PRICES CURRENT.

In all ordinary lines Prices were well maintained and rising at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. They rose sharply thenceforward till the second week of the war in South Africa, since which date they have been sagging, touching bed rock in the spring of this year (March, 1903). There has been a slight reaction since the beginning of the season, but it is not supported, and the market is still extremely dull. Patriotic Poems have fallen out of sight, and Criticism is going begging: in some offices books are no longer given to their reviewers: sub-editors have latterly been asked to bring their own suppers. The pinch is being felt everywhere. Police reports are on piece-work and the Religious Column is shut down to half shifts. Leader writers have broken from 1100 a year to 300. Editors have suffered an all-round cut in wages of 25 per cent. Publishers’ carrying-over days are more anxious than ever. Several first-class houses were hammered on the last contango, and the Banks are calling in loans. Private capital can hardly be obtained save for day-to-day transactions, and even so at very high rates of interest. The only lines that are well maintained are City Articles and Special Prose. Snippets are steady.

The following list is taken from Hunter’s Handbook, and represents Prices at the close of May:—

PROSE.

(Prices in shillings per thousand words).

			Rise or Fall.
Special Prose	30/-	35/-	Unchanged.
Street Accidents	10/-	12/-	–	5/-
Reviews	7/6	10/-	–	20/-
Police Court Notices	15/-	18/-	–	5/-
Guaranteed Libels	25/-	30/-	–	3/-
Unguaranteed ditto	5/-	7/-	+	2/-
Deferred ditto	14/-	16/-	+	4/-
Pompous Leaders	8/-	10/-	–	25/-!
Smart Leaders	9/-	11/6	+	3/-
Ten-line Leaderettes	10/-	12/-	Unchanged.
Political Appeals	15/-	17/-	–	30/-
Attacks on Foreign Nations	3/-	3/6	–	48/-!!
Dramatic Criticism	20/-	25/-	Unchanged.
Historical Work	—	6d.?	(Practically
			no demand).
Religious Notes	12/-	18/-	–	8/-
Attacks upon Christianity	4/-	4/6	–	5/- (A
		very heavy fall for this kind of matter).

VERSE.

(Prices in pence per line).

Bad Verse	No price can be given—very variable.
Good minor Verse.	3d. (much the same as last year).
Special Verse	1/- (a heavy fall).

READY RECKONER.

This Table does not profess any minute accuracy; it will, however, be found amply sufficient for all practical purposes.

PENCE	SHILLINGS PER			SHILLINGS PER			POUNDS PER
PER LINE.	LONG COLUMN.			SHORT COLUMN.			THOUSAND
	Pica.	Minion.[18]		Pica.	Minion.[18]		WORDS.
	Bourgeois.			Bourgeois.
¼d.	3/9	4/3	5/-	3/-	3/9	4/6	£0·16378.[19]
½d.	7/6	8/6	10/-	6/-	7/6	9/-	£0·32757.
¾d.	11/3	12/9	15/-	9/-	11/3	13/6	£0·49135.
1d.[20]	15/-	17/-	20/-	12/-	15/-	18/-	£0·65514.
1½d.	22/6	25/6	30/-	18/-	22/6	27/-	£0·98270.[21]
2d.[22]	30/-	34/-	40/-	24/-	30/-	36/-	£1·31028.
2½d.	37/6	42/6	50/-	30/-	37/6	45/-	£1·63705.

No prices superior to this last for Prose.

Verse up to 1/- a line. See preceding page, not reckoned in cols. or 1000 words.

(The Sections dealing with “The Detection of Classical Authors” and “The Vivid Presentation of History,” have been omitted by request of the Family. It is perhaps as well.)