Page:Manual of Political Economy.djvu/28

Rh Contents. xvii Chapter IL The Classes among whom Wealth is distributed. Wealth is distributed between rent, wages and profits : these three shares represent respectively the value of the services rendered to the production of wealth by land, labour and capital — In En^^land, rent, wages and profits are generally received by distinct individuals, termed landlords, labourers and employers— Two of the portions or even the three portions into which wealth is distributed, may belong to one individual ; this illustrated by the case of a peasant- proprietor — The laws which regulate the distribution of manufactured produce are similar to those which apply to agricultural produce — The distribution of wealth is regulated either by competition or custom ; as a nation advances, custom ahows a greater tendency to succumb to competition — Labourers not injured by competition PAGES 112— 1 18 Chapter III, Rents as determined by Competition. Origin of Rent— Statement and proof of Ricardo's theory of Rent — Dr. Wheweirs objections to this theory — How rents are affected by various circumstances, such as the following : a reduction in the average rate of profit ; the introduction of improved implements ; increMed importation from other countries ; a rise in agricultural wages — In wnat sense the interest of the landlord is opposed to that of the farmer and labourer — Rents may be raised more by an increase of population than by any other cause— The profit arising from capital spent in improving land, is rent — Tne drainase companies— Rent is not an element in the cost of producing food 119-135 Chapter IV. On Wages. Wages are determined by a ratio between capital and population — Controversy on the waees fund theory — In opposition to those who contend that there has been no improvement in the condition of the labourer during the last forty years, when there has been a great increase in the production of wealth, facts are adduced to show that his condition has decidedly improved— The diminution in cost of living enables a period of trade depression to be more easily tided over — Why the condition of the labourer has not more improved explained — The influence on wages of an increase of population, of an extended use of labour-saving machinery, and of an export of capital — Malthus's Essay on PoptUation affirms that checks on population are positive and preventive— The five causes which, according to Adam Smith, produce different rates of wages in different trades — An explanation of the different rates of wages in the same employ- ment in different localities illustrated by the difference in agricultural wiu;es in Dorsetshire and Yorkshire — With an advance in education and improved means of communication this difference in wages tends to diminish— How wages are affected by good and bad trade 136—162 Digitized by Google