Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1819-06-18

might be in the ssene manner estimated |,
by the cost OF IT'S production, or the guam
tiiy of labor necessary 10 bring il to ,aar |
ket. You want more of the article |
Yon are willing, therefore, 10 Law down
the portion OF your own labor for The |
labor OF The man who will get the article |
Tor You. This sjust as true of one arti |
Gle as another OF one which COSTS little |
10 produce II, as one wheel. costs much. |
For what the Reviewer says OF g the CAPT
tai devoted TO the producing Of gold aud
silver" s,just as true OF less costly arti-
c!es; oil " must Weld the common and
ordinary rate of profit for, if it yielded
more than this rate, there would be "a,
influx of capital TO the mining Cor any
ether business and, II il yielded less, II
would be withdrawn, and invested in some
more lucrative employment" Ii this be
tsthe reason Why these metals are supposed
moi 10 obey the general law of supply and
| demand. IL is therefore not more true Of
them, than of the least costly articles
| produced for sale.
Sd The Reviewers say, If Ike metals
| were limited, they would be obedirni 10
| this law-but as they are MOI iiWited, they
do not foiloH it. But whether they were
limited or not, they would cone under
| the same principle. It's true that in the
one case, they would he higher than in
the other; i'll the one, they would com
mand monopoly price, which might be
kept up for loug time whereas IN the
other, higher price wonid caiise more
of The article Ia be raised, which would
| have ,he efec, OF reducing the price but
| whether there cere d limitation of the
| quantity orno, the same general principle
| v ould apply VIZ. thai the price would
| depend upon how much of the article
| was 10 he sold, and how many we're TO
buv You limit the quantity (; but then
| suppose tie demand TO b.. lowered, do
| YOU not lower the valpe In fact, take il
| asvou will, with monopoly, or free compe-
li,ion, with articles which cost much or
| little to produce them, the actual price
| depends upon the proportion bttween the
| supply and the demand.
4lh. The error of the Reviewers seems
10 result from coninunding together the
| natural and market price. When the
| price Of any commodity tsays a. Smith,
Is neither more nor less than what Il
| sufficient 10 pay the rent of The land, the
| wages of the laborer, and the profits of the
| stock employed il raising, preparing aud
bringing i, to market, according 10 their
| natural rates The commodity IS then sold
| for what mas be called lis natural price.
| "1'he aciualpricc az which any scomme-
| div is commonly sold is called lis mar
/ kct price. The market price oi every
| particular commodity Is regulated by the
| proportion between the quantity which Is
| actually brought 30 market, aud the (ei-
| feciual demand) or demand of those
who are willing 10 pay the natural price
of the commodity" That is TO say, when
the naturaI price (or" cost of produciion)
| of tpo commodities IS the same the ac-
| tual price depends on the proportion he
tween The supply and demand OF each
| brought TO market. 1t is III this sense
only thatile principle (Uf the supply and
| demand) is 10 he understood not, that
where i, lakrs twice as much TO raise one
commodity as another, it will not sell
for twice as much (the proportion between
the supply and demand remaining the
same y MOI that all articles are not gene
rally tending TO their natural price but,
that when an article is actually produced,
lis value actually depends upon the pro-
i portion beiween how much otltis brought
10 market and how many are those who
are willing TO pay the na,nralprice. This
is the sense in which the proposition is 10
be understood, and lis III this sense, that
the actual price or ualae Of every tong,
whether metals or moi, whether monopo
Used or left To free competition, depends
upon this actual proportion. The only
difference in the case of monopoly is
that the price is for long time more or
iess kept up above The natural price; but
fhismoreor less i,seIfdept nds Gpon thepro-
portion between the supply and demand.
Why say the value of metals is not Affected
by il 7 that If more OF them are waiting,
mora capital will be employed upon min
ing, more win be brought iomarket! for
this is The same case with very other tree
article, which varies with the demand and
supply. Wills il be denied, that the me-
falls do so too that before more of the
metals are brought TO market, their value
rises that not only is their quantity for
ever VARYING, but still more the quantity
| OF exclIangcable commodities which they
are 10 circulate!
admit that from the ease with which
they are moved from place to place, the
variations i'll their value are generally
slow, gradual and uniform" but still they
have variations .-SOmetImes 100 they are
very great and striking as for instance,
on the discovery of the American mines,
The throwing out large quantity Of pa
permoney (Which generally mingles IT
self with the circulating medium of the
whole worldly the Interruptions 10 which
The Spanish Revolution has subjected the
working of the mines.--In M these cases,
the principle (nf supply and demanc) il
more distinctly seen 1T work; but ii does
not fail TO work, more or less, al all times
especially since tie paper system was IN
troduced iuto general use.
ECONOMICUS.
Suspension of Specie Payments.