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Such fluctuations affect both the value and the rate, either of

wages or of profit, according as the market happens to be either

overstocked or understocked with commodities or with labour, with

work done, or with work to be done. A public mourning raises the

price of black cloth (with which the market is almost always

understocked upon such occasions), and augments the profits of

the merchants who possess any considerable quantity of it. It has

no effect upon the wages of the weavers. The market is

understocked with commodities, not with labour, with work done,

not with work to be done. It raises the wages of journeymen

tailors. The market is here understocked with labour. There is an

effectual demand for more labour, for more work to be done, than

can be had. It sinks the price of coloured silks and cloths, and

thereby reduces the profits of the merchants who have any

considerable quantity of them upon hand.