REGULATE THE INTERCHANGE OF COMMODITIES. 185 



come to an end. But as soon as a sufficient authority has given him 

 the exchisive privilege of sale, A. B. adds a quantity (x) to the price, 

 raising its amount until he finds the utmost which will be given for 

 all that he can oifer. Some who would have paid the natural price 

 are thus deprived of the article. We will estimate them at 20, and 

 the remaining 179 pay for its use (p + x), where they need only have 

 paid (p) ; whilst A. B., in addition to the fair and just reward of his 

 industry, has extorted from the little community 179 (cc), the amount 

 of (x) being only limited by the desire felt for the article, and this 

 excessive charge on those who could bear it being accompanied by the 

 total privation of the rest of the community. The essence of mo- 

 nopoly is obtaining from every consumer something more than the 

 just price of the article, as settled by competition in a free market, 

 whilst the number of consumers is more or less reduced by this rise 

 of price. You will all at once apprehend that besides the simple and 

 somewhat rude method employed by arbitrary sovereigns, of bestow- 

 ing on individuala exclusive privileges, there are other ways by which 

 the same ends can be obtained. Let a government lay a heavy import 

 duty on an article desired by many, which can be most cheaply brought 

 from another country. Something more than the duty is of necessity 

 added to the price, and this rise may be sufficient to enable a home 

 producer to supply the article at a trifle below what it now costs when 

 imported. The hasty conclusion is, that you have encouraged home 

 industry. The fact is, you make all the community, which may be a 

 very large one, pay (p+x) ; which latter may be a not inconsiderable 

 proportion of the whole, for what had before only cost them ( p) ; 

 and you give the home producers possibly some million times (x), 

 which is positively stolen from the rest of the community, who would 

 be at least as well served at the price {p). 



No one can, I think, attempt to establish any diflFerence between the 

 case of nations, which are but collections of individuals, and that of 

 individual members of one nation. It is even evident that from the 

 various natural productions and resources of different regions, which 

 commerce is the benevolently provided means of interchanging and 

 equalising for the general good, the freedom of commercial intercourse 

 between different nations is more important than that between mem- 

 bers of the same community, which nevertheless cannot be restrained 

 without the most obvious evil and injustice. The character of all 

 commercial restrictions seems then to be pretty clearly made out, as 



