years at 2d. or 3d. a lb. lower than British meat, but since the price
of the latter was nearly doubled, the percentage increase of the
former was much greater. The Ministry of Food fixed wholesale
prices and the retailer's margin in September 1917 and subsequently
the distinction in price between British and imported meat was
removed. Rationing was gradually introduced, and was nearly universal
from April 1918 to May 1919. Purchasers were restricted also to
the kind of meat that was available from time to time. During the
period of control and till the summer of 1920 prices fluctuated little,
but after control was removed imported meat became cheaper than
British, and with a rise in the latter in 1920 the pre-war proportion
between the two was nearly restored. Home meat was at its maximum
(at about two and a half times its pre-war level) in the autumn
of 1920 and did not fall at all considerably till after May 1921.
Prior to 1914 the corresponding numbers, for London only, are 1910 and 1911 98, 1912 and 1913 103. (See article Cost of Living for further analysis, and for comparative figures for other countries.)
The price of bacon rose rather more slowly in the opening years of the war, but rapidly in the summer of 1917 till it was 140% above the pre-war price. In Nov. 1917 importers' and dealers' prices were fixed, and in July 1918 the regulations extended to retail prices; during this period large supplies of generally inferior bacon were received from America, and rationing was only necessary for a few months. The price after being stationary for two years rose during 1920 till it reached three times the level of July 1914.
After 1915 the price of milk was markedly seasonal, while before the war it was generally retailed at the same price nearly all the year round. No change took place till the autumn of 1915, when the price rose 1d. a qt., and in the following autumn another ¾d., and in neither case was there a fall in the spring; in the autumn of 1917 it reached nearly twice the pre-war price, and in subsequent years fell in the spring and rose in the winter to successively higher points, the maximum (10¾d.) being reached in Jan. 1920. Maximum prices were in force from the autumn of 1917 till Jan. 1920, but they were not reached in all localities. The great rise in the price of milk must be attributed to the high cost of cattle food, which was very scarce in the period of restricted imports; elaborate arrangements were made to increase the supply by curtailing the consumption of cream and the manufacture of butter and cheese. Milk was not rationed except by informal local arrangements. Not much attention should be paid to the prices of butter and cheese after 1916, since during a long period they were not freely obtainable, and the Government having taken control distributed them at prices which would meet their cost. Butter was rationed with margarine.
The price of margarine rose little till 1917, while its consumption increased greatly owing to the want of butter. A shortage of supply was felt suddenly at Christmas 1917, and the Ministry of Food took control and presently assumed ownership of the supply of its constituents and the factories in which it was made. The quality was greatly improved, as compared with that in 1914, and its importance as food became very great in view of the difficulty of obtaining sufficient fatty substances from other sources. The price was fixed in Nov. 1917 at 1s. (1s. 4d. for oleomargarine) and changed little till the end of 1920. In May 1919 the price was left free.
The whole supply and distribution of sugar was taken over by the Government at the beginning of the war and control was continued till 1921. Sugar was distributed through the ordinary channels in such amounts as were available and traders began early to ration their customers. Official rationing (generally at 8 oz. per person) developed in 1917 and its success encouraged the Government to develop the general scheme of rationing meat, fats and some other foods in 1918; rationing of sugar gradually became obsolescent in 1919. The price rose considerably at irregular intervals as shown in the table till in Jan. 1920 it was seven times as dear as before the war.
Potatoes became dear after 1916 and afterwards fluctuated strongly upwards in sympathy with other agricultural produce and the price of manures, and in relation to the supply of each season. The high prices, however, were not universally felt owing to the development of the cultivation of private allotments especially early in 1918.
The supply of tea was ample except for a short period in the autumn of 1917. At that date the Government took control of the supplies and provided a uniform blend to be retailed at 2s. 8d. per lb. The rise in price was less on the whole than that of any other commodity shown in the table.
Other less important foods often showed a greater increase in price than those already named, especially since there was a run on them during the time of restriction and shipping facilities were given rather to the more necessary imports. Eggs in particular became scarce and dear owing to the failure of the European supply and the scarcity of poultry food.
