204 CATTLE-BEEEDING. 



labor necessary to produce the article. What, 

 then, is this outside utility? 



It is based, first, on the need of those who 

 supply the market to have the best possible 

 products with which to meet its demand. Com- 

 petition here, as everywhere else, drives the 

 weaker to the wall, while that best fitted to 

 supply the need of man survives. There is a 

 limit put to the price which can be obtained 

 for such market products, however, by man's 

 wealth and ability to pay. While the best will 

 always command the highest price in the mar- 

 ket, it will not be an extravagant price under 

 ordinary circumstances. The products with 

 which the market is supplied, as soon as abso- 

 lute necessaries are passed, are regulated by 

 the price which can be obtained for them. That 

 is to say, the market product is first demanded 

 for its utility. Whether that demand can be 

 supplied depends, secondly, on whether it can 

 be produced at a cost less than the price at 

 which there is a demand for it. It is perfectly 

 obvious that if I cannot produce Durham beef 

 at less than $200 per head for two-year-old 

 beasts, and they only bring $100 for consump- 

 tion, and the demand for then is at that sum 

 and no more, the market will be unsupplied. 

 Men will be forced to take the best they can 

 get at that price, or a little lower if they can 

 get it. 



