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THE NATURE AND CAUSES OK

Unless the world in general, therefore, be advancing in im-provement and population, the demand for silver might notbe at all increased by the improvement even of a large coun-try in the neighbourhood of the mine. Even though theworld in general were improving, yet, if in the course of itsimprovement, new mines should be discovered, much morefertile than any which had been known before, though thedemand for silver would necessarily increase, yet the supplymight increase in so much a greater proportion, that the realprice of that metal might gradually fall; that is, any givenquantity, a pound weight of it, for example, might graduallypurchase or command a smaller and a smaller quantity oflabour, or exchange for a smaller and a smaller quantity ofcorn, the principal part of the subsistence of the labourer.

The great market for silver is the commercial and civilizedpart of the world.

If by the general progress of improvement the demand ofthis marketshould increase, while at the same time the supplydid not increase in the same proportion, the value of silverwould gradually rise in proportion to that of corn. Anygiven quantity of silver would exchange for a greater anda greater quantity of corn; or, in other words, the averagemoney price of corn would gradually become cheaper andcheaper.

If, on the contrary, the supply, by some accident, shouldincrease for many years together in a greater proportion thanthe demand, that metal would gradually become cheaper andcheaper; or, in other words, the average money price of cornwould, in spite of all improvements, gradually become dearerand dearer.

But if, on the other hand, the supply of the metal shouldincrease nearly in the same proportion as the demand, it wouldcontinue to purchase or exchange for nearly the same quantityof corn, and the average money price of corn would, in spiteof all improvements, continue very nearly the same.

These three seem to exhaust all the possible combinationsof events which can happen in the progress of improvement;and during the course of the four centuries preceding thepresent, if we may judge by what has happened both inFrance and Great Britain , each of those three different com-binations seem to have taken place in the European market,and nearly i n the game order too in which I have here setthem down.