Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/167

, in the article "Wool," there are some very sensible observations with regard to the wool of New South Wales, which I shall take the liberty of quoting.

"The great advantage of the growth of wool to a new colony like New South Wales is, that what really amounts to a large resource for her, forms but a small proportion of the whole quantity required in the market which she supplies. Thus the price of the article is not regulated by the cost of production, but by the state of the home market. Australia enjoys an advantage which is somewhat analogous to the rent of the most fertile land in old countries. The demand of the consuming countries, greatly exceeding the power of supply possessed by Australia, and no other country being able to produce so cheaply, the price is kept up to the European cost of production. Thus they enjoy a species of monopoly of price. This has hitherto been the case with the cotton of America. It is now scarcely sixty years, since cotton was first exported from America, and this year the production is about 600,000,000lbs. The following has been its progress in round numbers:—

"The price of cotton, owing to the large demand created by our continually improving machinery,