OF VALUE.

187

the first in the obvious circumstance, that there
may be a competition amongst the sellers as well
as amongst the buyers. Where there is only
one interest concerned in the monopoly, it may
be to the advantage of the party to withhold his
article from the market in times of dull demand,
or even to destroy a part of it to enbance the
value of the remainder; a policy which is said
to have been pursued by the Dutch in the spice
trade. But when a monopoly is in the hands
of different individuals, with separate interests,
such a line of policy is impracticable: for al-
though it might be to the advantage of the whole
body if the quantity of the monopolized ar-
ticle were proportionately reduced to each
holder, yet as, by the supposition, there is no
combination of interest, every individual finds
it beneficial to dispose of all that he possesses.
To destroy any part of it, would be to injure
himself for the benefit of his brother monopo-
lists, While on the one hand he is fenced in
by an exclusive privilege or possession from the
competition of the public, he is on the other