per cent above base; cloths and clothing, from 1.5 per cent to 22.2 per cent above base; fuel and lighting, from 18.1 per cent to 78.6 per cent above base; metals and implements, from 7.6 per cent to 46.9 per cent above base; lumber and building materials, from 11.4 per cent to 43.3 per cent above base; drugs and chemicals, from 0.2 per cent to 19.1 per cent above base; house furnishing goods, from 8.8 per cent to 15 per cent above base; the miscellaneous group, from 9.7 per cent to 25.8 per cent above base; and all commodities combined, from 10.3 per cent to 27.4 per cent above base. All commodities combined reached the lowest average for these years in January, 1902, and the highest in December, 1906.

The course of prices during the months of 1902 to 1906 as represented by all commodities is clearly shown in the graphic table on page 254.

A table is now given showing the movement in the wholesale prices of raw commodities and of manufactured commodities month by month from January, 1902, to December, 1906. A description of the two classes may be found on page 242.

RELATIVE PRICES OF RAW COMMODITIES, MANUFACTURED COMMODITIES, AND ALL COMMODITIES, FOR EACH MONTH, 1902 TO 1906.

RELATIVE PRICES OF RAW COMMODITIES, MANUFACTURED COMMODITIES, AND ALL COMMODITIES, FOR EACH MONTH, 1902 TO 1906-Concluded.

a These figures are slightly different from those published in Bulletin No. 63, March, 1906, where an error was made in the prices quoted for white pine lumber. (See page 340.)

The raw commodities reached the lowest average for these years in February, 1902, and the highest in December, 1906; manufactured commodities reached the lowest in January, 1902, and the highest in December, 1906. The average for raw commodities ranged from 16.2 per cent to 35 per cent above the base price, while the average for manufactured commodities ranged from 8.7 per cent to 25.6 per cent above the base price.

The course of prices of raw and manufactured commodities from 1902 to 1906 is shown in the graphic table on page 257.

No attempt has been made in any way to go into the causes of the rise and fall of prices. The aim has been to give the prices as they actually prevailed in the market. The relative prices or index numbers must be accepted merely as showing the course of prices both of the individual articles and the market in general. The causes are too complex, the relative influence of each too uncertain, in some

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cases involving too many economic questions, to permit their discussion in connection with the present article. It will be sufficient to enumerate some of the influences that cause changes in prices. Such influences include variations in harvest, which not only restrict or increase the supply and consequently tend to increase or decrease the price of a commodity, but also restrict or increase, to a greater or less degree, the purchasing power of such communities as are dependent in whole or in part upon such commodity; changes in demand due to changes in fashions, seasons, etc.; legislation altering internal-revenue taxes, import duties, or bounties; inspection as to purity or adulteration; use of substitutes-as, for instance, an advance in the price of beef will cause an increased consumption of pork and mutton and, it may be added, a probable increase in the price of both pork and mutton; improvements in methods of production which will tend either to give a better article for the same price or an equal article for a lower price; cheapening of transportation or handling; speculative manipulation of the supply or of the raw product; commercial panic or depression; overproduction; unusual demand owing to steady employment of consumers; short supply owing to disputes between labor and capital in industries of limited producing capacity, as in the anthracite coal industry in 1902; organization or combination of mills or preducers, thus enabling, on the one hand, a greater or less control of prices or, on the other hand, economies in production or in transportation charges through the ability to supply the article from the point of production or manufacture nearest the purchaser. So far as individual commodities are concerned, no conclusion can safely be formed as to causes without an examination of the possible influence of several-in some cases, perhaps, all-of these causes. For example, the various internal-revenue and tariff acts have, in a marked degree, no doubt affected the prices of proof spirits, of tobacco, and of sugar. But, on the other hand, they have not been alone in their influences, and it probably would not in all cases be accurate to give the change of tax or duty as representing the measure of a certain and definite influence on the prices of those commodities.

EXPLANATION OF TABLES.

The general statistical tables of this report are five in number, entitled as follows:

I.-Wholesale prices of commodities in 1906.

II.-Monthly actual and relative prices of commodities in 1906 and base prices (average for 1890-1899).

III.-Monthly relative prices of commodities in 1906.

IV. Average yearly actual and relative prices of commodities, 1890 to 1906, and base prices (average for 1890-1899). V.-Yearly relative prices of commodities, 1890-1906.