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THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF

itself into the rent of land is in this case the part which is ge-nerally paid above its natural rate. The rent of the landwhich affords such singular and esteemed productions, likethe rent of some vineyards in France of a peculiar happy soiland situation, bears no regular proportion to the rent of otherequally fertile and equally well-cultivated land in its neigh-bourhood. The wages of the labour and the profits of thestock employed in bringing such commodities to market, onthe contrary, are seldom out of their natural proportion tothose of the other employments of labour and stock in theirneighbourhood.

Such enhancements of the market price are evidently theeffect of natural causes which may hinder the effectual de-mand from ever being fully supplied, and which may continue,therefore, to operate for ever.

A monopoly granted either to an individual or to a tradingcompany has the same effect as a secret in trade or manufac-tures. The monopolists, by keeping the market constantlyunder-stocked, by never fully supplying the effectual demand,sell their commodities much above the natural price, and raisetheir emoluments, whether they consist in wages or profit,greatly above their natural rate.

' The price of monopoly is upon every occasion the highestwhich can be got. The natural price, or the price of freecompetition, on the contrary, is the lowest which can be taken,not upon every occasion indeed, but for any considerabletime together. The one is upon every occasion the highestwhich can be squeezed out of the buyers, or which, it is sup-posed, they will consent to give: the other is the lowest whichthe sellers can commonly afford to take, and at the same timecontinue their business.

The exclusive privileges of corporations, statutes of appren-ticeship, and all those laws which restrain, in particular em-ployments, the competition to a smaller number than mightotherwise go into them, have the same tendency, though ina less degree. They are a sort of enlarged monopolies, andmay frequently, for ages together, and in whole classes ofemployments, keep up the market price of particular com-modities above the natural price, and maintain both thewages of the labour and the profits of the stock employedabout them somewhat above their natural rate.

Such enhancements of the market price may last as longas the regulations of police which give occasion to them.