Norwich bulletin., 1921-02-15
woRLD-wIDE DECLINE IN PRICES cONTINuEs

The price .toooggzn Is working in every part of the world and in a very large share of the articles fC rming fnternation- al trade Of the 75 principal articles of our import trade. for which the average import price Is stated by the official rec ords of the government all but four. says | a statement by The National City Rank | of New York. are lower in the November | 1920 import record than in earlier months | of the year 1920. The articles in the of- | hcial list which refuse 10 come dour" | are news print paper, wood pulp, pulp l wood. and bananas.
 These official figures of the averare monthly import price of the principal sr- ticles entering the country are. says the banks statement an especially sataable index of world prices The laws os the United States. which are unique in this respect. require persons in foreign coun- tries who are exporting merchandise 10 the United States to state in <rit.ns and under oath before a consul of the United States the quantity and value of the ar ticles being sent to the United States, or ! in case of the absence of such statement the consul is required to reSHort the ship nent and state the value per un.t of quantity in the wholesale markets of the country or city from which the nlerchsn- disc is sent These statements. which be- come the basis of the official vziaEticn of the merchandise imported. are dlstInci- ly the prices in the country of production or exportation to the United States. and thus present an exceptionally accurate picture of world prices from month to month.
 These valuations. adds the banks stzte- ment. show the broad world average price per unit of quantity in the various arti- cles in question, rather than that for any single country. The rubber imported. for example. represents the products Of the forests of Brazil. the Slantations of the Orient, and, the jungles of the Congo valley. for we draw rubber from all of those sections, and when the average irn- port price of the entire quantity import ed is determined. I. pictures the world trend of prices at the place of production more thoroughly than by perhaps any other process. This illustFation applies, in general terms at least. to all classes of imported merchandise even though drawn from widely separated sections of the globe
 The unanimity with which prices the world over have already come down" is evidenced by the fact that 7s out of the T6 articles included in the import price list show a lower valuation per unit of quantity In November 1sa0 than in ear Tier months of the year. Raw cotton. for example, is valued in the November 1920 
 imports at 2S.7c per pound against ssc per pound in August Of the same year raw silk Ss.3t per pound against sI2 2s in March clothing. wool 27.4c per pound against an average of se.4c in May. Ma niia hemp i245 per ton against s37T per ton in July; flax ss72 per ton against s264s in August cattle hides 2e.6c per pound against 33.sc in February goat l skins e2.Sc per pound -agaiast S1.2o in May; pig iron t30.so per ton against ss5.2s in September; coffee 15.3c per pound against 22.1c in January: cocoa 1e.2c per pound against 1T.sc in March : fresh beef 13.sc per pound against i7.so in. May; and rice 5c per pound against He per pound jn February
 The principal articles in the list which still fail to join in the general downward movement are news print paper of which the import price stood in November 1920 at 5s.sc per pound against 5s.sc per pound in January: bleached wood puln s1s3.7o per ton against S110 per ton in January; and pulp wood tl5.55 per cord