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Show OF 'rHE RENT OF LAND. [cH. III. tion, is found to create a dernand proportioned to the supply, ,vhich n1ust s'till be lin1ited; .and ~he value of corn is thus prevented fro1n falhng like the value of n1uslins~ '"fhus the fertility of the land gives the po\ver of yielding a rent, by yielding a surplus quantity of necessaries beyond the \Vants of the cultivators; and the peculiar quality belonging to the necessaries of life, when properly distributed, tends strongly and constantly to give a value to this surplus by raising up a population to demand it. These qualities of the soil and of its products l1ave been, as n1ight be expected, strongly insisted upon by the Econotnists in different parts of their works; and they are evidently admitted as truths by Adam Smith, in those passages of the Wealth of Nations, in which he approaches the nearest to the doctrines of the Econon1ists. But modern writers have in general been disposed to overlook them, ~nd to consider rent as regulated upon the principles of a· comn1on monopoly, although the distinctio.n is of great importance, and appears obvious and striking in aln1ost any instance that we can assutne. If the fertility of the tnines of the precious metals all over the world 'vere clin1inished one half, it 'vill be allowed that, as population and 'vealth do not necessarily depend · upon gold · and silver, such an event might not only be consistent with an undiminished a1nount of population and 'vealth, but even with a considerable increase of both. In this case · ho,vever it i5 quite certain SEC. I.) OF THE RENT OF lAND. · that the rents, profits, and wages paid at the dit~ ferent mines in the world might not only not be di- , minished, but might be considerably increased. But if the fertility of all the lands in the world were to be din1inished one half;* inasmuch as population and wealth strictly depend upon the quantity of the necessaries of life which the soil affords, it is quite obvious that a great part of the population and wealth of the world would be destroyed, and with it a great part of the effective demand for necessaries. The largest portion of the lands in most countries \vould he thrown completely out of.cul.;; tivation, and vvages, profit~~ anrl rent~, particularly the latter, would be greatly diminished on all the rest. I believe there is hardly any land in this country employed in producing corn, which yields a rent equal ·in value to the wages of the labou1• and the profits of the stock necessary to its cultivation. If this be so, then, in the case supposed, * Mr. Ricardo has supposed a case (p. 505.) of a diminution of fertility of one-tenth, and he thinks that it would increase rents • by pushing capital upon less fertile land. I think, on the contrary, that in any well cultivated country it could not fail to lower re~ts, by occasioning the withdrawing of capital from the poorest sOJls. If the last land before in use would do but little more than pay the necessary labour and a profit of 10 per cent. upon the capital employed, a diminution of ·a tenth' part of the gross produce would certainly render many poor soils no lonacr worth cui- • • l:l t1vabng. And, on 1V1r. Ricardo's supposition, where, I would ask, is the increased demand and increased price to come from; when·, from the greater quantity of labour and capital necessary for the land, ~~e means of obtaining the precious metals, or any other commod1t1es, to exchange for corn, wotlld be greatly reduced 1 L |
