282 ECONOMIC ESSAYS IN HONOR OF JOHN BATES CLARK speculator. As a stabilizer of prices both on and off the organized exchanges, he is an important cog in the highly developed machinery of the modern market. Without him it is difficult to see how efficient distribution of our staple crops would be possible. The present marketing machinery, which works almost auto- matically, while by no means perfect in its operation, still keeps distribution well up to schedule. Just as, if our bodily activities —walking, balancing, etc., were the result of self conscious efforts, we should soon collapse with fatigue, so will our distribution system collapse if we substitute artificial regulation for automatism.