The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-07-23

NAL who can call to his aid the reproduc-
tive powers of nature, and thereby cause
nature to minister to his wants. AS the
author says, hawks eat chickens and so
do men; but the more hawks there are
the fewer chickens will there be, while
the more men there are the larger will
be the number of chickens. Man, too,
progresses in desires and in the ability to
crafty them, while animals do no such
thing. The analogies, then, made be-
tween man and brute are false, when
applied to theory of increase of popu!a.
ton. In the words of Mr.. George, the
Malthusian theory is "really a gratuitous
attribution to the laws of God, of results
which, even from this examination, we
may infer really spring from the NAL
adjustments of men,"
So far in the inquiry, Mr.. George has
only succeeded in oyertbrowiDg well.
established theories which failed to ac-
count for the problem under investiga.
tion. The overthrow of the old wagas
theory and of the Malthusian doctrine,
developed the fact that it was not in the
laws which govern production that the
real difficulty lies. he proposes then to
seek for it in the laws which govern the
distribution cf wealth for of necessity
must lie therein the key to the whole
situation.
With an independence of thought
which is his distinguishing characteristic,
Mr.. George proceeds to work out the
three laws of Distribution. As premise
thereto, he gives the following excellent
summary of the basis of the investiga
tiou:
Gland, labor and capital are the factors
of production. The term land includes
all natural opportunities or forces; the
term labor, all human exertion; and the
term capital, all wealth used to produce
more wealth. In returns to these three
factors is the whole produce distributed.
That part which goes to land owners as
payment for the use of natural opportu-
mites, is called rent; that part which
constitutes the reward of human exer-
tion is called wages; aud that part which
constitutes the return for the use of cap.
ital, is called interest. These terms
mutually exclude each other. The in
come Of any individual may be made up
from any one, two or all three OF these
sources but in the effort to discover the
laws of distribution, we must keep them
SEPARATE In the laws, then, which
assign to rent, wages and interest their
shares in the results of production, lies
the cause of the social paradox toward
whose solution the author has been
working.
Assuming as correct the law of Rent,
as given by the standard Economist, Mr.
George simply states it as follows:
"The rent of land is determined by the
excess of it's produce over that which the
same application can secure from the
least productive land in use."
j After full discussion of interest, its
cause and its perfect justice, he proceeds
to deduce therefrom, by a course of
reasoning as abstruse as it is concise, and
as convincing as it is simple, the law of
interest. Capital may be applied in
forms wherein the vital forces Of nature
give to the element of time an advantage,
which causes interest on the compensa-
tion of capital. This compensation
must equal the advantages gained in
forms wherein natures reproductive
powers are exerted, else all capital would
gravitate to those forms to the exclusion
of all others. Now these vital forces
tend to a uniformity which is only
violated in particular cases. There must
exist, too, an equilibrium between the
forms of production, in which the vital
powers of nature act, and those in which
they do not. e. in agriculture and
manufactures, It is manifest that no
community could long sustain p,epon'
derance of either. Hence arises nor.
NAL rate of interest, which must remain
on an equilibrium with the normal rate
of wages. For, should interest manifest
q tendency to rise, more labor would be
turned into capital, and should wages
show an upward tendency, more labor
would be turned from the production of
capital.
ei From these considerations easily arises
the Law of interest, which Mr.. George
gives thus: "The relation between
wages and interest is determined by the
average power of increase which attaches
to capital from its use in reproductive
modes. AS rent arises, interest will fall
as wages fall, or will be determined by
the margin OF. cultivation"
With an equally forcible demonstra-
ton, Mr.. George discovers the true law
of wages to be-:
"Wages depend upon the margin of
production, OF upon the produce which
labor can obtain at the highest point of
natural productiyeness open to it without
the payment of rent"
When there is taken into consideration,
the theory of wages as already developed
blythe author, that wages are produced
by the labor for which they are paid, the
reason for the law as given needs no
demonstration. 1t is the logical com.
plement of the laws of rent and interest
as already shown, and its exempli6cation
is in everyday life.
By the development of the three cor.
relating laws of rent, wages and interest,
Mr.. George has opened broad and clear
the field for the minute investigation of
the primary problem-the increase of
poverty with material progress. That
the explanation lies somewhere in the
relations of the laws of Distribution has
been shown. Hence it is necessary to
consider the effect which material pro.
gress has upon the laws of Distribution.
1t is here that the final stand of the old
theory against the new must be made.
For, admit the conclusions reached con.
cerning wages, the Malthusian theory,
and the Laws of Distribution, and of the
conclusions made therefrom there is no
room for doubt.
Mr.. George defues the two great
dynamical agents in material progress to
bo (1) increase in population, ~ and
improvements in the arts. The effect Of
increase of population is to increase rent
by lowering the margin of cultivation,
or forcing labor from more to less pro,
ductive lands, and by comforting upon
land special advantages incident to the
mere presence of improvements and of
population upon it. Invention or i'm
pro7ements in the arts affect the distri.