No general comparison of wholesale and retail prices is possible, for want of adequate records of the wholesale prices of manufactured goods and of retail prices of articles other than food. In the case of food, however, the figures are sufficiently typical and accurate to allow of a general comparison, but not to permit accurate detailed measurements. The two index numbers shown depend on nearly the same range of foods, but the bread subsidy lowers the retail prices by about 10 points in 1918-20.
Table VIII. Wholesale and retail prices of food. (Statist and Labour Gazette index numbers.)
| Year | Quarters | Wholesale (Statist) |
Retail (Labour Gazette) |
| 1914 | 1st & 2nd* | 100 | 100 |
| 4th | 118 | 116 | |
| 1915 | 1st | 134 | 123 |
| 2nd | 144 | 130 | |
| 3rd | 142 | 136 | |
| 4th | 144 | 143 | |
| 1916 | 1st | 159 | 148 |
| 2nd | 173 | 158 | |
| 3rd | 169 | 164 | |
| 4th | 195 | 183 | |
| 1917 | 1st | 218 | 192 |
| 2nd | 232 | 201 | |
| 3rd | 221 | 203 | |
| 4th | 222 | 206 | |
| 1918 | 1st | 230 | 207 |
| 2nd | 227 | 208 | |
| 3rd | 234 | 221 | |
| 4th | 247 | 231 | |
| 1919 | 1st | 236 | 221 |
| 2nd | 233 | 207 | |
| 3rd | 244 | 218 | |
| 4th | 264 | 234 | |
| 1920 | 1st | 292 | 234 |
| 2nd | 328 | 253 | |
| 3rd | 326 | 268 | |
| 4th | 290 | 284 | |
| 1921 | 1st | 246 | 250 |
*July 1914 for retail prices.
In Table VIII. the retail prices for the first quarter of each year are the averages for the 1st of Feb., March, April and so throughout the year. Wholesale and retail prices include those of controlled goods, and in the case of wheat, flour and bread are affected by the bread subsidy. The table shows that retail prices rose in sympathy with wholesale prices during the first three years of the war, but the rise on the whole was less, and the accelerated rise in the spring of each year was only marked in wholesale prices. As prices became more and more rigidly controlled in 1917, and some commodities were rationed in 1918, wholesale prices fell or remained nearly stationary, while retail prices rose very slowly.
Price-Control in United States.—During the World War price-fixing agencies in the United States were numerous, and the arrangements made were often informal. Many prices were controlled indirectly; but when this control was to any degree international the result was a “fixed price.”
Prices were more or less formally fixed by various departments or branches of the U.S. Government for at least 110 important products, each of which required a separate price-fixing operation. This was exclusive of repetitions or renewals at later periods, which often involved as much work and study as the original decisions. The following is a partial list of products for which prices were fixed by some government agency or sanction. They are arranged in general in the order in which the prices were fixed, although no pretence to accuracy in this regard is claimed. Food products are not covered in detail, and no attempt has been made to mention them in order:—
- Hides
- Coal, bituminous
- Coal, semi-bituminous
- Pig iron
- Steel plates
- Steel, structural
- Wheat
- Ship timbers
- Pine, yellow
- Steel billets
- Sugar
- Sardines
- Bar iron
- Pipe, cast-iron
- Castor oil
- Aluminium
- Coal, anthracite
- Coke
- Copper
- Molasses (imported)
- Manila fibre
- Retail lumber (eastern cities)
- Platinum
- Hemlock
- Pine, white
- Spruce, eastern
- Paper, newsprint
- Manganese ore
- Copper, ingot, electrolytic
- Copper wire
- Iron ore
- Nitric acid
- Cotton linters
- Cotton goods
- Cotton yarns
- Denims (Mass.)
- Drillings (Mass.)
- Ginghams (Amoskeag)
- Print cloths
- Sheetings, bleached
- Sheetings, brown
- Hemp
