XI. That where population and capital are small, and where the superior soils, only, are cultivated, labour is unproductive: that the proportion claimed by the land owner is large, the cost of transportation is great, and the proportion taken by the storekeeper is so, while that which is retained by the labourer is small. He is, therefore, poor and miscrable.

XII. That as population and capital increase, and as cultivation is extended over the inferior soils, labour becomes more productive, and there is a constant diminution in the proportion claimed by the owner of capital, whether applied to the improvement of land, or to the transportation, or exchange, of commodities, accompanied by a constant increase in the proportion retained by the labourer, and a constant improvement in his condition.

OF CAPITAL.

XIII. That the power to demand rent arises from labour applied to the improvement of land, and that rent and interest are alike profits of capital.

XIV. That the aid of capital tends to render labour more productive, thus improving its quality.

XV. That the further acquisition of capital is facilitated by every improvement in the quality of labour.

XVI. That this increased facility of accumulation is attended by a diminution in the labour value of all previously existing capital.

XVII. That it is also attended with a diminution in the proportion of the product of labour that can be claimed for permitting capital to be used.

XVIII. That labour is, by its improvement of quality, rendered so much more productive, that this diminution in the proportion claimed by the capitalist, is attended by an increase in the quantity of commodities obtained in return for the use of any given amount of capital.

XIX. That where population and capital are small, and where the superior soils, only, are cultivated, further capital is accumulated with difficulty, and its owner takes a large proportion of the product of labour in return for permitting its use; but that that large proportion yields but a small amount of commodi

ties, and thus a large quantity of labour is required to secure a given amount of income.

XX. That as population and capital increase, and as cultivation is extended over the inferior soils, further capital is accumulated with greater facility, and the proportion of the capitalist is diminished; but that that smaller proportion yields him a constantly increasing quantity of commodities, and thus a smaller amount of labour is required to secure a given amount of income.

XXI. That thus with the increase of population and of capital, and with the extension of cultivation, there is a steady improvement in the condition of both labourer and capitalist. That the former, while enjoying a constantly increasing measure of the comforts and conveniences of life, experiences a constantly increasing facility in becoming himself a capitalist, to enjoy an equally constantly increasing measure of the conveniences and luxuries of life, in return for the industry, prudence, and integrity which enabled him to become so.

Such we believe to be the natural laws, regulating the production and distribution of wealth, that may be deduced from the experience of the world for hundreds, and thousands, of years. That they are so we feel assured, because they are, like all the other laws of nature, simple, and therefore likely to be universally true. They have another characteristic of nature, in the perfect harmony of interests indicated by them. We find those of the landlord and tenant*-of the capitalist and the labourer

* Even where the interests of these parties appear opposed, their real interests are the same. The owners of land in England conceive themselves to be benefited by the corn laws, but their effect has been to cause them to derive but three, or three and a half per cent. from the capital they have invested, when they ought to have had four, or five per cent. Production has been diminished, and they have suffered therefrom. Had trade been free, much of the capital applied to the improvement of lands that now yield but a small return to labour, would have been applied to the extension of manufactures, by which increased value would have been given to town lots, and to lands in and near those towns, as well as to those more distant.

The owners of capital applied to many branches of manufacture in the United States, have never derived advantage from the tariff. They have been induced to invest their means in that way, and by the aid of restrictive laws, have ob

-of the planter and his slave-to be the same, and that it is impossible to adopt any measure that shall injure the one without equal injury to the other. We find rights and duties in harmony with each other.

If we reject these laws, and resort to appropriation, and to monopoly, we find the landlord and the tenant-the capitalist and the labourer-the planter and the slave-opposed in interest. We find that what is supposed to benefit the one must injure the other, and that it is impossible for them to meet on any common ground. We find a discord that does not exist elsewhere in the laws which govern the universe, but which must exist in any system that is based upon the supposition that it is one of the laws of our being,

"That they may take who have the power,
And those may keep who can."

tained a smaller amount of commodities than they would have done had those laws never existed.

