Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/123

 Rh must be simple and general; it is impossible to make a summation of problematical figures for different classes. The best clue to the selection seems furnished by the example already taken. We may compare roughly the rental of the house with the expenditure on the persons it contains. Now according to Mr. Giffen's tables the total rental of houses is about £128 millions, whilst the total income of the nation is about £1,300 millions, from which it follows that ten per cent. is spent upon house-rent. If we take the usual figure of five persons to every house, and further assume that ten per cent. of income is spent upon the complete maintenance of each person and ten per cent. on rent, we shall still have four-tenths of the income left over. Accordingly it does not appear beyond the mark, taking the family as a permanent institution in the sense already explained, to consider every 'person' as of equal value with the house in which he lives, and every family of five times the value of the house. As this part of the estimate of the living capital presents most difficulty, and is most liable to be misunderstood, some further explanation or justification may be derived from the following considerations. In the first place, in the Census Returns nearly 60 per cent. of the population are placed in the 'unoccupied' class, On analysis, however, it appears that this class comprises children and young persons who are preparing for occupations of various kinds, and women who, as wives and daughters, are occupied with household duties. Now a child has as just a claim from the present point of view to valuation as a colt, and the employment of domestic servants and governesses shows that the unpaid work of women of the class described ought to be considered of at least equal value. But secondly, even the 'occupied' classes must be considered not merely as earning income but as furnishing in their private capacity utilities to the community or to their families on which a value may properly be placed. There is no difficulty in seeing that in an estimate of 'living capital' some allowance must he made for the people themselves (apart from their wealth-producing power)—the difficulty is to determine the most reasonable measure. Cost of production or of maintenance (if we consider the various classes as immortal species) has the advantage of simplicity, and may also be supported by various analogies, e.g., public works, lighthouses, roads, breakwaters would naturally be valued by their original cost and the additional annual outlay.

It is not necessary to enter into particulars regarding all the items in Mr. Giffen's table of material wealth. The general result is perfectly plain; the closer and more critical the examination, so