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ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES

OF ECONOMICS

-.3 0
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
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& CO., LIMITED
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ELEl\fENTARY PRINCIPLES
OF ECONOl\IICS
TOGETHER WITH A SHORT SKETCH
OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
BY
RICHARD T. ELY
AKD THE LATE
GEORGE RAY WICKER
THIRD EDITION REnSED
BY
RICHARD T. ELY, PIl.D., LL.D.
DIRROTOR OF THE IXSTITUTE FOR RFSEARCH IN LAND ECONOMICS
A:'OO .PUBLIC l;TILtTIE8, ANI) PROFES .... Olt OF ECONOMICS
1:'1 TilE UKI'ERSIT'l' OF WISCONSI:s'
IN COLLABORATION WIT II
SAMUEL J. BRANDENBURG, PH.D.
OF ECONOMICS I){ CLARK C!inERSlTY
Nr\n
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1924
.All rightlJ reserTie:l
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
COPYRIGH"r, I H ~ ; ~ ,
By THE MACMILLAN CO:\IPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published August, 1943. Reprinted
April, 1924.
'XarroOD!I t;}rnHJ
J. S. Cu<;hiJig Co. - Berwick & Smith Co.
N orwood, M a ~ . li .S.A.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
(ABRIDGED)
IN offering this textbook to teachers and students of
economics, the authors feel that a brief word of explanation
and suggestion may afford help in judging the quality of the
book as well as in the use of the book, should favoring judg-
ment result in its adoption for classroom work.
It has been the aim of the authors first of all to make the
book teachable. In choice and rejection of substantive and
illustrative material and in its arrangement; in the form of the
chapters, paragraphs, sentences, and words; in all that can
affect the case or difficulty of com' eying an understanding of
economics to the beginner, this complicated quality of teach-
ableness has been earnestly and constantly sought.
Fortunately for the welfare of the science of economics,
there is more or less disagreement 'among economists as to
many points of theory. But manifestly an elementary text-
book on the subject is not a place in which conflicting views
should be presented and discussed, even if space would permit.
Nor have the authors wished to use the pages of the book for
the propagation of views in which they might chance to differ
with other economists. It has seemed best to regard con-
stantly the purpose of the book as a text, and hence to sub-
ordinate individual opinion to the general good of the student.
In the main, therefore, and so far as the authors have been
able, they have presented the outlines of theory in the form
in which they are to-day most generally accepted by econo-
mists, leaving for later and advanced study the conflicting
v
VI PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
assumptions and arguments and points of view of economists
who may be paving the way for the most acceptable text-
book of a coming decade.
It is perhaps unnecessary to add the word of caution that
the summaries and questions at the close of the chapters may
easily become a hindrance rather than a help to real thought
and study if the teacher permits himself or his class to fall into
slavish reliance upon them. Like the references to collateral
reading, the questions and summaries are to be used as
starting points and guides to further study and discussion.
It has been the hope of the authors, moreover, that the
material carefully elaborated in the appendixes may not only
help to guide both teacher and class during the period of the
formal study of the book, but may also encourage and direct
the student in the after days of his professional or business
or political life.
HANOVER, )/. H.,
1904.
RICHARD T. ELY.
GEORGE RAY WICKER.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
THE reception accorded this book in the thirteen years
since its first publication, a reception which has gratified
cvcn more than it has surprised the authors, pcrhaps justi-
fies a word of appreciatin acknowledgment to the thousands
of teachers who have contributed to its success. They may
share the author's gratification in knowing that a Japanese
translation has found wide acceptance in the schools of
Nippon; that the regular edition has been used in England,
Canada, Australasia, and other English-speaking lands;
and that more recently Mr. L. L. Pricc, the distinguished
English economist, has revised the book, and, by utilizing
more fully the national experience of the United Kingdom and
employing English monetary terms and illustrations, has
adapted it better to the schools of Ollr British cousins. The
authors in this revision have availed themselves in various
places of improvements in style and substance made by:Mr.
Price, and gladly acknowledge their appreciation and their
indebtedness to him.
So wide an acceptance has proved to the authors at once a
challenge and a menace: a challenge to their best efforts in
making the book better; a menace in thc fcar lest in some
subtle way their best efforts at improvement might go astray.
Bold caution seems to bc the injunction laid upon them by the
measure of their earlier Sllccess.
All descriptive and illustrative material has been "ery
carefully recast, except in the few cases where it was evident
that the older illustration was to be preferred. The theoretical
Vll
viii PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
treatment has been as carefully reconsidered. Wherever a
simpler, clearer, better statement could be devised, the old
has given place to the new. Wherever changes of theory ha\'e
won their way into general acceptance within the last decade,
there has been no hesitation or reluctance in adopting the
change.
One limitation, felt by the authors, they have
not been able to break down or evane. Several lesser topics,
vital, timely, and often closely related to the economics of our
country, - such as immigration, the conservation of natural
resources, and the economic position of women, - could find
admission only by an impracticable enlargement of the book
or by displacing other material which seemed to ha\'e at least
equal claim to inclusion. Selection was demanded. Here
critic ami author should alike be bound.
The kind criticism of a host of students, teachers, and
friends, and the particular, searching, and good-natured
criticism of some thousands of the junior author's own stu-
dents in Dartmouth College, the corpus rile sed dileetum of
his experiments in teaching during sixteen college generations,
should show its influence in this revision. More particular
acknowledgment is due to Professors F. H. Dixon and C. A.
Phillips, and Mr. J. 1\1. Shortliffe, of Dartmouth College,
who have brought their own experience in using the carlier
text as their contribution to the common purpose of shaping
a book that may best fit the needs of American students in
school and college.
RICHARD T. ELY.
GEORGE RAY WICKER.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
IN this third edition the plan of the book remains un-
changed. Some chapters have been rewritten almost in their
entirety; some have been divided and supplemented, while in
others the order of topics has been rearranged. In all cases
an effort has been made to improve the phraseology, to
simplify it where desirable, and to bring the facts and
illustrations up to date.
It is probable that no period of equal length in the world's
history has furnished a greater abundance of illustrations of
economic laws than the six years that have elapsed since the
second edition was published; the facts and experiences of
these years have given a new vitality and a new interest to the
science of economics. \Var and post-war experiences have
been freely drawn upon for this edition.
The chief objective that the authors have kept constantly
in mind has been to make the book more" teachable." In
furtherance of this objective criticisms were invited from
numerous successful teachers who had used earlier editions
of the work in high school classes in various parts of the
country. From these teachers many helpful suggestions were
received which, so far as practicable, have been incorporated
in this revision.
The authors are under particular obligations to the many
teachers who offered their thoughtful suggestions and criti-
clsms; also to Miss Grace S. M. Zorbaugh, who did much of
ix
x PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
the preliminary work in this revision, and to Dr. Mary L.
Shine, Associate in Research in the Institute for Research in
Land Economics and Public Utilities, who has given valuable
aid.
RICHARD T. ELY.
SAMUEL J. BRANDENBt;RG.
CONTENTS
BOOK I
INTRODUCTORY
CHAPTER PAGE
I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON THE NATURE OF ECONOlIICS 1
II. THE PRINCIPAL DIVISIONS OF EcoxOlncs ()
III. FUNDMIENTAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE EXISTING SOCIAL
AND EcoKomc ORDER 9
BOOK II
A BRIEF SKETCH OF HISTORY
IV. INTRODUCTORY 22
V. EARLY STAGES OF INDUSTRIAL . 29
VI. THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE . +l
VII. THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN EKGLAXD 53
VIII. THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN THE eNITED STATES i9
IX. PRESENT DAY FORCES AT WORK IN EcoNomc EVOLU-
TION 98
BOOK III
ECOXOMIC THEORY
PART I
CONSUMPTION
X. INTRODUCTORY: UTILITIES AXD GOODS
XI. TilE LAW OF Dn!lNISHING UTILITY.
Xl
107
115
Xll
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
XII. DEMAND
XIII. THE ECONOMY OF SPENDING AND SAVING
PART II
PRODL"CTION
PAGE
121
135
XIV. INTRODUCTORY 151
XV. THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION - LAND 161
XVI. THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION - LABOR 168
XVII. THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION - CAPITAL 181
XVIII. THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION - MANAGEMENT
AND LABOR 189
XIX. THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION - CAPITAL AI\""D
LAND
XX. THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION - DETERMINING
COI\""DITIONS
PART III
TRA:\SFEHS OF GOODS.
(EXCHANGE)
XXI. INTRODUCTORY
XXII. VALUE .
XXIII. MONOPOLIES AND YImlOPOLY VALUE
XXIV. MONEY.
XXV. CREDIT AND B. ...... ,KING
XXVI. INTERNATIONAL TRADE .
XXVII. RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL
TARlFF!; .
x..XVIII. INTRODUCTORY
XXIX. RENT.
PART IV
DISTRIBUTION
TRADE-
201
209
217
222
245
267
292
319
337
353
360
CONTENTS
CB .... PTEa
XXX. WAGES AND THE LABOR PRORLEM
XXXI. INTEREST
XXXII. PROFITS
XXXIII.
BOOK IV
PUBLIC FIKANCE
XXXIV. EXPENDlTIJRE A.'IID REVENUE
XXXV. REVENUES IN THE UNITED STATES
APPENDIX I
SUBJECTS FOR ESSAYS, DISCUSSIONS, A.,\"D DEBATES
APPEI\DlX II
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
Xll!
PAGE
378
410
429
440
460
482
503
. 510
. 523
ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES
OF ECONOMICS
BOOK I
INTRODUCTORY
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON THE NATURE OF
ECONOMICS
ALTHOUGH the whole book which follows is but an ex-
panded definition of economics, the student who is about to
enter upon a study of the subject may well wish to have ex-
plained to him in ad"ance, at least in rough outlines, what
the field is into which he is about to enter. At the outset,
therefore, let us attempt to frame some idea of the nature
of the science and of the group of sciences with which it is
most closely connected.
The Place of Economics among the Social Sciences.-
First of all, economics is a social science. That is, it deals
with man in his relation to society. But there are other
social sciences besides that which we are about to study,
among them history, political science, and sociology.
The question therefore naturally arises, How is our science
distinguished from the others? To answer this question,
we must consider more closely the different aspects under
which society may be viewed. From the first, men in so-
ciety have been busy in variolls lines of effort, which for
convenience we may grollp as follows: language, art, educa-
tion, religion, family. life, social life - in the narrow sense
1
2 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
of that term, political life, and economic life. These
ei"ht different human activities cannot be entirely separated
in"'thought any more than they are actually separate in real
life. Thus legislation, though it belongs primarily to the
province of political science, has an intimate bearing on
economic life. Again, industry in old Russia was seriously
hampered by the frequent recurrence of saints' days, which
have therefore great economic importance j and even in
Bavaria in recent years the number of saints' days was les-
. .
sened bv action of the statc with the approval of the church j
but saints' days have primarily to do with religion, not with
economics. In the same way, economic life is dependent
upon all the other groups of human activity.
A peculiar feature of these activities is that they are all
collective; that is, they are activities which one man cannot
well carryon alone. In family and political life and some of
the other activities this is at once obvious. Careful exam-
ination shows it to be true of them all. It is for this reason
that the sciences which deal with them are called social
1cwrwes.
Preliminary Definition of Economics. - It is with the last
of these eight spheres of human activity that our science has
to deal. By the term " economic life" is meant, roughly
speaking, that part of human activity which is devoted to
getting a living. - Economics, then, is the science which
treats of those social phenomena that are due to the lCealth-
getting and 1cealth-using activities of man. It deals with all
those facts about society that result from man's effort to get
a living. The wealth-getting activity itself we call economic
activity. The economic life, or the relations to which the
economic activity gives rise, we may call by the simple word
"economy." 'Vith this understanding, we may say that
economics is the social science that deals with the economic
life, or the economy, of man.
PRELIJfINARY REMARKS
3
The Economic Unit. - If we keep in mind this meaning of
the term " we shall see that there are economies
of various sorts. Thus, the economy of the ancient Greek
household, with its slaves and dependcnts, is different from
that of the medieval city or of the modern nation. In this
book we study the economy of the modern nation as a unit,
with individual, household, city, and state as subordinate
economies. All of these economics, however, are interrelated;
besides, thoughtful men and women have come to see that
the whole world, in many respects, must be regarded as one
single economic unit.
