ABSTRACT
This chapter points out the causes which regulate and determine the quantity of precious metals that circulate within any country. It examines whether the imposition of import duties exercises any influence on these causes; if not, the conclusion is inevitable, that the amount of the precious metals in the country will be unaffected by their imposition. The chapter examines the effect which a change in import duties can exercise upon the productiveness of labour. Labour is most productive when it furnishes us with the greatest abundance of all the articles we desire; and by the imposition of this duty, the number of desirable articles at the disposal of the English public is diminished, and their power to gratify their wishes impeded.
