ne of distinct moderation. But the present point is that
they possess an exceptional _power_ to fix the price of sewing cotton
as they choose, and that this is attributable in no small degree to
the fact that sewing cotton constitutes an essential but relatively
trifling item in the expenses of the processes in which it is
employed.

Perhaps the point will be made clearer if we turn from the selling
prices of commercial products, in regard to which there is a strong
and not ineffective public sentiment against "profiteering," to the
remuneration of different classes of labor. With an instinctive
disposition towards megalomania, it is often claimed in Great Britain
that the miners, being a very numerous and well-organized body of
workpeople, were in a stronger strategic position than most workpeople
for exacting the remuneration they desire. It is quite true that a
stoppage of work in the coal industry causes us a high degree of
inconvenience, and temporary concessions may thereby be obtained which
might otherwise have been refused. But this is a dubious advantage,
and we grossly exaggerate its real importance. The truth is that the
strategic position of the miners in regard to wages questions is by no
means strong. For their wages constitute a very large percentage of
the cost of coal; and the price of coal in its turn is a most
important element in the costs of many of the industries which are its
principal consumers. Great Britain, moreover, is far from possessing
a monopoly of coal. If, accordingly, the wages of the miners are
temporarily pushed up to a high point, the result will certainly be a
diminished demand for British coal, which will lead before long to
their fighting a losing battle to maintain the concessions they have
won. Contrast their position with that of the steel smelters, whose
wages (high though the wage rates are) constitute a very small
percentage of the costs of steel production, and we must agree I think
that we have in this distinction the main reason why the steel
smelters, though they hardly ever go on strike, have as a rule been
able to do so much better for themselves than the miners.

When a commodity or service is such that an appreciable alteration in
its price has only a slight effect upon the quantity demanded, the
demand is said to be _inelastic_. Conversely, when a small change in
price greatly alters the quantity demanded, we call the demand
_elastic_. In the former case, it is w