PRINCIPLES OF VALUE AND PRICE 459 



be worn a little longer, or the individual may content himself or 

 herself with less than the usual variety of suits or dresses or hats; 

 or, again, the number of occasions for the display of wearing apparel 

 may be reduced and thus the number of gowns or suits required be 

 reduced. Some persons may be under the stern tyranny of fashion 

 and make very great sacrifices rather than depart from then* customary 

 standard of dress. But there can be little doubt that, in general, 

 the demand for clothing and thus for the textile fibers is much 

 more elastic, in the downward direction, than that for food. 



As between the two classes of commodities the demand in the 

 upward direction is incomparably more elastic in the case of dress or 

 clothing. While the demand for food simply disappears after the 

 rather definite amount of food required is supplied, with increasing 

 means or with lower prices for clothing fabrics there is normally a 

 disposition to move in the direction of ever-larger demand or of ever- 

 increasing expenditure for dress and personal adornment. Much of 

 the increased use of raw material due to this expansive demand for 

 dress has related to silk and flax the former of which we do not pro- 

 duce at all and the latter of which we do not produce for textiles. 

 Much of the increased use of raw material for dress, however, has 

 related to cotton, and of this we are, of course, by far the most impor- 

 tant producers. 



The demand for hides in the manufacture of foot wear and other 

 leather products contributes an element of elasticity of demand for 

 cattle and other farm animals. On the whole, however, this demand 

 is chiefly incidental to the demand for these animals for other pur- 

 poses and is also met to an important extent, in this country, by the 

 importation of large numbers of hides and skins. 



Lastly, the demand for corn and oats in the maintenance of work- 

 animals and for corn and potatoes in the manufacture of glucose, 

 starch, and alcohol may be considered. The demand for feed for 

 farm work-animals evidently depends, ultimately, upon the demand 

 for farm products in general, and is therefore, on the whole, inelastic. 

 The highly elastic demand for power in city activities today takes the 

 form of a demand for a mechanical rather than animal power. Finally ^ 

 the demand for corn and potatoes for the industrial purposes indi- 

 cated, while relatively elastic in character, is yet very small in com- 

 parison with the relatively inelastic demand for the same products 

 for other purposes. 



