value
received, and the other by the pleasure of giving. In such an exchange no
basis of value is reached, but in any ordinary bargain the final
adjustment will be as nearly as possibly upon the test of value in the
market. Between one buyer and one seller, the bargain is likely to turn to
the advantage of the one who is quickest to discover the weakness of the
other. If two persons are discussing the price of a house for which the
seller wishes $1,000, but will sell for even $600, and for which the buyer
hopes to give only $600, but will pay even $1,000, the seller will
gradually lower his price, and the buyer gradually raise his offer until
one or the other discovers the working of his neighbor's mind. These are
the natural conditions for sharp bargaining.

In the larger market the interests of a multitude of buyers and a
multitude of sellers have weight, and no shrewdness can prevent a
settlement upon such a price as comes nearest to satisfying all parties.
The so-called law of supply and demand is a brief statement of the fact
that sales cannot be made in open market above the mark where buyers and
sellers agree, and that mark is essentially the price at which all who are
willing to buy at the price current are met by those who are willing to
sell at the same current price. With reference, then, to all articles sold
in open market, it is safe to say that the only test of value is the price
which the public is willing to pay. So universal is the acceptance of this
principle in practical affairs that everybody estimates the value of his
property by the price at which it will sell. Any appraiser or assessor who
should adopt a different principle would be considered wholly
untrustworthy.

_Freedom in markets._--In this higgling of the market it is absolutely
necessary that buyers and sellers have essential freedom of choice and
fairly equal information. There may be conditions of law preventing free
competition, as under the regulation of prices attempted in various
countries prior to the present century. In England, during nearly four
centuries, limits of prices for nearly every article of food and clothing
were named by law. Yet in every instance the conditions of the market were
stronger than the laws, and the restriction upon free competition and free
discussion of prices actually destroyed the open market. The conditions of
a bankrupt sale at auction reduce the competition to a struggle between
buyers. In this ca