TRADE BETWEEN 1900 AND 1913 135 
more of the price-levels in the two countries, the exports tend 
to become less valuable in relation to the imports; and the 
advantage in trade goes to the lending country. These pheno- 
mena may be clearly seen in the indices for wholesale and 
sectional price-levels. 
But, despite the careful and patient examination of price 
statistics and the laborious compilation of index numbers, no 
more than general trends can be stated with confidence. The work 
done by Knibbs, in comparing more than twenty index numbers 
— 
IC 
© CTRALL. 
190! 
to! 
GREAT BRITAIP 
' 2/909! 
en 
10n0 1910 1915 
Tig. XI, WHOLESALE PRICES, GREAT BRITAIN 
AND AUSTRALIA, 1900-14 
Qocular trends shown heavy. 
compiled in different countries, goes to show how very scepti- 
cally sweeping conclusions based upon them should be received. 
In the first place the difficulties involved in separating commo- 
dities into foreign- and home-trade commodities are almost 
insuperable, since commodities are constantly changing from 
one class to the other. Secondly, the exceptions are S50 numerous 
and so important, and variations depend so entirely upon the 
fortuitous circumstances of weather and business conditions in 
other countries, that the very greatest caution in interpretation 
is imperative. Argument from particular instances is dangerous ; 
but we may safely illustrate the difficulty from a simple case. 
No commodity enters more thoroughly into both home and over-