190 ON THE CAUSES
the ensuing harvest ; and as it is an article which
cannot be dispensed with, should the supply be
less than usually required, the price may rise
to an almost indefinite height. If, on the con-
trary, the supply should exceed the ordinary
demand, which from the nature of the com-
modity admits of little augmentation, the
holders suffer the disadvantages before de-
scribed ; the interest of each lies in the dis-
posal of as large a quantity as possible, and
the competition thus engendered infallibly
brings down the value. The larger quantity
may in this way become of less aggregate value
than the smaller quantity at the previous high
prices. Were the commodity in the hands of
an individual, or, what is the same thing, in-
dividuals combined by one interest, this is a
circumstance which could never occur.

Labour must be considered as falling under
this class of exchangeable commodities, and as
being determined in value by the same causes
which operate on articles monopolized in the
second method here described. If a man em-