recorded.
 * align="center"|June
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—The prices of meat are the means between two entries in each case and not the average prices of the carcases. They should only be used for comparative purposes, and not taken to be the average price of all meat bought.

In general the records are the average for the commodities as bought in shops and stores used by the working class.

Table VII. shows the average of the movements as combined from the data in Table VI. (together with the prices of fish and eggs) by the Ministry of Labour, each item being given the importance estimated from a pre-war standard budget of expenditure. For the relation of this computation to the cost of living see. Except for making facile generalizations the detailed table is more important than the summary.

The price of bread rose intermittently, but on the whole rapidly till Sept. 1917, when its price was exactly double that of July 1914. The rate of extraction of flour from grain was controlled from the autumn of 1916, and government regulation flour containing an admixture of wheat, maize, rice and other cereals in varying proportions alone was used in the three years 1917-8-9, and during this period the price is not that of a commodity of constant quality. In Sept. 1917 the Government fixed the price at 9d. for the 4-lb. loaf, became the sole purchasers of the necessary cereals, regulated the price to millers and bakers and met the deficit by a subsidy. The price was raised to 9½d. in Sept. 1919 to meet bakers' increased expenses, and at subsequent dates again raised with the increasing price of wheat till it reached 1s. 4d.; when wheat fell in the latter part of 1920 the subsidy was gradually reduced to zero and the price of bread maintained; in 1921 the price fell, and was 1s. 1½d. from April to July. Flour followed nearly the same course as bread.

The retail prices of meat were determined by the wholesale prices already discussed. Imported meat remained for three and a half