94 DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH IN ENGLAND 



generally that the traditional relation of landlord and tenant 

 in England, under which all improvements not immediately 

 recoverable by the annual crop were effected at the expense of 

 the landlord, is the explanation of the rise in rent which my 

 author affirms to have been made. 



The gloomy experiences of the seventeenth century, in which 

 as a rule the price of grain was persistently and almost pro- 

 gressively high, suggested to Gregory King's mind that most 

 important law, which is not indeed so much regarded as it 

 should be in discussing the causes of high and low prices. The 

 law is, that when supply falls short of demand by a fraction, the 

 resultant rise is a much higher fraction ; and conversely, when 

 demand falls short of supply, a corresponding or analogous fall 

 takes place, the variation being intensified by the urgency of 

 the demand and the difficulty of supplementing the supply, 

 though the rule affects production of all kinds. King's formula 

 is as follows : 



Defect i tenth \ / 3 tenths. 



3 tenths 



3 tenths 



4 tenths 



5 tenths 



raises the price 



above the common 



or average rate 



8 tenths. 

 16 tenths. 

 28 tenths. 

 45 tenths. 



With the view of avoiding such risks, the Dutch, who 

 imported by far the largest quantity of food which they 

 consumed, built vast stores and granaries, in which they laid up 

 in cheap years great quantities of corn against the risks of 

 dear times. 



Undoubtedly, a considerable part of the people of England 

 were engaged in the woollen manufacture, and to this we must 

 ascribe the great increase of population in counties which a 

 century or a century and a-half before were barren and 

 unpeopled. By 4 & 5 James I. cap. 2 we get one insight into 

 the distribution of this trade. The object of the Act was to 

 keep up the quality of the cloth which was manufactured in 

 different counties and towns. It may be concluded that, 

 whether it was promoted or hindered by the numerous 



