Show r fl Declining Prices S I It t A S A LT the process of reduction in theft th the H ft S cos cost cos cosof t of living Jiving may app appear ar to some people 3 a to be slow and painful dr r painfully slow and teven at times mythical mythic l there can cat be no doubt ft that it is persistent with here and there indications indications indica- indica lines to rebound of an effort along some It is a fact however as attested by interests whose hose business it is to make a scientific study of 2 economic conditions that during the past six r months the trend of prices has been downward t while the movement has been considerably c r stimulated within the past month or or six weeks i. i S Only one distinct group has broken the rule ruler r of downward trend and this has only an indirect bearing upon the problem of the high cost of r living Jiving The exception to t the e price rule is steel and iron and all of such products together with r the raw material which are materially higher in price amounting in some instances to 60 percent per p cent than they were a year ago I r Considered from one angle however the continued advance in steel and iron prices is a good sign for it indicates a demand in excess of the prevailing supply and this in turn offers proof that all alt industries in which steel and iron are employed and including building operations are arc active What interests the average citizen in connection connection connection con con- with costs is the movement in standard i 1 foodstuffs It is stated that in a a. recent week the index number of thirty-one thirty staple articles of 8 food was as compared with in ini int inthe i t the e same week in 1919 or a decrease of 14 per perS f S cent while the recent low price for hogs of ofa a 1340 s 1340 indicated a shrinkage of or more 5 than 40 per cent from the 1920 1919 1920 high figure gj j. j S According to the same index there has been r C a reduction on of 25 per cent in flour of 45 per perS percent S Scent cent in coffee of 50 So per cent in sugar of 7 71 i iper per cent in potatoes and 52 per cent in rice jJ While the process of price deflation may maybe 2 be slow it is certainly better than the occurrence f of a severe slump that would upset the entire industrial and economic structure ai |