Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1917-09-13
WHOLE WORLD FEELS
ADVANCE IN PRICES
Compilations of New York Bank
Show This Country Does
Not Suffer Alone.

The advances in prices. SO keenly
realized by all the people of the United
States, is by no means peculiar to this
.3Ountry, or even to the countries IN
which war conditions are looked upon
US the immediate cause of the higher
prices. From the tea fields of Java and
India, the tin mines of the Malayan
Peninsula, the silk areas of China and
Japan, the sugar fields of Java, Hawaii
and Cuba, the sisal plantations OF Mex
leo, the copper fields of South America
and Japan, the indigo arms of India,
the hemp fields OF the Philippines, the
logwood forests of the West Indies, the
currant orchards of Greece. the rubber
plantations of the Orient, the cham
payne producing area of France, the
cotton fields of Egypt. and even the
amo mines of South Africa. come
statistical proof of advance in prices oil
their respective products.
A compilation by the National City
bank of New York of the prices at
which varied products of these widely
distributed areas are being sold in the
places of production, shows that the ad-
vance in prices is general.
The United States has peculiar ia.
cilities for determining the prices OF
the world products in their respective
places of production. Her customs
laws require that the valuations at
which merchandise is imported shall be
those of the merchandise in the coun-
try from which exported to the United
States and not the value on reaching
the port at which it enters this coun-
try. Thus the values named by tho
importers OF any article, from any part
OF the world, must be the price at which
the good were sold in the place from
which exported to this country. or il
the importer does not choose to name
the price which he paid for 1t, then the
average price of the article in the
wholesale markets Of the port from
which it was shipped to this country is
used in determining the value.
So 1t is quite feasible to determine
the average price at which any given
article or class of articles is sold in n
country from which imported. and at
the same time determine the average
total quality Of all the importations of
the article in question with the total
valuation placed upon it by the import
ers of the entire quantity. If, for in
stance, you want to know the price at
which the coffee reaching the United
States from Brazil in any given month
was exported from hat country you
get at least a close approximation of
the average price by dividing the stated
quantity into the stated value. Then,
IT you want to determine the price at
which the coffee of Columbia left hat
country you do so By comparing guam
titles and value Of the Columbia cot
fee imported and find tine average
price of the Columbia or Venezuela or
Central American coffees higher han
the average Brazil.
II you want, however, to determine
the price Of all coffees imported in the
latest available months with the same
month two or three or -four years ago,
you do this by taking the total quantity
Imported and comparing it with the
stated value of the entire quantity, and
you get the average world price per
pound of coffee at the place of exporta-
ton to the United States for the year in
question. BY a similar process you de-
termine the price in place Of production,
Of any Of the thousands of articles i'm
ported into the United States, provided
always that the import figures name
both quantity and stated value, for the
valuation is in all cases that at tho port
or country whence shipped to the
United States.
Such comparisons show in a very
large proportion Of the cases marked
increases in the values, at the place Of
production, of the merchandise brought
into the country. Raw cotton, for ex-
ample, most of it from Egypt, was i'm
ported in March, 1917, at an average
price Of 31.Sc per pound, against 16.3c
IN March, 1914, a date Immediately pre-
ceding the war, and these. be it re-
membered, represent the export price at
the port or country from which sent to
US. Sisal imports in March Of the cur
rent year were $500 per ton against
SLIT in March, 1914; copper. 29.5c per
pound, against 14.1c three years earlier;
goat skins, 62.2c per pound, against
25.7c three years earlier; cheese at an
average of Sac per pound, against Use:
flax seed at $3.50 per bushel, against
s1.29; beans at 1921 per bushel against
$1.56; potatoes at SLIT, against nc
three years ago; indigo at $500 per
pound, against 15c per pound in the
same months in 1914; logwood at $4,000
per ton, against $11.9O; combing wool at
43c, against 24.6c in March, 1914; lead
at Csc per pound, against &c; copper at
29.5c, against 14.1c three years ago:
cotton stockings at 1927 per dozen paid
against $1.27 in Marcn. 1914; sugar at
exactly double the price OF three year.
ago; currants at an advance Of 800 per
cent; while cattle hides. manila hemp,
raw silk. indian rubber, tin, lumber.
cotton and wooden cloth, and many 9th
er articles show advances, some OF then
as much as 100 per cent. Wood pulp.
mechanically ground, shows an aver
import price in March, 1917. of
$3O.73 per ton. against s16.35 in July.
1914: chemical pulp u~nbleached, 500. 90
per ton, against $36.75, and chemical
pulp bleached, $133.11 per ton, against
$49.20 in 1914. All of these
occur in the price at which the merchan-
disc in question was sold in the country
from which exported to the United
States.
The National City bank, OF New
York.