According to the different situations in a state, he could use different means for reaching such a happy end, and it is not too difficult to succeed. Provided the prince does not lend an ear to the people who have an interest in public calamities, (248) especially those called Corn Jews[^1] in Germany, and follows the path that nature itself shows us, he will easily overcome all the obstacles that could oppose this plan. It is commonly said that costliness and famine are scourges of God which man’s wisdom cannot avoid or prevent, but they are the same as diseases and all other ailments that afflict men who nevertheless protect themselves from them or are cured, very often by wise conduct. It is not said anywhere in the Scriptures that God wants to use costliness and famine and not another scourge to punish the sins of men. Besides it would be very easy to prove (249) that costliness and famine never come from a shortage of foodstuffs that are necessary for life, but always from the bad behavior of those who possess a superfluous quantity of it. Some fear at the wrong time; others want to get rich at the wrong time. Both keep their superfluous amount at the wrong time and get rid of it at the wrong time, which is the only cause of these appalling disturbances that occur so often in the world.
Thus, a Prince has the power to correct or to prevent without miracles the disturbances that only occur from a misunderstanding or from the bad will of those who are subject to his laws. The remedy is not mysterious nor difficult to execute. (250) He will get the idea for it from the behavior of a judicious merchant who wants to make himself arbiter of the price of a commodity. He accumulates a greater quantity of it than all the other merchants in his town; after which, he fixes the price of his commodity. When the others want to sell at a price that is too low, he holds on to his and even secretly buys some of theirs; when they want to set the price too high, he sells his at a reasonable price and by this, he obliges the other merchants to always follow his example and retains the value and the steady consumption of his commodity. The necessary things for life, especially grains, are a kind of commodity whose price should (251) never change, but always be in just proportion to that of other goods; and we must be persuaded that a prince, by fixing the price of grains in a judicious way, would prevent both famines and an excessive abundance of this absolutely necessary commodity. By considering with attention the steps taken by a clever merchant who wants to give a certain value to his merchandise, by carefully thinking about what is done in Holland with regard to spices,[^2] by judiciously looking at the fortunate situation of this Province in connection to things that are necessary for life, a prince could find the key to this very important mystery for the wealth of his people and put his states in (252) a position that is at least as advantageous as that of the United Provinces, although by using ways a little different from those one is obliged to follow there.
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