666 
PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION G. 
of consumption. In the case of persons who are engaged in the work 
of manufacture or distribution, the gross income much exceeds the net 
amount available for immediate consumption under their own control. 
The difference is important, but I do not stop to pursue it. Take the 
case of the products of pastoral industry . A comparatively small part 
of them passes into immediate consumption in the form of food for 
the persons engaged in the industry. The greater portion, having had 
additional value conferred upon it by the work of preparation and 
transport, is exchanged for other articles destined for immediate con- 
sumption, the exchange being made either within the community — in 
which case the pastoral product itself passes into direct consumption — 
or by means of export, in which case the articles received in exchange 
go into local consumption. In the case of mines, again, only a small 
part of the rude produce — in the case of gold and silver practically 
none — passes into consumption amongst the persons engaged in the 
industry. The rest is exchanged for other articles which are con- 
sumed, as far as needed, in the support of those persons. None of the 
added value created by the work of transport is available for immediate 
consumption, but the whole is exchanged for consumable articles. 
The process of circulation, by way of exchange or distribution, goes 
on in either case until so much of the total produce as is required for 
the support of the community has been consumed, or exchanged for 
articles which are themselves consumed, in the form of food, clothing, 
and shelter, and so cease to exist as articles of consumption. Any 
surplus is available as stock or capital. 
It will be seen that the study of the flow of circulation is quite 
easy near the sources. But afterwards ? 
Through what channels does the main part of the produce of a 
pastoral property or a sugar plantation pass, before it, or that which 
is imported in exchange for it, is consumed within the community ? 
Who are the individuals whom it provides with food, clothing, and 
shelter ? From what sources is the volume of circulation which is 
found to be existing at any point in the stream derived, and in what 
proportions ? From what sources, and in what proportions, comes 
that part of the annual income which is applied in the discharge of 
external obligations, and from wliat channels, into which it would 
have flowed if not so applied, has it been diverted ? 
Again, regarding the phenomena from the other end of the stream, 
from what sources comes the livelihood of any specific portion of the 
community, and in what proportions are the contributions from the 
different sources mixed P What are the ultimate sources of the food, 
clothing, and shelter of the congested population of great cities? 
How is it that those necessaries are supplied to them there and not 
elsewhere ? 
In order to answer these questions it is necessary, I think, to 
know the law which regulates circulation in the body politic, and the 
degree to which the operations of the community conform to that law. 
If we knew the law, we might foresee and avoid the consequences of 
its violation. 
Let me briefly deal with the subject from another point of view, 
considering the actual flow or circulation of the money which 
represents the income of any particular individual. Take the case 
