216 



subject to any ' rights of property ' third parties may 

 establish iu it, under the new, lie has Lot a saleable 

 title at all.* Under these circumstances, to my mind, 

 the last state of Jones, is very much worse than 

 the first. On this point, however, we are saved the 

 trouble of surmising. Will settlers who hold grauts 

 under the old, commute under the new rules? 



I think that the concession of the sale of waste 

 lands in fee-simple was inexpedient for many rea- 

 sons. In ordinary sales the seller fixes, with reference 

 to the demand, present or anticipated, the price he 

 will take, and holds until he gets it; or, watching 

 the fluctuations of the market, he often exercises a 

 sounder discretion by lowering his price, to such sum 

 as will leave him a fair profit. Failing his obtaining 

 this, if the article will not spoil, he holds for another 

 season, or crimes it to another market. Thus, a seller, 

 may fix a price beyond what a buyer will give, 

 and a buyer may offer a price below what a seller 

 will take. Under ordinary circumstances, however, 

 though the sellers fix the price, the buyers regulate 

 it, the action of each, always supposing healthy 

 competition operating to establish an equilibrium. 

 This I believe is termed the ' market value / and as 

 regards buyer and seller it may be considered 

 mutually arrived at. If, however, a seller h;is a 

 monopoly of any commodity,/or which there may be a 

 demand, the case is different. Pie then fixes his own 



* No law on this subject has yet been passed. 



