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Show 164 OF THE RENT OF LAND. [en. 11 r. production, without increasing !n ~ny ~egree tl~e quantity of produce, then, as 1t IS. quite c ~rta1n. that no alteration ·\vould take place In the pnce of corn the extravao·ant profits of the farn1ers would ' b . soon be reduced by the con1petition of ·capitals fro1n n1anufactures and con1n1erce; and as the vvhole arena for the en1ployn1ent of capital \vould rather have b.een din1inished than increased, profits on land as \Vell as elsewhere \vould soon be at their forn1er level, and the increased surplus from the din1inished expenses of cultivation would go to increase the rents of the landlords. . But if these in1proven1ents, as must always be the case, ~vou ld facilitate the cul tiYation of ne\V land, and the better cultivation of the old \vith the s(!,me capital, n1ore corn \Votlld certainly be brought to n1arket. 1~his \vould lower its price; but the fall "\VOU}d be of short duration. rfhe operation of that important cause noticed in the early part of this chapter, ,vhich distinguishes the surplus produce of the land from all others, namely, the po,ver of the necessaries of life, \vhen properly distributed, to create the~i· own demand, or in other \vords the tendency of population to press against the 1neans of subsistence, would soon raise the . prices of corn and labour, and reduce the profits of stock to their forn1er level, while in the n1ean ti1ne every step in the cultivation of poorer lands facilitated by these improvements, and their application to all the lands of a better quality before cultivated, \Vould universally have raised rents : and thus, under an improving system of cultivation, rents tnight continue rising without any rise in the exchangeable SEC. III.] 01;- THE UENT OF LAND. 166 value of corn, or any fall in the real ~aO'es of la-bour, or the general rate of profits. · 0 rfhe very great i~11proven1ents in agriculture \\1 hicr. have taken place Jn this country are clearly dernor stratcd by the profits of stock being as high DO\V as they were nearly ~ hundred years ago, \Vhen the ]and supported but little Jnore than half of its presen~ !)opulation. And the power of the necessaries of hfe, \vhen properly distributed, to create their o'vn denland is fully proved by the palpable fact that the exchangeable value of corn .. in the com~ nland of lab~u~ ~nd other con1;rnodities is, to say the least, ~ndtnllnlsbed, notw·ithstanding the Inany an· d. 1g re· at Jnlprovetneu ts 'v hicb have been s ucces-dst ve y· Intr,o duced in cultivation ' ,IJoth by t.l1 e . t. 111 .1 o-uctton of better _inlplen1ents, and by au inlproved system of nlanaging the land. In fact, these in1- proven1ents have o·one \V holly to tlJe . f b 111crease o rents and the paytnent of taxes. .. It nJay b~ added tbat, when improvenlents are n~tr?d.uced In particular dist ricts, which tend to cbn: Intsh the costs of production, the advantao·es clenved fron1 then1 go in11nediatelv UfJOn th 5 . ~ , 1 .~..· 1 .... .., ' e 1 e-nc\\' d Ol ease~, to landlords, as the profits of stock llHlst necessanly be reo·u1ated by cotnpet't· 1 · o . 1 ton, ac-corc 1~~ to the general average of the \Vhole coun-try. I hu~ the very great -agricultural irnprovements 'vhtch have .taken place in son1e parts of S. c·o tland, the north of Eno·land aile] N .. c 11 1 1 . t:> c , .t 0110 {, 1a ve l;usec' ~n ~ very extraordinary lllanner, the rents of t lose disti~lcts, and left profits \V here they were. t Blust be allo,ved then, that faciJity of pro-. ]}! s |