LA TiriORIE DES RICHESSES. 193 



Hitherto, we have considered the commodity discussed to be a 

 simple one — that is — one in which only one class of producers has 

 beeu concerned : commodities of this kind do not, however, form the 

 majority of ordinary products: we caunot do better than let Cournot 

 himself speak, in introducing this important distinction: 



" Very few substances are consumed in the state in which they issue from the 

 hands of their first producer: generally one and the same substance enters into 

 the composition of many different products that are more directly appropriated to 

 consumption ; and reciprocally, many primitive substances concur in the formation 

 of each of these products. It is clear that each producer of primitive substances, 

 ought to try to make the most of his property ; and then we ought to investigate 

 according to what laws are divided, among the different producers, the profit 8 

 which they together make by virtue of the law of consumption of the ultimate 

 products. This short expose, will be enough to render intelligible what we under- 

 stand by the effect of the concours of prot ucers of different commodities, an effect 

 which must not be confounded with that of the concurrence of producers of the 

 same commodity, which has already been discussed." 



In fact, we arrive at a result precisely the opposite in this case of 

 what we had in the former. The effect of competition among con- 

 current producers of the same commodity, was to lower the price : 

 here the effect is to raise the price, and the division of proprietaries 

 acts disadvantageous! y, not only for themselves, but the public ; this 

 disadvantage also being increased in proportion as the number of 

 primitive substances concerned in the production of the compound 

 commodity is greater. When an increase takes place in the cost of pr'^ 

 duction of one of the primitive substances, or when a tax is impo;v e( j 

 on it, the price of this one and of the compound commodity ^ : 'm k 6 

 raised, and at the same time the prices of the other concu^r. eu ^ su u_ 

 stances will be loAVered, but the rise of price will be \r iSS ^} ian ^ 

 assumed increase of cost or the tax. If a tax be imposed on ^ e com- 

 pound commodity, it will cause the price of each of its components to 

 fall, while that of the commodity itself will be r.ar se d 3 but to an amount 

 which is less than the tax. These results, ' are f a V ery remarkable 

 character, and, though established by a Somewhat intricate calculus, 

 there seems no reason to deny them 4 Jhe character which our author 

 claims for them of possessing a Vi the certainty of mathematical 

 theorems. 



The remaining portion of the work under review, is taken up with 

 an examination of the sources from which the wealth of each nation 

 is derived, and the effect produced thereon by the communication of 

 markets. Our limits do not permit us to follow him through these 

 investigations, and indeed, this part of his work is to us the least 

 satisfactory of the whole. The analysis employed is not powerful 



VOL. II. — N 