Were the corn laws suddenly repealed, the effect would be vast injury, but were importation permitted at a duty that would not cause any very great immediate change of price, but subject to an annual reduction, until brought as near to free trade as regard to the revenue would permit, the proprietors of land would find that the interests of the consumers were in perfect harmony with their own, and that they would enjoy increased profits of capital, while the labourers would have increased wages. To accomplish this end, however, reduction must be gradual. Violent changes are always to be deprecated.

"The interest of the landlord is always opposed to that of the consumer and manufacturer. Corn can be permanently at an advanced price, only because additional labour is necessary to produce it; because its cost of production is increased. The same cause invariably raises rent; it is, therefore, for the interest of the landlord that the cost attending the production of corn should be increased. This, however, is not the interest of the consumer; to him it is desirable that corn should be low relatively to money and commodities, for it is always with commodities, or money, that corn is purchased. Neither is it the interest of the manufacturer that corn should be at a high price, for the high price of corn will occasion high wages, but will not raise the price of his commodity. Not only then must more of his commodity, or, which comes to the same thing, the value of more of his commodity, be given in exchange for the corn which he himself consumes, but more must be given, or the value of more, for wages to his workmen, for which he will receive no remuneration. All classes, therefore, except the landlords, will be injured by the increase in the price of corn. The dealings between the landlord and the public are not like dealings in trade, whereby both the seller and buyer may equally be said to gain, but the loss is wholly

on one side, and the gain wholly on the other; and if corn could, by importation, be procured cheaper, the loss in consequence of not importing is far greater on one side, than the gain is on the other."-Ricardo.

"All other things remaining the same, it is the labourer's interest that the rate of profit should be universally low. In general the labourer is better paid, or, in other words, receives a larger amount of commodities, when profits are high, that is when he receives a small share, than when profits are low, that is, when he receives a large share of the value of what he produces."*

Mr. Senior is of opinion, that "a high rate of profit is generally found to accompany productiveness of labour," but still he thinks it to be the interest of the labourer that profits should be "universally low." The interests of the labourer and capitalist are therefore in direct opposition to each other. We have shown that when labour is unproductive, the capitalist has a large share, and that as it becomes productive, that share is in a constant course of reduction. Did we deem further evidence necessary, we would give a view of profits and wages during the late war, when production was diminished by the waste of capital-when interest and rents were high-when the capitalist's proportion was large-when the labourer found it difficult to procure the necessaries of life-and when pauperism increased to such an extent as to require a contribution of more than forty millions of dollars, per annum, to meet the demands of those who were unable to find employment at such wages as would yield them the means of subsistence.

Senior. Outlines, p. 211.

CHAPTER X.

FLUCTUATIONS OF PRICE.

Ir the views we have thus submitted be correct, we may now have some guide in estimating the probable permanence of the changes that take place in the price of landed property, which frequently rises far above, and then falls below its real value.

We have seen that the man who has obtained a plough, or a wagon, at the expense of great labour, finds its exchangeable value reduced, when, by improvements in machinery, new ploughs, or wagons, can be obtained at diminished cost. He has accumulated a capital to which he attached a certain value, but it is now worth no more than the price of the labour necessary for its reproduction. He purchases new ploughs, which, in consequence of their improved construction, enable him to perform a larger amount of work, and the old ones are, by degrees, thrown out of use. He has thus added to his capital by the labour of the present year, but that addition is accompanied by a great fall in the value of that which he previously possessed.

Another man owns a cotton mill that had been erected at great cost. If he wish now to build a new one, he can have it done much more cheaply, in consequence of the increased capital by which labour is aided. The first, even if equally good, would now exchange for much less labour than had been required to produce it. It is not, however, equally good, for the improved machinery of the day renders it almost valueless, and in the course of a short time it will be abandoned.

Another man has a farm which has cost him great labour to improve. Improvements in the means of transportation enable other lands to be brought into a condition to yield the same return to labour, and the value of his farm cannot exceed the cost of obtaining one equally good elsewhere. If the same