27 MAY 1955, Page 18

RING AROUND THE WORDS SIR,—In a letter to the press,

a tyre manu- facturer has pointed out that anyone who had experience in marketing tyres which bore a brand name not well known to the public would quickly realise that to sell his products at prices below those of the leading brands would only suggest inferiority froiri the point of view of quality and performance. To try to sell them at prices higher than the leading brands would be commercial suicide. This economic principle, called 'price leadership,' may or may not have operated when evening papers rose in price, as noted by Pharos on April 29. The event brings to mind R. L. Stevenson's 'Bright is the Ring of Words.'— Yours faithfully,