Final Definition of Economics. - It is evident, then, that
a complete definition of economics must be made broad
enough to take note of these facts. 'Ve may sum up all
these considerations in a final definition, as follows: Eco-
nomics is the science (1) which treats of those social phenomena
that are due to the wealth-getting and wealth-using activities
of man; and (2) which deals with all other phases of his life
. in so far as they olect his social activity in respect to weaith-
getting and wealth-using.
Why Study Economics? - There are no Robinson Cru-
soes in a modern community. As civilization advances,
while men continue to depend primarily on themselves,
they depend more and more on the cooperation of their
fellows. They work and play, earn and spend, " get wealth"
and" use wealth," in ways that are determined by society
even more than by themselves individually. Human re-
lations are important; on every hand men are influenced and
directed social arrangements and institutions.
'We should study economics, then, for the following rea-
sons: (1) in order to understand the complex and far-reach-
ing industrial and commercial organizations in which men
work and live; (2) in order to understand the rights and
opportunities which all enjoy, and the duties and limitations
4 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
to which all are subject in the world of competitive endeavor;
(3) because, inasmuch as the government is constantly
assuming more economic functions, either by control or
by exercising them directly, a citizenship informed and
intelligent on economic matters is essential if the gov-
ernment is to be efficient in this expanding field; (4) because
a knowledge of the economic world broadens the outlook
and enlarges the sympathies; it is a truly cultural study.
For all these reasons, practical or vocational, political,
cultural, and others that might be mentioned, a study of
economics is essential to every ambitious ,young person.
SUMMARY
1. Economics is a social science.
2. Each great department of social life has its appropriate science.
3. Economics is the branch of social science that deals with the phe-
nomena to which the wealth-getting and wealth-using activities
of men give rise.
4. Economics deals also with all the other social phenomena in so far
as they affect economic activity.
5. The aim of economic study is not merely personal and selfish; it
is social, patriotic, and cultural.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. Into what different groups may man's social activities be divided?
2; With which group does economics primarily deal? What concern
has it with the others?
3. What have the different groups in common?
4. What is economics?
5. Look up in your dictionary the Greek derivation of the word "eeo-
nomics."
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Name five of the most important public questions of to-day. Which
of these are primarily economic? Trace indirect economic re-
lations of the others.
PRELIM1NA.RY REMARKS
5
2. How large a part of our lives is concerned with matters that are
essentially and directly economic?
3. State an economic reason why men work; why men have gone to
war; why some men have committed crime.
4. Give some illustrations to show the distinction between economics
and civics; and sociology; and law; and history.
5. Cite from any good weekly periodical half a dozen important meas-
ures before the United States Senate and House of Represent-
atives. How many of them are of economic character?
LITERATURE
The teacher may find it advisable to supplement the text of this
chapter with a discussion of the meaning of science and other broad and
fundamental concepts. As a basis for such discllssion, Karl Pearson's
Grammar of Science is excellent.
CHAPTER II
THE PRINCIPAL DMSIONS OF ECONOMICS
ECONOMICS is a science covering so wide a field that it
has been found desirable to divide it into parts, each of which
is often treated by writers in separate works or in separate
volumes of the same work. It may help the student to have
outlined for him, in advance, the divisions as they will be
presented in this work.
First of all, it has been thought best to present to the stu-
dent in the opening chapter an idea of what the science is,
and, in the present chapter, to show him what are the main
topics with which the science is concerned. Another iu-
troductory chapter presents a discussion of some of the
fundamental institutions in our social order.
In the second place, it is thought addsable to give in a
few chapters a skeleton outline of the economic history of
mankind, with more particular attention to those late de-
velopments in English and American e c o n ~ i c history that
have given rise to existing economic conditions. This part
of the subject is often omitted from elementary textbooks,
and therefore a word of explanation is appropriate.
Few student,; undertake tbe systematic study of economics
without having pursued courses in history; but the histories
usually studied in schools are devoted in great part to other
than economic considerations, and are ,vritten from another
point of view than that which should be ours in our present
study. It is of the utmost importance that the student, in
his approach to the study of present economic conditions,
6
THE PRINCIP",lL DIVISIONS OF ECONOM1CS 7
should be imbued with the historical spirit. As the chap-
ters on economic history will show, social and economic in-
stitutions are not permanent, but constantly changing; and
to understand aright what is, we must know whence it has
developed, and, so far as we can, whither it is tending.
Moreover, the study of economic history should show the
student, as perhaps nothing else can, that great changes in
the economic condition of a nation or a class do not come
about in a moment at the command of an individual or of
a great number of men organized in a state, though the will
and the action of individual and state are powerful forces.
The way will thus be made clearer for that which is more
commonly presented in textbooks under the name of eco-
nomics or political economy.
An analysis of economic phenomena at any time shows
that for purposes of clearer study thcsc phenomena may be
divided into four main parts: first, those connected with
man's consumption of goods, or with the satisfaction of his
wants; second, those connected with the production of
goods; third, those connccted with the exchange or transfer
of goods among men; and fourth, those connected with the
distribution of the income of society among the individuals,
classes, and factors of production which cooperate to create
that income. IW dividing thus the general subject of eco-
nomic theory, we are enabled to look at man's economic life
from four points of view. The four divisions which we
have indicated are usually treated under the following
headings: consumption, production, transfers or exchange,
and distribution. We shall discuss them in that order.
Certain social and economic problems of great present
intercst will, on account of their special importance, be
treated at considerable length in those divisions of the gcn-
eral subject to which they have a logical relation. Thus,
under the head of transfers or exchange, we shall discuss
8 ELEMENT"1RY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
the subjects of monopolies, money, and protective tariffs,
and under the head of distribution, many of the practical
problems concerning labor and wages.
finally, the financial relations and operations of govern-
ment, national, state, and local, are of a nature so important
to the welfare of the citizcn, and in some respects so peculiar,
that it is thought well to treat them separately in chapters
deyoted to the subject of public finance.
SUMMARY
1. For convenience of treatment, economics is usually divided into
several different fields of study.
2. The present book begins with an introduction explaining the nature
and scope of the science.
3. A sketch of economic history is given to prepare the student for
a better understanding of present conditions and problems.
4. Economic theory is presented under the four general headings: con-
sumption, production, transfers (or exchange), and distribu-
tion.
5. A short presentation of the subject of public finance is added to
give the student a more complete idea of the nature of economics.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. What subjects are discussed in the introductory chapters of this
book?
2. Why is it thought wise to include economic history?
3. What are the usual main divisions of economic theory? In what
order arc they given in this book?
4. What is the meaning of distribution as a division of economics?
5. Of what does public finance treat?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. What are the relations of consumption and production?
2. In what sense is exchange a part of production? In what sense
is distribution a part of exchange?
3. Name some of the chapter topics in this book which you think
might properly have been placed in other connections.
4. Do you think one can form an adequate judgment of any historical
period without knowledge of the economic conditions of that
period? Tell why and illustrate.
CHAPTER III
FUNDAMENTAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE EXISTING
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORDER
IN every civilized state to-day there are certain conditions
under which men carry on their economic activities, so fun-
damental in their nature that we do not often stop to con-
sider them. So deep-lying are they and so long established
that we easily fall into the error of thinking of them, in
their present form, as necessary to the very existence of so-
ciety under all conceivable circumstances. Yet careful con-
sideration will convince the student that this is far from the
case. Let us, then, consider in detail some of the more im-
portant of these fundamental institutions in the existing
order of economic society.
J. PROPERTY
By property we mean an exclusive right to control an eco-
nomic good.
By private property we mean the exclusit,c right of a primte
person to control an economic good.
By public property we mean the exclusive right of a politi-
cal unit (city, state, nation, etc.) to control an economic good.
A. Private Property
The right of private property is so fundamental in our
modern economic life and so essential to the maintenance of
civilization that we hardly think of it as resting on the will
9
10 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
or consent of maintained only by constant yigilance
on the part of society. Still less, perhaps, has it eyer ap-
peared to most of us as an institution that is flexible and un-
dergoing slow and gradual modification in response to the
needs of society. The reason for this attitude of mind is
that people are ruled in great measure by custom rather than
by the light of history and of reason.
There is a sense in whieh the property right may he called
natural, namely, that the right is a necessary outcome of
man's nature, and that it has been rather the result of a
natural evolution than of al1\' conscious social action. But,
as usually employed, the term natural right implies that the
right, just as it now exists, is "established by nature" and
hence is not to be called in question. The word right nec-
essarily implies society, and points to the origin of "rights"
not in any abstract nature, but in the grouping of men. All
true rights are or should be rational - rights which can
show good reason for their claims, and can justify their
existence on the ground that they promote human
welfare.
Yet it must be noted of any social institution that thc \Try
fact of its long-continued existence is strong presumpti\'e
evidence that it has ministered to social welfare. Therefore.
those who appeal to the law or to public opinion to o\'erthrow
or to abate the force of the institution have to bear the bur-
den either of showing that social conditions have so changed
as to destroy the beneficent operation of the institution, or
of offering wry strong eyidcnce that some other institution
would bettcr subserye the end.
Beginning of the Right of Private Property. - On looking
into the of priyatc property, we find in the first place
that. as a clt>;l\' amI distinct concept, it has not always ex-
i8t('(/ amollg 1IIt'1i. It is probable that the sense eYen of tribal
ownership or was a slowly developed product of
FUNDA.MENTAL INSTITUTIONS 11
ciyilization. The idea of private property was of still slower
and later growth. The savage at first owned nothing.
Doubtless, even in very early times, when the primitive man
had caught or killed an animal, he considered it more or less
his, though eyen in such cases it was the common property
of his family or tribe rather than the exclusive property of
the individual. From insignificant beginnings, especially
from the possession of personal articles of clothing and adorn-
ment, the right or feeling of ownership has grown, including
more and more things and dividing the ownership more and
more, until at last nearly eyerything is owned and nearly
everyone owns something. But land did not become pri-
vate property until a rather advanced stage of civilization
had been reached, and even to-day the last forms of tribal
ownership of land have not eyerywhere, even among civ-
ilized pcuples, given place completely to individual prop-

Strengthening of the Right. - In the second place, it is
only in comparatively recent times that private ownership
has been either so exclusive or so extensive as it is at present.
It is not many centuries since a Scottish clan held the right
to the it occupied so absolutely that no chieftain,
however powerful, could abridge the right. On the other
hand, however, a slow reactiun from the exclusive and ex-
tensive private property of the present has set in, and most
nations are now beginning to enforce and extend their public
claims and are deyeloping the social side of private property.
Limitations to the Right. - In the third place, we find
that even to-day private property has certain sharp limitations
which indicate whence it springs and from what source it
draws its being. Society, through the state, even now says
to the indiyidual citizen, "Thus far shalt thou go, and no
farther." Bv its action it shows that it is the grantor of
private rights, and that it may withdraw them whenever
12
"
ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
such a course will be to its ad\antage. Let us consider some
of these limitations.
1. Limitations to Private Property Imposed by Society in
Its Own Behalf. - (1) Taxation. - The first of these limita-
tions exists in the taxation of priYate From one
point of view this is simply the taking by organized society
for its own uses of a part of the value of what it has left to
the private ownership of its citizens. Taxation, as under-
stood to-day, is a comparatively recent activity of the state.
During the Middle Ages the right of the state to take private
property for its support was stoutly opposed, and there Wlis
a strong tendency to regard all taxation as extortion. To-
day the right of taxation is almost universally conceded.
Taxation is perhaps the most extreme limitation imposed
upon the right of private property by society in its own behalf.
(:?) Requisition and Erninent Domain. - A second limita-
tion exists in thc right of organized society to appropriate
to itself specific pieces of property with direct compensation
to the private owner. This right is exercised in
time of war, as when the nation for its military needs takes
cattle for the subsistence of its troops or wagons for their
transportation. Such an assumption of proprietorship is
known as requisition.
But in times of peace the government often takes land
or other property. This is the exercise of what is known as
the right of eminent domain, which means simply, in ordinary
language, ultimate ownership. However, in order that the
right of eminent domain may be exercised, it is necessary
(a) to show that a public purpose demands the exercise of
the right; i.e., that public welfare will be promoted the
aet; and (b) to make due compensation to the private owner;
i.e., to pay him what the property is fairly worth. The
courts are the ultimate judges of the existence of a public
purpose, and of the adequacy of the compensation.
FUNDAMENTAL INSTITUTIONS 13
(3) Fines, Forfeits, and Escheats. - Fines, imposed and
collected by government, form a third clear limitation upon
the absoluteness of private property. A fine is a money pay-
ment exacted by the state as a penalty for some offense against
the law. When, instead of money, other property of the ojjender
is taleen, the name forfeit is med. Escheat is the name applied
to property whieh reverts to the state through the death of the
former owner with01d a will and without heirs. The word is
also used to name the form of rewrsion in such cases.
