The effect of this cheapness is great in every department of industry.

The working classes, having cheaper food, need to spend so much less on that food, and have more to spend on other things.

In consequence, there is a gentle augmentation of demand through almost all departments of trade.

And this almost always causes a great augmentation in what may be called the instrumental trades--that is, in the trades which deal in machines and instruments used in many branches of commerce, and in the materials for such.

Take, for instance, the iron trade-- In the year 1869 we exported 2,568,000 tons " 1870 " 2,716,000 tons -- ------------ 5,284,000 tons " 1867 " 1,881,000 tons " 1868 " 1,944,000 tons -- ------------ 3,826,000 tons -- ------------ Increase 1,458,000 tons that is to say, cheap corn operating throughout the world, created a new demand for many kinds of articles; the production of a large number of such articles being aided by iron in some one of its many forms, iron to that extent was exported.