VII. & VIII.—Prices (Wholesale).

In the first of these Charts the general level of wholesale prices in the period 1871-1905 is shown. This is based on the combined index numbers of 45 articles which constitute the Board of Trade Index Number for Prices. The relative weight given to each article is proportional to the extent to which it enters into the national consumption.

In the second Chart the 45 articles are arranged in four groups, viz., Coal and Metals; Raw Materials of Textiles; Articles of Food and Drink; and other Raw Materials, etc.; and the fluctuations in the prices for each group are shown separately.

The 45 articles are—Coal, Iron, Copper, Zinc, Tin, Lead; Cotton, Wool (British), Wool (Foreign), Jute, Flax, Silk; British Wheat, Barley and Oats, Foreign Wheat, Barley and Oats, Maize, Hops, Bice, Potatoes, Beef, Mutton, Bacon, Milk, Eggs, Herrings, Sugar, Tea, Coffee, Cocoa, Foreign Spirits, Wine, Tobacco; Cottonseed, Linseed, Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Paraffin, Petroleum, Bricks, Timber, Caoutchouc, and Hides.

A general fall in prices is shown by the first of these Charts to have taken place since 1873, while in the second the fall is shown to have been common to the four groups of articles included, although not so marked in the case of coal and metals as in the other groups.