2. Limitations Directly in Behalf of Individuals. -.The
three limitations just described are such as society sets up
directly in its own behalf. But there are still others, en-
forced by society not directly for itself but for individual
cltizens. (1) The first is the exercise of the right of eminent
domain in behalf of individuals or corporations. If a regularly
chartered railway company is unable to make terms directly
with the owner of land over which it proposes to lay its tracks,
it can secure possession by appealing to the government,
which compels transfer of the p r o p e r t ~ ' for compensation.
It should be noticed, however, that in all such cases it is pre-
sumed that a superior public purpose is to be served by the
company.
Moreover, there is a vast system of limitations upon the
use, or rather the abuse, of private prnpprty, which are
designed to prevent the individual from injuring himself or
others. 'Ve need not enter into an extended description of
these limitations. Generally speaking, (2) no man may use
private property to maintain a public nuisance. As the Latin
law phrase has it; Sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas; i.e.,
So use your property as not to injure another's. Nothing is
more fallacious than the idea that the right of ownership
allows a person to do as he pleases with his property. It is
true that rights of private property have sometimes been
so defined as to permit many abuses to go unpunished, but
14 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
it has been the tendency of society so to limit the rights as
to exclude abuses. Whenever any given right has proved
generally unfavorable to the welfare of society, society has
modified or abolished that right, or, failing to do so, has
endangered its own stability. However, we must frankly
recognize that, as law operates in accordance with general
principles, many abuses exist that cannot be remedied by law.
The problem is to prevent wrong use without impeding right
and desirable use. If the student thinks seriously ahout this,
he will discover many cases of a wrong use of property which
at the same time cannot bc corrected by any general rule.
For if the attempt i:; made to form a general rule to prevent
the particular abuses, it will be seen that the same rule
would in many cases prevent a right use. It is within the
spirit of the law to go as far as possible by general rule;
and as time goes on we learn how to prevent an increasing
number of wrong uses of property.
But after we have done our utmost, there will still remain
a large field of ,,,,rong uses which can be corrected only by
individual action or by associated efforts of a private sort.
This is a necessary outcome of a free societv which leaves
. .
a large sphere of action for the individual within which he
may do right or wrong. If we could make it impossible for
an individual to do what is wrong, we would at the same
time sharply limit his power to do right things that are worth
while. We would have a society in which life itself would
not he worth while. It is one o{ the functions of religion to
give men an effective desire to do right things within the
sphere of free action. Likewise, much of the teaching of our
public schools, of our civic associations, and of numerous
other social and educational groups, seeks to develop an in-
dividual and a social approval for voluntary right doing, and
a disapproval of wrong doing.
FUNDAMENTAL INSTITUTIONS
15
B. Public Property
P1lblic property, as defined at the beginning of this chap-
ter, refers to an exclusive control by some political authority.
It is a very different thing from free goods, because the laws
of property, as for instance those regarding theft, apply quite
as stringently to public as to private property, sometimes
even more so. The sharpness of the law of public property
in the post office is well known.
It is one of the defects of current discussions of property
that the concept of public property has been treated in-
adequately by economists and publicists generally, with
the result that false and one-sided conclusions have been
drawn. Distribution depends on public as well as on pri-
vate property, and the interrelations of these two are vital
in any givcn distribution of wcalth.
Besides the standpoint of distribution of wealth, there
is, in viewing any particular classification of property, the
question of productive efficiency. Which form of ownership,
pri\'ate or public, would result in maximum productiveness?
Again, which form gives the greater degree of social stability,!
Recent changes in the legal status of property in Russia have
been followed not only by extreme social instability, but by
the diminishing of production to a degree that is not only a
national but a world tragedy. These are some of the con-
siderations determining whether certain kinds of property
should be privately or publicly owned.
But it must be borne in mind that, strictly speaking, prop-
erty refers to rights only. Property is an exclusive right.
Speaking accurately, then, property is not a thing, but the
rights which e)..'iend over a thing. A less strict use of the
word property makes property include the things over which
the right extends. 'vVe say of a farm, "This is my property,"
meaning the land and improvements on it and not merely
16 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
the rights in them. But, strictly speaking, property is the
right, and not the object onr which the right extends.
II. Gl:ARA.L\'TEED PRIVILEGES
Closely connected with the general subject of property
is the l;gal arrangement whereby exclusive privileges are
awarded in return for services to society. Such privileges
r e a l l ~ ' become a special form of private property. They have
special significance in determining the distribution of wealth.
But they also are not without importance in the production
of wealtk on account of the stimulus which the hope of such
privileges may give to invention and improvement.
Chief among guaranteed privileges are patents and C(!py-
rights. Society, in all modern nations, grants patents to
inventors of mechanical devices and copyrights to authors
of literary or other artistic productions. Copyright is ex-
tended not only to books, pamphlets, and the like, but also
to marks or names designed to distinguish certain products
in the market. Such copyrighted trademarks have been of
grea t economic importance in recent years.
Most modern states proceed on the assumption that the
public interest will be furthercd by granting these exclusive
privileges, and it is generall,l' agreed that the policy has been
justified by its results. Yet experience has shown that
neither patents nor copyrights should be given without
limitations. Patents should not be given on light and trivial
grounds, nor for unlimited or O\'erlong periods. "lVIoreover,
owners of patents should be made by law either to use them or
to allow them to lapse, and to grant to others the right to use
them on payment of a reasonable royalty. Similarly, copy-
rights are carefully guarded in the interests of the public.
The law in a general way aims to give the reward of services
to the author, and to avoid allowing a reward for servICes
which others han performer!'
FUNDAMENTAL INSTITUTIONS 17
III. CONTRACT
Another fundamental institution in our present industrial
society is contract. Contract, while logically a s e p a r a t ~
right from that of property, naturally flows from it, and is
usually regarded as in reality an incident of property or one
of the bundle of rights of which property in general consists.
Thus property, in the absence of limitation, is assumed to
include the right to contract for the use or sale of the thing
owned. Some sort of contract lies at the basis of all asso-
ciated action.
That this condition of associated activity should be main-
tained by the state can hardly be doubted, yet even the
right to contract has its limitations resting upon human
well-being. To-day legislation provides (1) who may and
who may not contract, (2) for what purposes valid contracts
may be made, and (3) under what forms and conditions
they must be made in order to be valid. Experience jus-
tifies this regulation. Children, for example. cannot as
a rule make contracts that will bind themselvcs, because they
are not presumed by the law to have the requisite knowledge
and judgment. Again, agreements which are clearly op-
posed to public policy, such as an agrcement entered into
for the commission of a crime, are invalid and would not be
enforced by the courts.
IV. THE RIGHT TO ESTABLISH PRIVATE ENTERPRISES
The right to establish private enterprises is a fourth fun-
damental right. Nevertheless, it is changing and changeable.
Only within the last century has it come to have its present
wide scope, especially in the case of corporations. Many
restrictions indeed exist, and even prohibition as in the case
of the liquor traffic. In the field of the so-called public
18 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
utilities, - railways, lighting works, etc., - restrictions have
so increased recently that it is generally necessary to secure
special authorization to establish a new enterprise.
V. LIBERTY
Personal liberty or freedom, including (1) the right to move
from place to place at pleasure, and (2) the right of acquisition,
- that is, the right to acquire property, - is an institution
which we are perhaps most likely to regard as and
natural under all circumstances. Yet here again we have
the case of a right which has been very slowly acquired by
society. Moreover, it never has been, is not to-da.", ane!
probably never can be, an unlimited right. It is the en-
deavor of society to equalize human liberty, not to make
such liberty absolute, for that would be impossible. The
question, then, is not whether we shall limit liberty, but how
we can so limit it that we may secure a maximum of liberty
for all.
The Basis of Human Rights. - What, then, is the basis
of human rights? The preceding discussion should han
made it clear that rights do not come from nature in the
sense that they thus gain a standing and authority independ-
ent of the will or consent of .societv. K either are such
rights absolute or inherent, though these words han often
been mistakenly used in describing them. Private property,
contract, personal liberty, and all the other economic
institutions must justify themselves by promoting the wel-
fare of mankind. As the Latin phrase has it, pu-
blica suprema lex," The basis of human rights is social wcl-
fare - the promotion of the well-being of men in society
through the recognition of the right.
For the maintenance of these fundamental conditions of the
existing social order which we have described, we are de-
pendent upon the political organization of society, which
FUNDAMENTAL I,YSTITUTfONS
19
we know as the state. K 0 other instrument of society' is
adequate to the task. The maintenance of these founda-
tions, if they are to be maintained at all, can be accomplished
in no other way. \Yhen the state attempts this and little
more, its policy is said to be passive. The French phrase,
"I' f'" . "I I " "h d Lr'"
alssez- alre, meanlllg et a one or an s Oll, IS
most frequently uSi:'d to characterize this purely passive
policy. When the state goes far beyond this in endeavors
to promote the general welfare, its policy is said to be
active.
Conclusion. - \Ve must remember, however, that the
most fundamental institutions are not unchangeable, but
that we can discover their beginnings ill histor.!" and can
t.race their development through manifold and unccasing
changes to their present form. Let us remember, too, that
as change has marked the past, so it must mark the future;
and that the institutions which we han described, funda-
mental as they arc, derive their rational justification from
their power to promote human well-being.
Bearing these facts in miud, we may free ourselves from
two errors, each an extreme one, from which many false
dews of our future take their rise. On the one hand, we
may hope to cscape the pessimism that springs from looking
at the existing order of things as unalterably determined;
and, on the other hand, we may escape that unreasoning and
unreasonable optimism which belittles the importance of
our fundamental rights and institutions, and inconsiderately
hopes to change them, in the twinkling of an eye, by the
simple expedient of a royal edict or a majority vote of a
sovereign people.
In the next" Book," which deals briefly with economic
history, the student will observe how our fundamental rights
and institutions develop along with the evolution of society
and are part and parcel of that evolution.
30 ELEMENT,lRY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
SUMMARY
1. There are certain ideas and institutions in our social order which
are so fundamental that we come to regard them as "natural"
and necessary.
2. Among these fundamentals are property - public and private
guaranteed privileges, contract, the right to establish busI-
ness enterprises, and personal freedOlll.
3. Far from being absolute or natural and necessary to every state
of society, these rights have always been limited, have always
been changing, and have their origin and justification in social
wclfare.
4. History warns us neither to overestimate nor to underestimate
the imporbncc of these institutions. They may be changed,
but they cannot be changed easily or quickly.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. What is private property? Why is it often held to be a right
that is not. open to question or discussion?
2. What is the basis of human rights? Are any of them exempt
from examination?
3. What is the historical origin of private
4. What limitations does the state set to private property.? Is the
present tendency toward an increase or a decrease of these
limitations?
5. Ought private property to be retained? If so, why and how far?
6. What is a trade-mark; a copyright; a patent? Discuss
their purpose and results.
7. What limitations are properly set to the right of personal free-
dam? Of what does the right to personal freedom consist?
8. From what two extreme errors ought a true idea of fundamental
institutions to guard us?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Has a. murderer a "right to live"? If so, is it a "natural right!>?
2. On what basis wouJ.i you argue against slavery in the Cnitecl
St.ates to-day?
3. A corporation exists only by virtue of a charter granted by society.
Has a corporation a natural right to hold property; to make
contracts?
FUNDAMENTAL
21
4. Dors t.he line between public property and private property change
according to any general principle or law?
5. Discuss the bearing of the Federal prohibition amendment on
the limitations set by the state on private property.
6. Give some illustrations to show that private property is impor-
tant to (1) thrift; (2) inventiveness; (3) capitalistic production;
(4) home and children.
7. Look up several definitions of "socicty." "-hich onc do you think
is best? Why?
LITERATURE
Ely, R. T.: Property and Contracl, especially Bk. I, Pt. I, Chs. I-III.
Hamilton, W. H.: C"rrenl Economic Problems, Revised edition, 320,
326, 328, 338, 341, 342.
l\larshall, L. C.: Rcudin9s in Industrial Society, Ch. XIV, A, C.
Mill, John Stuart: Principles of Political Economy, Bk. II, Ch. I, 2,
and Ch. II, 1, 5,6, and 7.
Report of the United Stat.es Commissioner of Patents for 18S8. (See
also others of the Pat.ent Commissioners' Annual Reports.)
Ritchie. D. J.: Nattoral Rights.
Ross, E. A.: Principles of Sociology, Ch. IX.
