3io 
HISTORY OF THE [book vj\- 
the duty of the planters to give it attention; and 
although they may have nothing new to offer on a 
question which has been so frequently and fully in¬ 
vestigated, they have no reason on that account to 
be silent; inasmuch as the doctrine itself has not, 
unfortunately, the grace of novelty to recommend it. 
The planters then have affirmed, and they re¬ 
peat, that there is not an axiom in mathematicks 
more incontestible than this maxim in commerce, 
that the value of all commodities at market depends 
entirely on their plenty or scarcity, in proportion to 
the demand or consumption. —If the quantity at 
market is not equal to the demand, the seller un¬ 
doubtedly can, and always does, fix his own price 
on his goods. On the other hand, when the quan¬ 
tity at market greatly exceeds the vent or demand, 
then it is out of the seller’s power to influence the 
price, for the plenty will necessarily keep it down in 
spite of his utmost endeavours to raise it. 
The truth therefore undoubtedly is, that in the 
latter case the original cost of the goods, and all 
subsequent charges thereon, such as freight, ware¬ 
house rent, duties and taxes of all kinds, are objects 
of no concern to the buyer. The quantity, and the 
quantity alone, regulates the price at market, and 
augments or diminishes the profits of the seller. If 
the demand be great, and the quantity small, the 
seller has sometimes an opportunity not only of re¬ 
imbursing himself the original cost, and all subse¬ 
quent charges and duties, but likewise of making 
