However that which appears here as a decrease of the supply (for
 instance, in Lalor) is in part merely a decrease of the supply in the form
 of commodity-capital, or of the commodity-supply proper; it is consequently
 only a change of form of the same supply. If for instance the quantity
 of coal daily produced in a certain country, and therefore the scale and
 energy of operation of the coal industry, are great, the spinner does not
 need a large store of coal in order to ensure the continuity of his production.
 The steady and certain renewal of his coal supply makes this unnecessary.
 In the second place the rapidity with which the product of one process
 may be transferred as means of production to another process depends on
 the development of the transport and communication facilities. The cheapness
 of transportation is of great importance in this question. The continually
 renewed transport of coal from the mine to the spinning-mill for instance
 would be more expensive than the storing up of a larger supply of coal
 for a longer time when the price of transportation is relatively cheaper.
 These two circumstances examined so far arise from the process of production
 itself. In the third place the development of the credit-system also exerts
 an influence. The less the spinner is dependent on the direct sale of his
 yarn for the renewal of his supply of cotton, coal, etc. — and this direct
 dependence will be the smaller, the more developed the credit-system is
 — the smaller relatively these supplies can be and yet ensure a continuous
 production of yarn on a given scale, a production independent of the hazards
 of the sale of yarn. In the fourth place, however, many raw materials,
 semi-finished goods, etc., require long periods of time for their production.
 This applies especially to all raw materials furnished by agriculture.
 If no interruption of the process of production is to take place, a certain
 amount of raw materials must be on hand for the entire period in which
 no new products can take the place of the old. If this supply decreases
 in the hands of the industrial capitalist, it proves merely that it increases
 in the hands of the merchant in the form of commodity-supply. The development
 of transportation for instance makes it possible rapidly to ship the cotton
 lying, say, in Liverpool’s import warehouses to Manchester, so that the
 manufacturer can renew his supply in comparatively small portions, as and
 when needed. But in that case the cotton remains in so much larger quantities
 as commodity-supply in the hands of the Liverpool merchants. It is therefore
 merely a change in the form of the supply, and this Lalor and others overlooked.
 And if you consider the social capital, the same quantity of products exists
 in either case in the form of supply. The quantity required for a single
 country during the period of, say, one year decreases as transportation
 improves. If a large number of sailing vessels and steamers ply between
 America and England, England’s opportunities to renew its cotton supply
 are increased while the average quantity to be held in storage in England
 decreases. The same effect is produced by the development of the world
 market and the consequent multiplication of the sources of supply of the
 same merchandise. The article is supplied piecemeal from various countries
 and at various intervals.