BOOK II
A BRIEF SKETCH OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
CHAPTER IV
INTRODUCTORY
What Economic History Is. - In beginning the study of
economic it will be well for us to recall what has beell
said in a preceding chapter as to the nature of the subject
which is before us. The history of literature, the history of
government, the history of religion, and other histories
which the student can readily call to mind, have one thing
in common: they are all of them histories of man. Each
of them treats of man in one particular phase of his activities.
It is the same '.':itll economic history. Its subject is man,
but it deals primarily, not with his government or his wor-
ship, but with his efforts to get a living. Many who have
held a narrow view of our subject have objected sneeringly
that it is but a "bread and butter" science. Even if this
were a just view of the subject, economics would still be
worthy of our most careful study. But, as a matter of fact,
it means much more than bread and butter. It is plain on a
moment's reflection that every kind of activity, however
sublime, depends to some extent upon material things. And
so this subject of ours - man in his effort to acquire and to
usc material thine-s, to satisfv his wants to "et a livinG"-
'-' " 'b l:t
is of interest to everybody, awl is closely connected with
every kind of human effort.
22
INTRODUCTORY 23
General Survey. - At the beginning of our review of
the historv of man's economic efforts we are struck bv the
. .
fact that all the manifold ways of getting things may after
all be reduced to two: man must either find or make. Of
course the two ways often combine in varying proportions,
and in our own experience the two are constantly shading
into each other; but for purposes of present clearness we
well make the distinction. Now, uncivilized man
finds the things he uses; civilized man adds to finding the
art of making. Indeed, civilization, on its material side,
consists largely in wanting many things and in learning how
to make and to use them.
The economic activity of man before the dawn of recorded
history is enshrouded in so much of that we can do
little more than conjecture regarding it. lYe have evidence
to show that prehistoric man obtained his material goods,
as the beasts do, simply by taking possession of natural
products, exercising little or no control over nature, and
that he protected himself from the elements only by using
cans or by the simplest of contri,"anees.
Historical Stages. -" The period of civilization just men-
tioned is something so remote, something about which our
knowledge is so uncertain and fragmentary, that we are
scarcely able to treat it as a separate stage in economic evolu-
tion at all. We may, therefore, pass directly to a study of
the regular stages, as they have commonly been described
and distinguished, beginning with the time when men had
learned to lcindle fires, to eat meat, and to lit-ein some kind of
political communities, however imperfect. Starting thus, we
conveniently divide the course of man's economic de
yelopment - regarding it from the point of view of his means
of procuring goods - into five stages, as follows: -
(1) The hunting and fishing stage,
(2) The pastoral or nomadic stage,
24 ELEjVIENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
(1) The agricultural stage,
(J) The handicraft or trades and commerce stage,
(S) The industrial stage.
From the point of vicw of the changing size of the domi-
nating' economic unit, man's history falls into these four
stages: -
(1) The stage of independent economy,
The stage of town or local economy,
(3) The stage of national economy,
(4) The stage of international or even world economy.
Again, looking at the same development from the point
of view of man's ways of exchanging goods, we may sImI-
larly distinguish the four following stages: -
(1) The stage of mutual giving of gifts,
(2) The stage of " truck" or barter economy,
0) The stage of money economy,
(4) The stage of credit economy.
Still again, if we view economic evolution from the point
of view of labor, we have the six following stages: -
(1) Slaughter of enemies taken in
(2) Slavery,
(3) Serfdom,
(4) " Free" labor, governed largely by custom in the mak-
ing of contracts,
(5) " Free" labor, with individual contract,
(6) "Free" labor, with collective bargaining and group
contract regulatcd increasingly by statute.
These classifications may now be brought together in a
single table, in which the historical relation of the various
classifications is roughly indicated by the position of the
stages in the parallel columns.
INTRODUCTORY 25
E C O N O ~ I I C STAGES
From the Point of From the Point' of
From the From the Point of
View of Produc- View of the De-- Point of View of Labor.
tion. velopment of the View of
Economic Unit. Exchange.
1. Hunting and l. Independent l. Mutual
f1.
Slaughter of
fiohing economy gifts enemIes in
l
war
2. Burter or r
"truck"
I
2. Pastoral or
1
2
.
Slavery
nomadic
l
3. Agricultural
r 3.
2. Town or Money
f3.
Serfdom
local economy
1
,
l
4. Handicraft
r 4.
"Free" labor,
or trades and
1
customary
commerce l contract
3. :'< ational
r-
" Free" labor,
economy individual
contract
5. Industrial 4. Credit
r
4. International or
r
"Free" labor,
world economy group con-
tract
It must not be understood that these stages in any of the
classifications are distinctly or sharply separated, or that we
can fix definite dates at which men consciously abandoned
one way of obtaining goods, or of exchanging them, and
passed to another method. The transition from one stage
to another is slow and almost imperceptible. Those students
of this book who ha,"c studied botany or zoology will under-
stand the illustration when we say that the stages shade into
one another as do the varieties of closely related genera in
the case of living organisms. Moreover, it must not be un-
derstood that all of the features of an earlier stage pass away
when men entcr into the newer way. In many cases the
features of the old survive and even have an increased
26 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
importance in the later stage. Thus trades and commercc
are to-day pursued on a far larger scale than they were in
the handicraft stage; but since then new and important
features of economic life have developed to give a new char-
actcr to the age, and we seek to indicate this change by some
distinctive title.
To-day, in thc t: nited States, we can find illustrations of
nearly all the stages of evolution that have been mentioned.
Barter, or truck, is still the commonest mode of exchange
in some parts of the country, and, indeed, there are com-
]J<1ratively few places in which credit transactions have in
the main taken the place of money transactions. It is in-
teresting to observe that, owing to the progressive westward
movement of thc population of the country, the stages in
the history of man's productiyc efforts appear in regular
o ~ d e r from west to east. Thus certain parts of the western
country are still largely occupied by hunters and trappers;
next are great stretches of country almost entirely devoted
to grazing; farther east, agriculture predominates; trades
and commerce are active especially in the country east of
the lVlississippi and in the extreme west; manufacture on a
large scale is found especially in the Korth Atlantic and
Korth Central groups of states; while, finally, the great
industrial combinations that mark the latest step in de-
yelopment arc largely confined, at least as far as their legal
residence is concerned, to the Atlantic seaboard. It is per-
haps excess of caution to remind the reader that the Amer-
ican trapper, cattleman, farmer, and handicraftsman all
find their life greatly modified by their easy and cheap in-
tercourse with one another and by their access to the results
of man's latest industrial achievements in other parts of the
world. But on the other hand it is interesting to note that
certain features of their life are reminiscent of the earlier
unmodified stages.
INTRODUCTORY 27
Our study of the history of man's economic development
may conveniently take the form of a study of the various
stages which have been mentioned, and more especially of
the stages in the history of man's productive efforts.
SUMMARY
1. Economic history is the history of man in his efforts to get a living;
that is, to get the things needed for all his activities of body and
mind.
2. Uncivilized man finds things; civilized man makes them.
3. The history of man from the point of view of his productive efforts
may be divided into five stages: the hunting and fishing stage,
the pastoral or nomadic, the agricultural, the handicraft or
trades and commerce, and the industrial.
4. Other subsidiary classifications are based upon the history of the
development of the size of the economic unit, the history of
exchange, and the history of labor.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. What is included in the term "living"? Mention some economic
elements in religious work; in education; in politics.
2. What two fundamental ways are there of gdting things? In
which way can society gct more?
3. What do we know of the economic life of prehistoric man?
4. What are the five stages of economic progress from the point of
view of production; th" four stages from the point of view of
exchange; the six stages from the point of view of labor;
the four stages from the point of view of the size of the eco-
nomic unit?
5. What can you say of the distinctness of separation of these stages?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. What do you think is the significance of the history of man's modes
of getting a living as compared with the history of his forms of
government?
2. Which do you think has had the greater influence upon the other?
3. Can you imagine an economic setting in which the American peo-
ple could not have been brought to believe that human slavery
was wrong?
28 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
4. Did economic forces play any part in dceiding the fundamental
issue in the Civil War; in the World War?
5. What is the meaning of the phrase" the economic interpretation
of history"?
6. During the World War, ships and railways were in large measure
\rithdrawn from ordinary commercial use. What was the efTect
on trade and industry?
LITERATURE
Bucher, Carl: Indusirial Evolution (translated from the German),
especially Chs. I and II.
Ely, R. T.: Studies in the Evolution of Industrial Society, Pt. I, Ch. III.
Lubbock, Sir John: Prehistoric Times, especially the last chapter;
also Origin of Civilization and Primitive Condition of .11 an.
Morgan, L. H.: Ancient Society, Pt. I, Chs. II and III.
Schmollcr, Gustav: The llfercantile System, in Ashley's Economic
Classics, pp. 1-5.
Seligman, E. R. A.: Economic Interpretation of Hi.,tory.
Semple, E. C.: Influence of a<!ographic Environment. Cll. I.
Stanley, H. M.: In Darkest Africa, Vol. I, Ch. VIII; Yo!. II, Chs.
XXIII and L"C..XIII.
CHAPTER V
EARLY STAGES OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
I. THE I I l J l \ ~ I N G AND FISHING STAGE
General Characterization. - In the first stage of man's
economic dewlopment. nature is the great factor in produc-
tion. There is little labor and less capital. lHan contents
himself with what nature gives him, his labor taking the form
of appropriating these gifts. He has not progrcssed far in
subjecting animals to his will; still less does he attempt to
improve useful animals by breeding. Transforming natural
products by his handicraft is but an insignificant part of his
activity. He does not even store up goods in time of abun-
dance against a future time of dearth. The American
Indian, where he has not been elevated by contact with a
higher civilization, is a good illustration of this stage of
economic progress.
Economic actiyity in this stage is in a high degree isolated.
Hence the hunting and fishing stage, together with the two
succeeding stagcs, is said to belong to the period of independ-
ent economy. In other words, the work of getting goods is
not carried on, as with us, by great groups of men, in many
countries, but is done mainly in the single family, each family
producing all or nearly all of the things which its members
consume. For this reason, too, there is little exchange or
transfer of goods, though there is no unwillingness to make
exchanges if opportunity offers to secure by exchange some-
thing new and attractive.
29
30 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
There being little exchange of products or division of
labor, it follows that there are no economic classes and no
industrial conflicts. The greater part of property, including
the land, is the common possession of the social group, pri-
vate property being confined to weapons of war and the
cnase, household goods, and the immediate rewards of
labor.
Hunting Tribes. - Although we have grouped the hunting
and fishing tribes together as heing ujJon the same plane
of economic evolution, we can find certain clear differences
between those who live primarily on the products of the
chase and those who get their living mainly by fishing.
Among hunting tribes we find the work and lifc lcading to
a high development of such qualities as cunning, endurance,
and bodily strpngth, but not to a develojJment of technical
skill nwrlo rpflection upon the processes of nature.
Their eondition of life prevents the possibility of any but a
sparse population. It has been estimated that in this stage
each hunter requires for his support more than thousand
acres, or square miles, an area which in the
state of Hhode Island at prcscnt supports on an average more
than thirty-fi\'e thousand people. About 18,800 people
live on every square mile of area in Greater K ew York, and
more than 14,000 in Chicago; while the great world city of
London has a population almost three million times as dense
as can be maintained in the hunting stage.
It follows from this need of large territories that war is a
natural consequence \yhenever there is not an abundance
of unoccupied land. Some han even called it an economic
necessity under such conditions. This same condition of
things gives us one of the causes of cannibalism. Since the
pressure of increasing numbE'rs brings the people continually
to the verge of stan'ation, they fall little bv little into the
cu,tom of eating enemies take; in war. '
EARLY STAGES OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 31
Fishing Tribes. - As might be expected primitive tribes
of fishing people are marc peaceable than are the hunting
tribes. Their population is denser, both because of their
more peaceable disposition and because of the fact that a
smaller area is sufficient for the support of a given number
of people engaged as they are. Having less need of frequent
migrations to seek new food resources, they naturally form
larger accumulations of capital. They build dwellings of a
more permanent character, and construct boats and fishing
implements. On the whole, we say that the power of
1I1al) orer Ilature is greater among fishing Ihan among hunting
Iribe... Primitive fishing tribes can now be found only III
the frigid zone.
II. THE PASTORAL STAGE
General Characterization. - Between man,
who uses what he finds, and civilized man, who makes what
he wants, there is a middle ground. The man of this middle
period neither depends alone on what he can find, nor to any
great extcnt makes things, as we commonly conceive the
process, but rather he raises things. He has learned to a
limited extent to give direction to the forces of nature. He
has learned to procluce, but he still lives on the raw
materials he has coaxed from nature, not kno\ving how to
make them up. He is learning to labor ancl to san.
