SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.—F, G. 433 
Act may be applied to any trade or part of a trade merely at the discretion of 
the Minister of Labour. State regulation may thus supersede and must conflict 
with the principle of self-government. Similarly, the Industrial Courts Act, 
like the Whitley Report, contemplates and encourages a vast increase in appeals 
to Government arbitration in trade disputes. No Act of such a nature can 
retain a purely voluntary character. 
Tuesday, September 13. 
12. Prof. D. H. Maccrecor.—Trusts. 
Trusts in relation to large and small businesses. The question of economic 
evolution. The historical development of trusts, their changes of form, and 
the problem of their control. The nature of this development in England, 
Germany, and the U.S.A. Limited or localised control of industry as affected 
by (a) certain given conditions, (¥) certain conditions which are created by the 
trusts themselves. ‘lhe evidence of the British inquiries under the Profiteering 
Act. Trusts in relation to the ‘era of competition.” The criterion of ‘ fair’ 
competition. 
13. Prof. Epwin Cannan.—The Application of the Theoretical 
Apparatus of Supply and Demand to Units of Currency. 
Currency being like machinery and houses rather than milk and newspapers, 
the supply of it is rightly thought of as depending at any moment upon the 
stock rather than the rate of production: the stock consists of currency out- 
standing, and cannot include the clearing-house returns for a year or any other 
period of time, nor the amounts due to customers from banks, nor the debts of 
other institutions and persons. The demand for currency is not to be thought 
of as unlimited nor as provided by ‘the aggregate of goods,’ but as provided 
by the willingness and ability of individuals and institutions to sacrifice goods 
and services for the sake of holding such a stock of currency as each thinks 
convenient or profitable. When rapid changes in supply take place, it is more 
difficult than usual to decide what is convenient and profitable: and as the 
mistakes in each direction do not entirely cancel each other, fluctuations of 
demand ensue which at one time alleviate and at another aggravate the changes 
in purchasing power caused by the alterations in supply. 
14. Report of Committee on Credit, Currency, etc. See p. 268. 
15. Miss E. F. Stevenson.—The Economic Theory of Public Expendi- 
ture. 
The economic theory of consumption is generally regarded as being based on 
an individualistic principle of maximum satisfaction. In public expenditure 
the conception of social well-being is predominant; but the hedonistic prin- 
ciple still applies if it is understood to mean that economic activity is directed 
towards*such an adjustment of costs and utilities as may be expected to achieve 
the greatest satisfaction possible under existing conditions. This formula is 
equally applicable to the private consumer, to consumer groups, and to the 
State. Whenever the consumer ceases to act as an isolated individual the 
process of balancing cost against utility must be, to some extent, a social pro- 
cess. It is making a false distinction to say that private expenditure is 
individual and public expenditure social in its nature. Both conceptions—the 
individual and the social—are implied in the economic theory of consumption. 
SECTION G.—ENGINEERING. 
(Por references to the publication elsewhere of communications entered in 
the following list of transactions, see pp. 465-6.) 
Thursday, September 8. 
1, Prof. T. Hupson Brarg.—An Inquiry into the Suitability of 
Scottish-grown Timber for Aeroplanes and Pit Props. 
A series of experiments was carried out for the Ministry of Munitions in 
connection with the suitability of Scottish-grown timber for aeroplane work. 
The samples sent were tested as beams on a 20-inch span, the load being so 
