THE ECONOMIC DISTURBANCES SINCE 1873. 583 



example of changes of this character is to be found in the case of 

 sugar. Thus, in 1883 the United States imported 2,023,000,000 pounds 

 of sugar, for which it paid $91,959,000. In 1885, 2,548,000,000 pounds 

 were imported, at a cost of $68,531,000 ; or a larger quantity by 525,- 

 000,000 pounds was imported in 1885, as compared with 1883, for $23,- 

 428,000 less money. 



The statistics of the recent foreign trade of Great Britain, as re- 

 ported to the British Board of Trade, by Mr. Giffen, also exhibit cor- 

 responding results. For example, the declared aggregate value of 

 British exports and imports for 1883 were 667,000,000 as compared 

 with 682,000,000 in 1873, an apparent decline of no little magnitude. 

 But if the aggregate of the foreign trade of Great Britain for 1883 

 had been valued at the prices of 1873, the total in place of 667,000,- 

 000, would have been 861,000,000, or an increase for the decade of 

 about thirty per cent. 



An explanation of this economic phenomenon of recent years, 

 namely, a continuing increase in the volume of trade, with a continuing 

 low rate or decline in profits, may be found in the following circum- 

 stances : One constant result of a decline in prices is an increase 

 (but not necessarily proportional or even universal) in consumption. 

 Evidence on this point, derived from recent experiences, will be re- 

 ferred to hereafter ; but the following example illustrates how this 

 economic principle manifests itself even under unexpected conditions : 



The price of sulphate of quinine of American manufacture in July, 

 1879, was $3.35 per ounce in bulk. In June, 1886, the quotation for 

 the same article in bulk was 68 cents per ounce. Quinine is used 

 mainly as a medicine, and is so indispensable in certain ailments that 

 it may be presumed that its cost in 1879 was no great restriction on 

 its consumption, and that no great increase in its use from a reduction 

 in price was to be expected, any more than an increase in the use of 

 coffins for a similar reason both commodities being used to the ex- 

 tent that they are needed, even if a denial of the use of other things 

 is necessary, in order to permit of their procurement. And yet, that 

 increase in the cheapness of quinine has been followed by a notable 

 increase in its consumption, is shown by the fact that the importa- 

 tion of cinchona-bark from which quinine is manufactured into 

 Europe and the United States during recent years has notably in- 

 creased ; about 4,000,000 pounds having been imported into the 

 United States in 1886, as compared with an import of 2,580,000 in 

 1883. The following statement also illustrates even more forcibly the 

 ordinary effect of a reduction of price on the consumption of the more 

 staple commodities : Thus, a reduction (saving) of Qd. (twelve cents) 

 per week, in the cost of the bread of every family in Great Britain (a 

 saving which, on the basis of the decline in the wholesale prices of 

 wheat within the last decade, would seem to have been practicable)* 

 has been estimated as equivalent to giving a quarter of a million 