To be sure, he very early learns the art of making a few
simple tools like bows and arrows and primitive stone im-
plements; but with these few exceptions, it is worthy of note
that as man learns to subdue nature he I)t'gins not with dead
nature, - not with inanimate things, - but with living or
animate nature; he uses not metals, but animals and plants,
and learns to increase their amount bvartifice. IVIorcover,
of these two classes of living things, he first subdues the
higher form of life, - that which more nearly resembles his
32 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
own, - and, as a general rule, not until long afterward does
he learn to exercise anv considerable control over plant life
for his uses.
Changes That Mark the Stage. - When hunting tribes
cease to depend for food solely upon the killing or capture
of animals, and acquire the art of taming and breeding them,
such tribes are entering upon the second great era of economic
progress, which we have called the pastoral stage. Even in
the hunting stage there lay the beginnings of such progress,
in the taming of dogs and horses for hunting; but when ex-
tensive pasturing of animab for food and clothing takes place,
the pastoral stage has well begun. Marked features of the
earlier stage still continue, however. Thus, while man now
lives chiefly upon his flocks, he still leaves the flocks to live
upon what they can find. So, while man no longer needs to
wander in search of his own food, he must nevertheless do so
for the food of his flocks. Cities are therefore still i m p o ~
sible.
Though the land will now support many more inhabitants
than before, much land is still needed for the necessary pas-
ture, and tribes and families roaming broadly in search of
desirable situations frequently come into sharp colli"ion.
According to the calculations of the celebrated geographer,
Professor Ratzel, nomadic populations require, on an average,
about a square mile for every two to five persons. Therefore,
wars continue, keeping down population; and the victims of
war for a long time continue generally to be slaughtered, the
women and children being more frequently spared than the
men. But there is one important change; men who have
flocks to furnish them food cease to eat human flesh. Cap-
tives, in the course of time, come to be recognized as of use
in serving their captors, and thus slanrv succeeds canni-
balism and slaughter. Slavery could not have become ex-
tensive in the earlier stage, because slaves without weapons
EARLY STAGES OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 33
would ha\'e been of little use when women did most of the
drudgery, and, on the other hand, slaves with weapons would
have been a constant menace to their masters.
Migrations. - IVanderings of ,,,hole peoples were very
common, due in some cases to the exhaustion of old feeding-
grounds, and in other cases to the natural increase in num-
bers when a tribe had been long established in one place. It
was such overpopulation that brought about the warlike
incursions of barbarian hosts into Europe from the heart of
Asia, and the migrations of the nations in the early cen-
turies of the Christian era.
Little Land Ownership. - It follows from what we haY('
already said that there was little ownership of land in the
sense in which we now regard ownership. Tribes as a whole
would lay claim to certain districts for a time, and would
try to keep other tribes from pasturing there. But indi-
viduals of the tribe would own no land, or at most very little.
The notion of land ownership de\'e!ops only when the land
itself becomes more useful, and when the fruits of its fer-
tility can be more directly appropriated than could happen
when it was used f o ~ pasturing.
Private Property. - Yet private property in things other
than land had now become not uncommon. Even consider-
able accumulations of wealth took place, consisting of flocks,
gold, sih'er, finely woven fabrics, and precious stones,-
in short, sueh things as very early appeal to the barbarian
taste for showy ornament and can be transported from place
to place with relative ease. We abo find, even at this dis-
tant time, great differences in the wealth of individuals,
the rich and the poor being sharply contrasted.
Little Commerce. - In spite of the growth of wealth
among men, there was little exchange or commerce. The
reason for this is not far to seek. In order to have com-
merce, not only must there be wealth, but the wealth must
34 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
be diversified. There is little to be gained by exchanging
ox for ox. Of course, in the other classes of goods to which
we have referred there was some little traffic, but trade in
the modern sense of the word can hardly be said to have
exi,ted. The economy of each large family or household
was in the main sufficient unto itself.
The Origin of Exchange. - Such trade as did obtain was
carried on bv barter, or b\' the still earlier form of exchang-ing
<
gifts. It is an interesting fact that barter, the earliest form
of regular exchange, grew originally out of the practice of
making presents. Among many primitive peoples to-day,
barter is not recognized as an institution, hut when one per-
son presents a gift to another, he waits expectantly for a
gift in return, and when he receives it, scans it c l o s e l ~ ' to
make sure that he has got an equivalent for his generosity.
III. THE AGRICCLTCRAL STAGE
General Characterization. - :'.Ian's next accomplishment,
which carries him a distinct stage farther in his development,
is of immense importance. Already knowing how to manage
animals to advantage, he now learns to "manage" plnnt:;,
and to raise them at will. Agriculture, as a ml:'ans of sup-
port, is thus added to the keeping of flocks and to the chase.
A greater variety of food is in this way made possible for
man, who now ceases his wandering life. A much denser
population is the result. Professor Ratzel's calculations
indicate that the early agricultural populations were about six
times as dense as the pastoral populations. With a denser
population remaining permanently in fixed abodes, new
relatioi1s spring up among men, new duties, new arts, and
new possibilities of ci\"ilization. It is in these conditions
that th' political whole which we know as a nation has its
begillni,)c;.
EA.RLY STAGES OF INDUSTRIA.L DEVELOPJIEST 35
Land Ownership. - With growing density of population
and increasing pcrmanency of settlement goes a third result,
- the private ownership of land. Successful cultivation of
the soil requires detailed personal care and attention, and some
of division of the land was hencc seen to be necessary.
The Origin of a Laboring Glass. - Perhaps the most im-
portant result of the change which produced the agricultural
stage was the growth of as an institution. As we
have said, slavery had its beginnings in the pastoral period,
but it is only in the agricultural stage that it becomes an im-
portant, almost a fundamental, economic institution. Tend-
ing the herds did not call for persistent labor, but the pro-
cess of tilling the soil is work undisguised; and primiti \"e men
were not fond of work, nor had they been trained long
usage to submit to such an unpleasant habit. It is not
strange, then, that they should have spared the livcs of
men conquered in battle with the design of putting upon
them the task of tilling the soil.
This seems to us perhaps a poor reason for being humane,
but where humanity is the result, a poor reason is better
than none. Free labor has become possible only because for
century after century certain men labored not from choice
but from necessity. As they became free, labor became free,
and the habit of labor has become fixed in the race.
Commerce. - With every increase of wealth the tendency
to trade also increases, but as yet the occasion for trade was
slight, since men's wants and wealth were still everywhere
much the same. Such trade as existed ministered chiefly
to the love of luxury, and this long continucd to be the case.
It was probably in part from this cause that the aneifJ1t
philosophers and the early fathers of the Christian ChllTch
displayed great hostility to commerce.
Laws and Customs Reflecting Ideas. - There remain to
be noted the change and enlargement in men's ideas. as re-
36 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
fleeted in their laws and customs. The Mosaic code, framed
to govern a people in the pastoral and agricultural stages,
furnishes perhaps the best source of information on these
new ideas. Even before this time thl'fe had been numerous
customs regulating life, but in the Mosaic code we are struck
by the great increase of dutie:o and restrictions which wcre
then recognized.
With fixed residence had arisen the state, with its justice,
its guidance, and its protection, - its many thou shalts and
thou shalt nots; all this came about IX'cause men had now
come to be permanent neighbor:i, and therefore had the
utmost need of a definite understand ing to keep them from
trespassing voluntarily and inrollllliarily on one another's
liberty. If men are to live close together and accumulate
property and enjoy it in peace, tlH're must always be general
agreement among the mallY, amI vigorous compulsion for
the few.
"Neighbor" and" Stranger." - It is worthy of notice,
however, that for a long time duties and laws were chiefly
recognized as being applicable only at home. Beyond th('
boundaries of the tribe or nation th('y were searcdy held to be
binding at all. Thus, for instance, in the early Germanic
communities, when the scattered tribes were still small and
separated by unoccupied land, the members of each tribe
lived in relations of brotherhood, holding property in com-
mon and closely guarding all mutual rights. But when
different tribes came together to trade on the neutral ground
separating their settlements, all kinds of sharp practice were
deemed admissible. Things not to be thought of at home
here passed unquestioned.
Duration of the AgTicultural Stage. - The agricultural
stage lasted for centuries among many peoples. In the
development of the civilization of Western Europe, it did
not evolve into a higher form until the great movement
EARLY STA.GES OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPJlEeVT 37
toward the building of cities began. Of course it has not
been wholly displaced by subsequent stages of economic life,
but only modified - unceasingly modified - with the lapse
of time. The marks of the earlier stage are clearly dis-
cernible even in our industrial life in America.
IV. THE HANDICRAFT STAGE
General Characterization. - We have said on an earlier
page that real material civilization begins with making
things; it is with the stages in which men make things that
we have now to deal. Speaking very generally, we may say
that men make things in either of two ways: by the hands
directly, sometimes assisted by simple tools; or by the hands
indirectly, through the mediation of machinery, generally
propelled by other than man's power. As was natural, man
in his progress came first to make things with his hands
directly, learning later to quicken and improve his work by
the use of machinery and the employment of power pro-
duced by animals, or running water, or wind, or steam, or
electricity, or gas explosion. The very word "manufac-
ture," which we use to represent the idea of making things,
meant, until the nineteenth century, malting things by hand,
as the Latin words from which it is formed indicate. As the
word has since had an extension of meaning, we may say
that there are two kinds of manufacture: (1) hand manu-
facture, and (2) power manufacture. Hand manufacture
is the foundation of the handicraft stage.
It goes without saying that labor and capital - the fruit
of past labor used for increasing the product of the labor of
the day - now become more important than ever before.
Man by his skill transforms raw materials: he learns to
weave fabrics and to fashion things in wood and metal; to
use inanimate, as well as animate, nature. The chief re-
38 ELn,IENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
sults of this will be more clearly seen as we discuss them
under separate headings.
1. Trades. - Skill in doing comes from repeated doing.
"The Jack of all trades is master of none." With the com-
ing of handicrafts, therefore, self-interest leads men to spe-
cialize so far as the needs and circumstances of the time will
permit them to act thus with profit. Hence, in the handi-
eraft stage, we find division of occupations, whereby some
men become blacksmiths, some shoemakers, some weavers,
etc. Many surnames, such as Smith, Baker, Joyner, Taylor,
point back to a time when sueh specialization was more
noticed than at present.
2. Commerce. - We have more than once mentioned the
fad that there can be little commerce so long as men are
generally engaged in the same kind of business. But when
communities become larger; when their wants grow more
various and their goods consequently increase in quantity
and diversity; when, finally, it becomes possible for men
to speeiali7.e in their occupations, commerce becomes wide-
spread and important. When eaeh man has his trade and
makes articles of only one kind, he will neither want all the
things that he makes, nor make all the things that he wants.
He must make exehanges. And so, whenever manufacture
develops, we find trade growing up as a necessity. \\'e can-
not say that manufacture results in commerce, nor that
commerce results in manufacture. \Ve must rather look
upon the two as mutually causing each other, their joint
cause lying in the growing culture and wants of mankind.
This stage, on account of the appearance of commerce, is
frequently designated as the trades and commerce stage.
But it may also be designated more simply as the handi-
craft stage, inasmuch as it is dominated bv handicrafts
. ,
commerce having ill this stage far less significance than in
modern times.
E.-lRLY STA.GES OF INDUSTRIAL DEYELOPJIENT 39
\Yith the growth of commerce, some men find it profitable
to spend all their time in exchanging the goods that other
men make, earning their compensation by saving- the makers
the greater time and trouble which direct exchanges would
nccessarih' iIl\olve. ::\Ioreover, the citizens of different COUIl-
tries also find an advantage in exchanging their respective
products, and here again men of special training are needed
to carryon the work of exchange. Such commerce as grows
up during this stage between different countries or com-
munities is much handicapped by the inadequate means of
communication; but whrre goods can be carried by water,
commerce, even in bulky commodities, takes on c()llsiderable
proportions.
:l, Jlolley. - Of course, for such a general system of ex-
change, bartcr was entire!y inadequate, Among primitive
peoples barter is the only mode of effeeting exchanges, and
tra H'lt'rs among savage tribes tell amusing stories of the
difficulties experienced in securing goods by such a system.
