Page:Manual of Political Economy.djvu/165

116 The amount which in any particular case the landlord, capitalist, or labourer receives is regulated either by competition or by custom. In almost every case competition and custom exercise a joint influence; but competition not unfrequently acts so much more powerfully than custom, that it may be virtually regarded as the sole determining cause. It is impossible to enumerate all the important customs which influence various trades, but it will be necessary to trace the effect of customs more wide and constant in their operation, such, for instance, as those which regulate the rent of land. The metayer rents which exist in many continental countries may be quoted as an example of one of these customs; for where this tenure prevails the rent paid for the use of the land is always equivalent to a fixed portion of the produce. This portion is generally one-half.

It may, however, be remarked that as a nation advances in industrial enterprise all her commercial transactions are more completely regulated by competition. There cannot be activity of trade without a keen desire for gain; but such a feeling indicates the spirit of competition, for in business men compete with each other with the view of securing the greatest possible gain. It is, however, important to present competition in a somewhat different aspect; for the manner in which it has been here described may very possibly encourage the widespread error that with it there is associated something almost criminal. Many who profess to be social philosophers attach to competition the stigma of selfish greed. The poverty of the poor is often attributed to it; but we shall have reason to show that it is no enemy to the working-classes. Without it, their poverty would be rendered doubly severe; for it is an active spirit of competition which maintains the capital from which the wages of the labourers are paid. Competition befriends the working-classes in other respects; it cheapens commodities, and ensures that the maximum of wages shall always be paid. Competition is not confined to one class; it may be as rife among buyers as among sellers, or among the employers as among the employed. Individuals who have goods to sell are anxious to realise as large profits as possible; but when