to the public of causes and effects which are the basis of that commercial grandeur we now rejoice in. As to the advantages produced by arraying market influences before the eyes of the public outside the respective markets under consideration, it is the business of a statesman to know what interests exist which he must respect—what circumstances affect the supply of food we consume, of luxuries we indulge in; and he must not wantonly interfere with profitable streams of trade, even though of no direct influence on internal consumption, for if he does so he will speedily hear an outcry from the traders or speculators whose market becomes affected. It is not enough to have studied political economy in order to appreciate the various influences bearing on our markets, for the best of governments cannot with impunity ride roughly over particular interests for "the greatest good of the "greatest number." And if statesmen must bear in mind particular interests, so must also their critics the public. Mr. Gladstone's Government fell, no one knew how, except for the explanation that its legislation had been harassing to the few whilst indisputably good for the many. Mr. Lowe, the very personification of a roughriding statesman, was defeated by a few match-makers in a reckless attempt to disregard anything but reason and political economy; he, in short, interfered with their market. Mr. Lowe also lost much popularity on account of the derangement to the money market he caused when he altered the system of collecting taxes so as to bring the bulk of the Treasury receipts into the Bank of England in one quarter of the year, so draining the market of its usual supply, disturbing the steady circulation of that blood of commerce, causing congestion, possibly inflammation and disfigurement, but certainly annoyance. A codification of rules affecting money, produce, and labour-market fluctuations, would take commerce completely out of the region of art and place it among the exact sciences. Such codification is, however, impossible, and this work can only aim at a partially scientific form; rudimentary and incomplete, it may yet lay claim to simplicity of construction. I have not written this book without a sense of the strong principle which it ought to convey. Let it only be allowed that markets are vital and paramount necessities to this great commercial nation, and my great hope is that there may be found here some proof that the very essence of a market is its freedom and publicity as to the bargains in it. May political economists teach this principle, and, above all, may legislators act upon it. THE RATIONALE OF MARKET FLUCTUATIONS. CHAPTER I. MARKETS GENERALLY, THEIR NATURE AND USE, EVERYTHING We use has a value. Everything of value has a market. The water we drink has to be paid for and supplied, though it seems a spontaneous gift of Providence. There is, in fact, little beside the air we breathe which does not cost us something, and even the better qualities of air obtainable in one district are very often more costly than the tainted atmosphere which the poor have to put up with in another. Light had, some years ago, to be paid for in this country by means of a window tax, and there is at present so great an appreciation of the market value of light that a factory, warehouse, or office, well situated in that respect, is a thing to be paid for and prized at double the worth of a badly-lighted establishment. The most intangible abstract advantages possessed by one man over another can be brought to market and sold for a higher price; the subtle intellect of a writer in the Times is as superior in value to that of a printer's boy on the same premises as is a steamengine compared with a wheel-barrow; the view from a house near the sea secures to the landlord of that house B In an immeasurably higher rent than it would have been worth had it been less favoured in that manner. stances need not be multiplied; let any reader review his own capital in the matter of brains, manners, appearance, as well as solid money, and then reflect on the market value of everything produced in this wonderful, wealthy world of ours. But, of course, this one abstract market we talk of is not one to which all commodities can be brought; every different commodity has a distinct market of its own, and much can be said of the various organisations which custom and convenience have given to different markets. There are well-organised markets, and there are some quite the reverse of well organised, owing to restrictions on the power of buyers and sellers to come together. Free competition and plenty of it is the sine quá non of a natural market; the buyer must be able to find several who offer him the same thing in order that he may select the best seller; the seller requires a number of competing buyers in order that he may obtain the best price. The height of good organisation is obtained when a seller can obtain the best price and the buyer the lowest price in the shortest possible time; and it therefore follows that a badly-organised market is one where the buyer and seller respectively cannot be promptly accommodated. In beginning to specify the organisations of various markets, we must bring to notice some of their less. tangible adjuncts which none the less play a most important part in the price of every commodity, without exception, which is bought or sold. Money; carriage; labour. These have all markets of their own, where competition governs the price of each; but the principal reason for their immense importance is that they |