\V e cannot hrre enter into a full discussion of the limitations
of barter, hut we may speak of one of the chief requisites
for any exchange by barter, - the need of what one writer
has called reciprocity of desire. By this expression it is
meant that before an exchange can take place hy barter,
the man who has a superfluity of one good and \\'ants an-
other must find a second person whose superfluity and want
are reciprocal to his own. The rarity of such coincidence
is itself sufficient to prevent barter from serving as an effi-
cient method of exchange. In the course of time, as men
bartered with one another, it was found that certain things
were more generally acceptable than others, and that some
one thing or some few things were most generally acceptable.
These generally acceptable goods have varied in different
stages of economic development and in different places,
Among primitive peoples, articles of adornment have usually
40 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
held such a place. As people grew to learn that such articles
"'ere generally acceptable, they would themselves in turn
receive them more and more readily in their exchanges, and
the frequency of use would in turn increase the recognized
utility of possessing them. Without going further with
our explanation, we may say that, spontuneol/sly and in
large part by vncoMe-iov,'] processes, there hUll aZway!! gr01.l'n vp
among every people some one generally accepted and recognized
medillm of exchange or some few things that !wlle been so rec-
ognized. As this mediuJn grew in acceptability and rng-
nizability, it took on more and more the character of u'hat
we know as m.oney. I t was during the handicraft or trades
and commerce stage that gold and silver, already much
used for this purpose, came to have that universal recog-
nition for their desirability in exchanges that made them
money.
4. Cities. - Among those employed in agricultural pur-
suits, there is a tendency to form village communities, but
in the agricultural stage such communities cannot become
populous, because agriculture requires a scattered popula-
tion. l\Ianufacture, on the other hand, has an opposite
tendency. If men are to live by their trades and by ex-
changing with one another, it is important that they be near
one another. Thus cities, situated conveniently for com-
merce on the coast or on great rivers, develop whenever men
learn to manufacture.
5. The Gild System.. - Kew forces coming into society do
not take care of themselves. So the trades had to organize
in order to reduce their business to some kind of order. Each
trade had its gild, which specified in detail how the business
should be carried on, how many should be admitted to it,
ancl hmy the trade should be learned. ,,'here, as was usual,
the gilds controlled the government of the cities, these rules
were also sanctioned by law.
EA.RLY ST .. 1GES OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 41
G. Polifi('([l Freedom. - Throughout most of Europe the
agricultural stage culminated in the feudal system. Under
that system the feudal lord occupied a commanding position,
very like that held by a patriarch in an earlier pastoral state,
and owned the land occupied by thc tribe or people. The
tillers of the soil had become serfs, who, though they could
not be sold away from the lund, were obliged to stay on the
lord's domain and work for him for such reward as he chose
to give them, or such as custom and public opinion, power-
fully backed up by the Church, had established. Slavery
thus gave way to serfdom. The trading cities sometimes
became opponents of the great fdudal estates. The lords,
feeling their power threatened, sometimes opposed the cities.
And so there were quarrels and agreements in places. Fi-
nally the cities conquered and won charters for themselves.
These cities were then free cities, and serfs \,vho fled to them
were accepted and made free. Thus feudalism began to
break down in the towns at least, and with the disappearance
of slavery and serfdom, man's progress in the art of getting
a living resulted in another great step toward liberty and
humanity.
SUMMARY
1. Uncivilized or savage man gets his living by finding things, i.e.,
by hunting or fi"hing, or by both.
2. Economic activity in the earliest stage is largely isolated.
3. Hunting tribes differ in character from fishing tribes, owmg to
the difference in the conditions of their life.
4. The domestication of animals, leading to the pastoral stage, as-
sures subsistence, introduces slavery, and increases wealth.
5. The pastoral stage, in which men get their living by "raising"
or "managing" animals, hus little landownership or commerce,
and is marked by frequent tribal migrations.
6. In the agricultural stage, man adds the "management" of plant
life to his earlier management of animal life, thus making his
existence more secure and population more dense.
42 ELEMENTARY 1)1- /-., IJ.\ I!.II I'
7. Cultivation of the soil fixes law and custom.
and develops tribal ownership of bnd and a distinct laboring
class.
S. Economic civilization. which begins with tht' making of thinKS,
appears in the handicraft stage, called !llso the trades and COID-
merce stage.
9. In the handicra.ft sta!!:e, mont'y is rell:ubrly usM. tradt's "rc de-
veloped and organized in p:ilds, and citi"". ri"inl( from the new
commerce, become free und break down the feudal system.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. What is the economic mark of 8avap:ery? lIow do huntinll: and
fishing tribes differ? Wby?
2. What is the economic mark of semi-cil'ilization? What "t,,1tCS
have this as their special character?
3. What other economic changes from the eariicr stage are found
in the pastoral stage?
4 What is the fundamental diJTerence betwN'n the all:ricultural stage
and the pastoral? What economic results flow from this differ.
ence?
5. What is the economic mark of civilization? What stages have
this special character?
6. What is the relation between trades and commerce?
7. What great economic institutions grew out of trades and com
merce?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. How did man acquire the art of domesticating :tnimals; of con-
trolling plant life?
2. Has free labor an economic advantage OVer slavery? Has it al
ways had such an advantage?
3. Has free labor a moral superiority over slavery? Has it always
had such superiority?
4. If history discloses the fact that economic changes have brought
about changes in men's ideas of right and wrong, are further
changes of the same sort to be expected?
5. Consult Doughty's Wanderings in Arabia, and report on the pas-
torallife of the modern Arabs. Try to find out how it was affected
by the World War.
EA.RLY ST.1GES OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 43
6. Compare the influence of the Crimean War upon the personal
liberty of the Russian serfs with the influence of the Black Dpath
on the evnlution of the social classes in fourtcenth ccntury Eng-
bnd. Report on the great famine of 1021 in Russia, and dis-
cuss its possible social infiucnc{' on that country.
LITERATURE
See references at close of preceding chapter. Also:
Ashley, W. J.: Introdnction to English Economic History and Theory,
Ch. I, 6.
Bucher, C.: Industn'al Evolution, p. 154.
Cheyney, E. P.: An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History
af England, Chs. II-VI.
Cunningham, W.: The Grawth of English Indl'stry and Commcrce,
Ch. IV, 114.
Doughty, C. 11.: (arranged by Edward Garnett), Wanderings in Ara-
bia.
Ely, R. T.: Stndics in the Emlution of Industrial Society, Chs. III
to V.
Gamble, F. \Y.: The AnimalWarld.
Genesis, Ch. XIII.
Hamilton, W. H.: Cnrrent Economic Problems, Revised edition,
26, 27, 39, 40.
Maine, Sir Henry: Early Law and Custom, eh. VIII.
Marshall and Lyon: Our Economic Organizatio.n, pp. 25-10.5.
Rogers, J. E. Thorold: Work an<i Wages, Ch. III, pp . .5.5--66.
Scott, D. H.: The Evaluti"" of Plulds.
CHAPTER YI
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE
\YE come now to the last of the stages in man's economic
development. Inasmuch as this last stage is the one in
which we are living, it will be well to give to it a more detailed
study than has been given to the preceding stages. After a
general description of the characteristic differences between
the industrial stage and the stage which preceded it, we shall
pass on to study the history of the great movement by which
the industrial stage was ushered in. As it was in England
that the movement began, and as it is in the United States
that the movement has perhaps proceeded to the greatest
extreme, we shall consider the history of the movement with
reference to these two countries.
A closer study of the period than we shall be able to de-
vote to it would disclose the fact that the industrial stage
has up to the present shown three distinct phases. The
distinguishing characteristic of the earliest phase -
from 1760 to 1830 - was the development of machine in-
dustry and the application to it of sieam IJOICer. From about
1830 to about 1870 the distinguishing characteristic of in-
dustry was the deuloprnent of steam-pOlcer transportation.
From the latter date to the present the most striking fact
has been concentration and integration in industry under a
rapidly spreading corporate organization. The word concen-
tration describes a toward the production of in-
creasing amounts or proportions of an:' product by single
business units; while the word integratio/l describes a tend-
44
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE
45
ency towards the production by single business units of an
. increasing number of commodities, usually closely allied.
To study these minor periods in detail would require greater
space than can be given to the subject in a book of this sort;
but in our study of conditions in the United States at various
points in the text we shall ha\'e occasion to throw further
light upon them.
General Characterization. - As we have said, men may
manufacture by hand, or by pOlccr. It was a great step
for\\'ard when man learned to manufacture at all; it was a
transformation of when man learned to manufacture
by power. Mere human muscle is an insignificant forcc as
compared with the external forces of nature, and man's great-
est accomplishments when he depends upon his own unaided
efforts are relatively unimportant. But man has more brains
than any other creature, and progresses by their use.
J t is necessary to state to the student that the' in-
dustrial stage began with the inventions and discoveries that
resulted in the steam engine. The date usually associated
with this important change is 1709. Here, as in the preced-
ing chapter, we shall be able to see the situation more clearly
if we analyze it and show the characteristic contrasts be-
tween the industrial stage and the former stage of economic
development.
1. Relations between - Under the old system of
hand manufacture, each master in a trade ordinarily worked
by himself or with a few others, apprentices or
who in time would normally become masters themselves.
Hence we may say that men in the full possession of their
trade worked on their own account; they owned the m.eans
of ntmwfactl1re - the tools and raw materials - and they
also owned the finished product. When prices rose the ben-
efit went to them. Strictly speaking, there were no class
divisions in manufacture, an apprentice or a journeyman be-
46 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
ing simply a master "in the making," living on terms of
intimacy in the master's family, and in many cases marrying.
the daughter of the master and later succeeding to the business.
Rise of Factories. - But it is manifestly impossible for
every workman to own an engine and elaborate manufactur-
ing The result of the application of steam to
manufacturing, therefore, was that a few men, more enter-
prising or wealthier than the rest, made the experiment,
bonght high-priced machinery, employed workmen, and
quickly distanced their conservative competitors who re-
sisted the change. 'Gnder these conditions, as we can now
see, the factory system was bound to grow and to supplant
the old of industry. Those who resisted had
to go to the wall. They did not enjoy the process nor were
patient under its operation; but at length, their for-
tnnes wasted, their business ruined, their hope of successful
resistance gone, they yielded and sought places as workmen
in the new factories.
Before this great industrial change, employer and em-
ployed were not. as we have said, or permanently
dh'idecl by class distinctions. Living and working together,
apprentice and master had that mutual respect which came
from the remembrance of his own apprenticeship on the
part of the master, ancl the hope of a future position of inde-
pendence in the breast of the apprentice. we have
two distinct industrial classes, with interests that too often
seem irreconcilable, and between them is a great gulf, which
in an old society comparatiwly few men can hope to cross.
The factory brought with it anothcr far-reaching
social change. Traditional home industries, such as spin-
ning, weaving, the making of clothes, bread, and in the end
practically everyihing else, were taken over by the factories;
at the same time power-driven machines for performing
these tasks were so perfected that they could be tended and
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE
47
fed by women and children. Hence, the family home lost
its importance as a center of economic production; and
women and children in large numbers folluwcd the " home
industries" into the factories.
2. The TVagesSystem.-Formerlytheworkmanowned what
he made and sold it for what he could get. This was natural
under a system of dividcd labor in which each man made
one article and that a whole article. But in the more efficient
processes of production that obtain a much greater
division of labor, or rather combination of labor is
Now, it requires many men working together to make a single
article efficiently. But when a group of men have made a
case of shoes, of which one has cut out the soles, another has
made the heels, etc., who can say how many shoes the indi-
vidual worlunan has made? Then, too, the employer has
furnished the materials and machinery and has assumed the
risk of loss. He must be paid. How many shoes shall be
his portion of the whole? Some way out of the difficulty
must be found! As a matter of fact the way adopted was
the simplest one and perhaps the best. The employer takes
all the shoes, and gives the workmen for their labor, not the
actual product of their labor, but a stipulated wage which is
reprcscnted to be an equivalent. And thus has grown up the
modern" wages system" of cmploying labor.
3. Com.petition. - Under the old gild system of manu-
facturing for purely local markets, prices, as well as many
other elements of industQ', were largely regulated by cus-
tom or by law. The man trying to underst'll his neighbor
would have been an object of public contempt and hatred.
::.vIen sometimes entered into rivalry or competition to see
who could make goods of the best quality, but even here cus-
tom and law sometimes entered to reduce all to a dead level
by determining what the quality of the commodity should be.
But with the growth of great markets in the industrial
48 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
stage all this was changed. Factories competed not for the
trade of a single city or county, but for tl,1at of a whole country
or of the world. The producers were no longer neighbors
living in close and friendly intercourse, but great hostile-
businesscs, often situated in different parts of the countr,I'.
