Page:Manual of Political Economy.djvu/33

Rh xxii Contents. its abolition would bring into operation worse evils than those which are caused by a poor law when properly administered — The reasons against free education pages 288—310 Chapter XTI. On the Economic Aspects of Slavery. Owing to the termination of the American War many remarks made in t?Us chapter are no longer pertinent to the p^'esent time. It has however for vartoua reasons been thought desirable not to omit the chapter. Slaves are a portion of the cultivator's capital ; hence, in slave cultiva- tion, the produce is distributed between rent and profits — The ultimate abolition of slavery chiefly turns upon economic considerations — The late Professor Cairnes, in his work entitled **The Slave Power," affirms that slave-labour has the three following defects : it is given reluctantly ; it is unskilful ; it is wanting in versatility — ^The conse- quences of these defects traced — Slave-labour can only be profitably employed when labour can be concentrated— No skilled labour can be carried on by slaves— Mr. Olmstead's testimony — No parallel between the condition of slaves in Greece and the slaves of the present day — Slave-labour impoverishes the soil, hence fertile virgin soils are required — The acquisition of new territory is therefore mdispensable to slavery— Slavery will gradually cease to be profitable, and tnerefore will be ultimately extermmated if restricted to a definite area 3 14 — 318 BOOK III. EXCHANGE. Chapter I. On Value and Price. Why it is advantageous to discuss the production and distribution of wealth, before considering the exchange of wealth — Value and price defined— Value is a relative expression, and implies comparison — Price is the value of a commodity estimated in money — There cannot be a general rise in values, but there can be a ffeneral rise in prices— When the value of one commodity is compared with that of another, it is always done by comparing their prices — Hence we depart from the method usually pursued, and proceed at once to consider the laws which determine the price, and not the value, of commodities — The assumption is, in the first instance, made, that any alteration in the price of a commodity is not produced by a change in the value of the precious metals 321 — 324 Chapter II. On the Causes which Regulate the Price of Commodities. Commodities, when their price is investigated, are divided into three classes : the first class comprises those commodities whose supply is absolutely limited ; the second class comprises those commodities which become more expensive as their supply is increased ; the third class embraces those commodities whose supply can be increased uigitized by Google