Page:Tales in Political Economy by Millicent Garrett Fawcett.djvu/52

 made the community richer made each one among them easier in his circumstances: each one had more time to devote to other kinds of industry; there was, consequently, a greater supply of commodities, and those who possessed this increased supply were anxious to dispose of what they did not require for their own consumption; that is to say, the increased supply led to an increased demand. Hence, the brewers and all the other producers of commodities found that the better off their neighbours were, the brisker was the general demand for commodities, and the greater was the number of exchanges effected.

Some years passed away, and the little colony made rapid progress, not only in riches and industrial skill, but also in numbers. There were several families of young children who had been born since the shipwreck, and who were fast growing up to be men and women. Ten years after the shipwreck it was found, that although they had lost two of their comrades by death, the islanders had increased in numbers from twenty-three to fifty. It is obvious, therefore,