The handicraft stage had been prevailingly a period of " to\\'n
economy" ; the industrial stage was a period of "national
economy," which in our own time has developed into somc-
thing very like a "world economy." l;nder such condi-
tions, competition once begun must grow eYer fiercer and
fiercer. Too often it ceased to be what competition should
be, namely, a rivalry in well-doing-, and became a
rivalry in
As a whole the struggle had its good results. It was "'hat
men needed to stimulate their energy and enterprise. In-
vention followed inYention; business rapidly centered in
places where it could be carried on at the greatest advantage;
labor processes were divided and subdivided as the increase
of machinery and the gro"ih of markets rendered division
profitable, and by these and other means the cost of produc-
tion was constantly lowered.
Thinkers of the. time not unnaturally were profoundly
impressed the rapid increase of wealth due to competi-
tion, especially as seen in freedom of industry, as well as hy
the irksomeness of the old gild restrictions, to which appeals
were being made by those who wished to curb the new move-
ment. These thinkers overlooked the e\'ils of unrestricted
freedom, and in consideration of its benefits concluded that
the state should not try to guide as it had so long
been doing, but that industry needed only to be left alone
to achieye its grandest results. I t will be necessary later to
note some of the results of the attempts of the government
to follow this principle.
4. Banking a.nd Crpdil. - All great mo,-ements are com-
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE
49
plex, the various parts being mutually cause Rnd effect, one
of another. The preceding stage had developed money;
the industrial stage has developed credit. Credit has been
in part the result, as it has been in part a cause, of the other
great changes that characterize the age. Money is still used
as the most common medium of exchange in retail trade and
in small transactions generally, but in large transactions it
has been displaced in great measure by the various instru-
ments of credit, such as checks, drafts, and bills of exchange.
::\Ioreover, to secure a proper organization of credit, it has
been necessary for society to develop the system of banking
as we know it to-day. Thus one great improvement pro-
duces others and is in turn produced by them. In 1782 there
was but one bank in the United States; in 1921 there were
more than 29,000 institutions that were engaged largely or
wholly in commercial banking.
5. Transportation. - Before the beginning of the in-
dustrial stage, the problem of moving things was far less
important than it has since become. 1\ot much could be
moved long distances by land while only packhorses and
wagons were used. Often, too, the roads were such as pre-
vented the best results even from such a mode of locomotion.
Transportation by land being so difficult, commerce depended
then, as always before, chiefly upon water. Sailing vessels,
though slow, could carry even bulky commodities between
places connected by water, and large cities were therefore
always on the water, most frequently on the sea but some-
times on lakes and rivers. 'We have become more inde-
pendent of waterways furnished by nature or by art. Im-
portant cities can now grow up miles away from navigable
rivers or the seacoast, though the importance of water com-
munication even to-day is attested by the slight proportion of
cities that are so situated. In all this we see that civiliza-
tion is marked by man's increasing domination of nature.
50 ELE!,IENT.4RY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOJIlCS
6. Moral and Legal Restrainis. - Always in past stages
of economic de\'elopment, we have seen a sharp distinction
drawn between neighbors and strangers. The family and
neighbors have formed a constantly widening circle, and
han: always been protected by detailed law and custom;
strangers, on the other hand, were exposed to whate\'er treat-
ment might be considered adyantageous. Indeed, the word
" stranger" in many languages eyen had the added meaning
of It is characteristic of the industrial stage that
the uistinction between neighbor and stranger is no longer
a clearly defined one. It be asked, Ha\'e all men, then,
become brothers, or have they all become strangers and en-
emies? Few will claim that men in their business dealings
are brotherly. Yet if we look at whole of the industrial
stage, we shall find reasons for beIieying that the change
which has been taking place has been to make neighbors of
those who were strangers and enemies. The great and sudden
1iNdeiting uf the circle of neighbors 1ms naturally accompanied
by a weakening of the feeling of neighborliness. But in our
own time more than ever before there has been a conscious
effort to strengthen this feeling of neighborliness or brother-
hood, and to widen the circle eyen bc\'ond national lines.
In the midst of the horrors of the World 'War, and in the face
of the bickerings and national jealousies that ha\'e followed,
there ha\'e been symptoms which encourage the belief that
men are coming more and more to see that "above all
nations is humanity."
SUMMARY
L The industrial stage has already passed through three phases.
2. In the industrial stage men make things by machinery operated
by power.
3. The older intimacy of industrial classes gives place to a sharp and
wide separation between employers and employees.
4. Domestic industry gives place to the factory system.
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE
51
5. The worker now sells nothing but his bbol', under what is known
as the wages system.
6. Competition On an ever-widening scale replaces the force of cus-
tom.
7. Credit and banking rapidly develop, both as cause and effect of
the increased production of goods.
8. The increase in the complexity of economic conditions and re-
lations has necessitated new legal and moral restraints and a
great widening of the eircle of neighbors.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. Characterize the three phases of the industrial stage, and give
approximate datcs.
2. Name the different kinds of power used to run modern machinery.
3. Distinguish factory industry from domestic industry.
4. ''"hat is the wages system and how did it develop?
5. How did the widening of markets sharpen competition?
6. Explain the relation of credit and transportation to the other
characteristic features of the industrial stage.
7. Are men more or less brotherly in our day than in earlier stages
of history?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Can you think of other economic differences than those mentioned
in the text that distinguish the industrial stage from earlier
stages?
2. Can you think of other important characteristics of the third phase
of the ind ustrial stage?
3. What are some of the ways in which the industrial revolution
has changed the character of war?
4. Name some of the international movements and institutions of
our time that are both causes and results of a growing world
economy.
5. Have modern changes in industrial forms and methods any con-
nection with political democracy; with education; with the
changed political, social, and economic conditions of wQll1en?
6. Has the increasing monopoly of our time been a result of compe-
tition?
LITERATURE
Ely, R. T.: The Evolution of Industrial Society, Pt. II, Ch. VII.
Hamilton, W. H.: Current Economic Problems, Revised edition,
51-53.
52 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Hobson, J. A.: The Evolution of Modern Capitalism., Chs. II and IV.
Marshall and Lyon: Our Econom.ic Organizat,:on, Ch. VIII.
Toynbee, Arnold: The Iudustrial Revolution, Ch. IV, pp. 46-57.
Webb. Beatrice (Potter): The Case for the FactoTY Acts.
CHAPTER VII
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN ENGLAND
IT was in England that the change from the handicraft
stage to the industrial stage first began and was most rapidly
accomplished. The changc is generally called in England
the Industrial Revolution, and the name is in many ways
appropriate. A change which takes place so gradually that
life adjusts itself to the new conditions without great loss
or suffering, - a change like that which occurs in the plant
that is always growing, yet seems to be at a standstill, -
such a change we call a development or emiulion. But a
change which comes so rapidly that life cannot promptly
adjust itself to the new conditions, a change that breaks
down the old order with much confusion and sufiering,-
this we call a revol1dion. It would be a mistake, howewr,
to suppose that even in England the new system fell from
the heawns without omen or hint of its coming. It is im-
possible in this small book to discuss the point at length;
it must be sufficient to warn the student against an exagger-
ated idea of the suddenness or violence of the change.
Ta the English Industrial Re\"olution aright,
we must first go back to the condition of things just
before it began.
Agriculture. - First of all it is important to bear in mind
that eighteenth-century England, though a leader
among' industrial and commercial nations, was still pre-
dominantly agricultural. During the the popula-
tion of the nation g-rew from about six million to about nine
53
54 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
million inhabitants, of whom probably more than half lind
lives that depended directly, in whole or in part, on agricul-
ture. In the second place, it should be noted that the rev-
olution in agriculture in the eighteenth century in a large
measure preceded and conditioned the revolution in manu-
factures. The English people of the eighteenth century
were earlier and more keenly aware of the tremendous
changes that were taking place in agriculture than of those
that were revolutionizing industry. The later social signifi-
cance of the industrial revolution has so seized upon the
imagination of men that we are in dangcr of forgetting the
real magnitude and importance of the contemporary revo-
lution in agriculture.
Space cannot be allowed here for a complete and itemized
description of agricultural conditions as they were in England
in the first half of the eighteenth century. Such a descrip-
tion would carry us into a detailed and complicated tecl--
nieal and historical study. It must suffice to point out that
in the form and ownership of "farms," in the hreeds of farm
animals, and in the processes and tools of farming, conditions
were almost as widely different from those with which we
are now familiar as are the steam engine and airplane from
the ox cart and the sta'"ecoach.

Tbe ',arious breeds of l i H ~ stock were little advanced from
their primitive originaL. Such finer breeding of sheep as
had been achie\ed was directed toward the production of
fine \\"001 for fine clothing, with comparati\'ely little regard
for the productionoffood. ,\scompared with th'ose of modern
times, horses, hogs, and cows were \'trv little distinO'uished
. '"
from the wild species that are still to be found in some parts
of the world. Farm tools and processes were generally not
greatly in advance of those known to the Hebrew patriarchs,
as they are pictured for us in the Old Testament. The plows,
made almost witbuut metal, could turn o n l ~ ' the shallo"'est
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN ENGLAND 55
furrow; hardly any other implements were available for
" fitting" the land; hay and grain were still cut with sickle,
scythe, or cradle; wagons were of the simplest and rudest;
grain was threshed with the flail or tramped out by slow-footed
oxen upon the threshing floor.
Thc land was still largely held under a survh'ing form of
the age-old manorial system, which was superimposed by
the Kormans upon the existing social order of the Saxons.
After the invasion, William the Cqnqueror granted his sup-
porters large estates on condition of their making certain
tJayments and rendering yarious sen'ices, military service
in time of war being especially prominent. These supporters,
the lords of the manors, in their turn granted portions of
their estates to dependents on similar conditions. Under
this military organization of feudalism, the English village
of the Middle Ages developed into a little world of its own,
its members knit together into a small self-supporting
community. The center of the village was the lord's manor
house, of which the principal room was the hall. This hall,
a familiar picture to all readers of Sir 'Valter Scott's novels,
sen'ed as the lord's court of justice, dining room, and general
living room of his household. In a large manor house there
would also be a kitchen, a a sewing room, a brewery,
a bakehouse, a laundry, and a chapel. The personal retinue
of the lord was sometimes very large. Besides the sheriffs,
bailiffs, and stewards who administered his estate, there
were also squires, pages, grooms, butlers, musicians, and
other retainers.
The demesne, belonging exclusively to the lord, was some-
times a compact area of land like a modern farm, imme-
surrounding the manor house; but gcnerally it was
in large part dispersed like the land of the lord's tenants
in the common fields, as described below. The poorer
villagers, the villains and serfs, \\:ere dependent upou the
56 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
lord and cultivated his demesne, giving him part of their
time and keeping part for their own work.
The chief portion of the estate was called the common or
open fields, and these were cultivated by farmers and la-
borers, some of whom also plied the various trades of
the dlage; they were the millers, blacksmiths, barbers,
cobblers, tinker:;, etc. \Ye generally hear of "three fields,"
because the lan!i was divided into three parts, and each field
was again dividecl into a grcat many small strips, so that the
common fields had, as Cheyney describes it, "the appear-
ance of a great irregular checkerboard or patch-work quilt."
The strips of land were allotted to the tenant farmers and
other dependents, and each had a right to the produce of
his strips. However, he was not free to cultivate them as he
chose, but he had necessarily to follow the general custom
of thc village. The proper seasons for plowing, sowing, and
harnsting were appointed by the reeve. Generally the
three-course system of farming was followed, explaining the
division of the land into the three fields. The crops were
rotated, each field lying fallow every third year, after bear-
ing wheat or rye the first year, and some spring crop, such as
barley, oats, beans, or peas, thc second year. Various strips
belonging to one farmer were accordingly scattered over
the different parts of the common fields. After harYesting,
the villagers were free to graze their cattle over the stubble
of the cultivated or 'arable land.
The uncultivated meadows formed a still different part of
the manor, amI after the hay was cut and gathered, the cattle
of the villagers were likewise turned Ollt to graze on these
meadows. l\farshes, woods, and neglected land constituted
the lI'aste. The cattle, horses, sheep, and swine of the village
were sent out to pasture on the waste under the care of village
herdsmen.
By this description it will be seen how widely the English
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN ENGLAND 57
village of early times differed from the collection of inde-
pendent farms which constitutes the modern agricultural
community. .
The manorial system was naturally modified during
the course of the Middlc Ages. The serfs and the villains
gradually gained complete of person, and we find also
a class of yeoman farmers, who were independent landowners,
working their small farms largely with their own hands.
How large this class had bccn in early times is doubtful.
The land, however, still continued to be held in small strips.
Inclosure. - Large-scale operations and highly productive
farming were impossiblc under such a confused system of
holdings. The old system had accordingly to give place to
a new, and" inclosure" was imperatively demanded. l'nder
the old system, the ,'arious classes who gained their living
from the land had formed what may be called a partnership;
- they had shares in a " bundle of rights." Inclosure sig-
nified a putting together of the scattered strips into individual
farms and an abolition of the common rights of pasturage
on the open fields: in other words, it meant a dissolution
of the old partnership of the cultivators of thc soil, and
indi"idual cultivation of farms held - just the
arrangement which we in the Pnited States take as a mere
matter of course. In the preambles to the Inclosure Acts
it is stated that
"the open and common fields lic dispersed in small pieces
intermixed with each other, and incom'eniently situated;
that divers persons own parts of them. and are entitled to
rights in common on them, so that in their present state
they are incapable of improvement, and that it is desired
that they may be divided and inclosed; a specific share
being set out and allowed to each owner."
As a result of inclosure, great improvements in the general
organization of farming took place. Great technical im-
58 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
provements, too, suitable to large-scale farming, 'nore In-
troduced. "1'I;orfolk with its four-course ro-
tation, alternating green crops with cereals,
successful schemes of breeding, better draining, more efficient
dressing with manures, and new economical uses of the soil
were notable discoveries which marked an epoch in English
agricultural history.
Evils of the Transition Period. - \\'c have spoken so far
only of thc benefits of inclosure, but the gain to society
was attended with a Rood deal of injury to indi\'iduals an,l
classes. The small villagt'r lost an opportunity of turning
cattle out to graze, and if hI' recei,'ed money compensation
for this loss it was often ,mstt'd. The laborer frequently
was separated from the soil, and this misfortuill' was greatly
aggravated by thc fact that he could no longer pursue ill his
house his simple spinning and weaving, owing to changes
brought about by the Industrial Revolution, which we art'
to discuss in the following pages. Inclosure was simply a
I.,art of a great movement toward large-scale production. and,
in accordance with the laissez-faire of the time,
no special pains were taken to preparc the laborer for the
great transition.
The too, were greatl." affected the movements
of the times, and indeed tended rapidly to disappear as a
class. Inability to meet the burden of heavy mortgages, and
the temptation to sell their land to rich busi nes,; men who
coveted the social status and political rights of landlordship,
may have been cooperating influences; but the superior ad-
vantages of extensive holdings for the growth of grain the
new scientific methods of cultivation certainly appear to haY('
prompted many of them to change their lot for that of large
tenant farmers. The economic trend, in fact, favored large
farming at the time, and placed a discount, in comparison. on
the methods of small cultivation. This was the reverse side
THE IXDUSTRIAL STAIJE IN EXGLAND 59
of the shield, the front of which ,,"as agricultural imprm"E'-
ment. The small man was not equal to the situation, whieh
could haye been mE't only by wisely contriycd sucial plan-
ning and social action. Each man had tu luok out for him-
"elf, make his own contracts, seek his own employment, find
it or go without, educate or not educate his children as be
saw fit, etc. In fact, the entire life of the yillage commu-
nity was radically altered. It was no longer an organic,
self-centered whole.
Manufacture. - But it was in the department of manu-
factures that the greatest change was to occur. At first the
change manifested itself not so much in new methods of
production as in new methods of marketing. Cnder the
gild system the market was local and the master work-
man, since he dealt directly with the immediate consumer,
was economically indppendent. However, as the market
expanded to embrace first a territory somewhat wider
than the town and environs, then a whole section of the
country, and still latpr the whole country or pven a portion
of the Continent, the mercantile function assumed greater im-
portance - so that we find the heretofore independent master
workman beginning to get his supply of ra,," material from
a merchant to whom he turns over the finished product at
a stipulated and lower rate of remuneration; that
is, the master became a " small master" or "dependent"
master. It is worthy of notice that although this change de-
noted a radical modification in economic relationship as m'll
a radical change in the position of the manual producer, it
bore no relationship to any change in the mode of pro-
duction; for, in 17GO, the system of hand manufacturers was
still general.
When Adam Smith, in his Wealth of Sation.y, published in
1776, wrote, "A man grows rieh employing a multitude
of manufacturers," he was using the word manufacturers in its
60 ELEMENTARY PRlNC1PLES OF ECONOMICS
then usual sense, to denote artisans or mechanics. The princi-
pal manufactures were woolen goods, whieh England exported
in 1770 to the value of about 4,000,000, that being nearly
a third of her total export trade. The methods of manu-
facture were primitive. In the textile industry, for instance,
the" manufacturer" had his home, his cows, his and
his poultry; he bought his wool; his wife awl "spinster"
daughters spun it into yarn; and together they wove it ancl
sold it at the" fair ," enjoying all the proceeds. As the
ning on the old spinning-wheel was done one thr!'arl at a tim!',
it followed that a weaver with a hand-loom could work up
the yarn more rapidly than it could be spun.
Even before 1700, however, a change in the system of
making and marketing had already begun. Cities be!l;an
to attract the hand-workers. The inevitable to
divide the processes of production showed itself. The work-
ers found it difficult to attend to the buying of the wool, the
spinning, the weaving, and the selling of the finished goo,\';'
So the processes were divided, and middlemen had begun to
appear, who bought yarn from the spinners and sold it to the
wea vers. Later, in some cases, they ceased to sell the yarn,
supplying it instead to the weavers on contract, keeping a
claim upon the cloth, and paying a stipulated sum for the
weaving. Thus the old "manufacturer" had alread;; in
many places become a1(1orkman, a wage-earner, and in
a measure dependent upon a "capitalist," who furnished
the stock. Many of the germs of the factory system there-
fore existed as early as 1760, though as yet the work was
generally done by hand power with very simple implements.
What has just been said in describing the technical con-
ditions in the woolen industry would apply with only neces-
sary changes to the other old English handicrafts. Next in
importance to the woolen industry was that of iron; but
Englanel in 1737 imported perhaps twenty thousand tons of
THE INDUSTRI.4L STAGE IN ENGLAND 61
iron, or more than she herself produced. After 1740 the
iron trade had begun to fall off because supplies of charcoal
for the charcoal smelting of the time were almost exhausted.
Other forms of manufacture that are now of first importance
in England, such a5 cotton, linen, and silk, had hardly begun.
Transportation. - Such goods as were manufactured could
be moved within the country only with great difficulty antI
at great expense. Transportation facilities were very back-
ward. One traveler of the time, who speaks of the highways
as "most execrably vile," tells us that he found ruts four
feet deep, and that he " saw three carts break down in a mile
of road." Such being the condition of the roads, pack horses
were still the common means of transporting goods to and
from inland markets. The only improvement before 1760
consisted in the building of a few canals.
Economic Legislation. - Of all the characteristic comli-
tions, that of the economic legislation of the period seems
most strange to the modern reader. The medieval notion
of government was still nominally in force. In general, this
notion was that detailed special legislation was requirf'fl
for cases in which we of to-day regard general laws as
preff'rable. Thus the state passed many laws to regulate
religion, agriculture, manufacture, and commerce. Some of
theoe laws require our special attention at this point. 'Ve
have already remarkcd upon the fact that men of the earlier
did not understand or believe in competition. They
dreaded the mischief that a stranger might work, coming
into a town and carrying on trade in an irregular fashion.
The circulation of laborers from one parish to another, or
from one town to another, was also restricted by what is
sometimes known as the Law of Settlement. This originateJ
in a statute, passed in 1662, which provided that a workman
coming to a parish must, within forty days of his coming,
give evidence or surety guaranteeing parish against his
62 ELE.'IfENT.4.RY /'R/.\('/I'I.L.'i ()F J:' 11\11.1111 ,)
becoming a charge llpon the taxes for thl' relid of the p'Jor.
The act was originally intended as a ml'asure against wastrds
and vagabonds. In its application. howevt'r, it afJl'ctCf/
not only vagabonds hilt l'V>ry poor mnn wishing to move
from one parish to anoth('r, until it (wealDI', in Adam Smitb\
words. "often more r1iffil'ult for a poor man to pa.o;s the arti-
ficial b:HlJl<lary of a than an arm of the sea or a rill"l'
of
Anotil"r law obstrul'till,!!; thl' free eireulation of labor from
one employllll'nt to anothl'r thl' ElizalX'than Slalllle of
Apprenlic{',vhil'. providing that one eould bl't'om(' a membt'r
of a trade only after seven years of apprenti(,t'ship and only
in a speeially prescribed manner. This statute was basc.'(1
upon older statutes of the crart-giltls existinjt for Ct'uturies
before. The purpose of this regulation WlIS not only to give
a proper training to artisans al\ll m('ehanil'" but to protect
the various tnull's from oVl'rerowdinJ! alltl from im'J!ular
methods. It be rl'membered that lit the tilDe whell
such regulations had gI'm"l up ('om pet it inn in the mlMlem
sense was an impossibility. and nothin.g but sueh l')1stomary
or Ipgal restrictions could a vail to guard the intt'rests of the
individual and society,
Wages, - most strikinJ! of all the {'conomic
legislation of the time was the 01,1 law whi(h left to the boards
of county jlJ,\ges the work of fixing thl' o( workmen.
Historians differ in opinion tb to how !!t'nl'rally lOr ri!!orously
this law. which was C'mbodil'<.l in lUany statute.s funning baek
for centuries. had enforced. but probably it had newr
been entirely inoperatiVl', and in any event the existence of
such statutes throws a flood of light upon th .. state of mind
of the dom inant classes in England.
In explanation of the law it was often held that workmen
would be oppres:ied if left to the mercy of employers; hilt
the main purpose of the law :;eelllS rather to lull'(, been to pro-
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE /lv' ENGLAND 63
teet the emploY2r against high wages, and the spirit of the
administration of the law seems to have conformed to that
pl:rpose. Inasmuch as the workmen were thus" protected"
by law in the matter of their wages, combinations among
them to improve their condition were hE'ld unnecessary and
dangerous, and were therefore strictly forbidden.
The Condition of Thought in 1760. - We should fail to
understand the Industrial Revolution were we to confine our
attention to the economic life. In 1760 there had recently
bt'gun a tremendous revolt against the whole system of leg-
islation and government just described. But it would be a
mistake to suppose that this revolt, which eventually carried
everything before it, showed itself only in the field of industry.
Indeed, the restrictions that aroused the greatest opposition
were those upon conscience and religious worship. .1\Text to
religious liberty, political liberty was the desire of all Eng-
lishmen. Even while restrictions upon trade were being
accepted without vigorous protest, the passion for personal
liberty worked itself up to a fanaticism.
It was under the influence of this spirit of protest that
Adam Smith wrote, and in 1776 published, his Wealth (if
Nations, the most influential book on economics that has
eyer been written. ]yIen - so runs his argument - are by
nature free and equal. Inequalities are of man's making,
and are to be a\'oided. Leave men alone and equality will
reassert itself. What men need in their business is not pro-
tection but liberty. Under a system of free competition each
man will seek his own interest, and, in seeking his own inter-
est, will be led by a sort of natural and beneficent providence
to promote the best interests of society as well. If the result
is not the best that is ideally conceivable, it is at least the best
that is practically possible, and is certainly better, thought
Smith, than can come from any interference of government.
There is an interesting story, perhaps apocryphal, that
64 ELEMENTARY PRLVCIPLES OF ECONOJflCS
at about this same time in France a group of merchants
presented themselves before their king to protest agaillst
restrictions under which they labored. The king, afkr
listening to their statement, asked them benevolently what
they would have him do. Whereupon, as t:1e story rUll,.
the spokesman of the party, :'IIonsieur de Gournay, an-
swered laconically: "Sire, laissez faire; laissf'l passer."
These \Yords laissez faire have for a century been USt"
to describe the economic philosophy and the political pra('-
tice of passivism, especially in 'Yhether such an
incident gave rise to the name, or whether the name made
tbe myth, is immaterial. The if not true, is well found.
Changes in Manufacture. -. In 1769, while Adam Smith
was writing the book that was to exert so profound an in-
fluence upon the economic thought and practice of the future.
a friend of his, James Watt by name, was preparing thc way
for a revolution in the world's indtlstrv, bv his im'entioll'
in connection with the steam engine.
In the same year, too, there began a series of im'entions
whieh, during the next fifty years, completely re\'olutionized
the teA "tile industry, and incidentally gave cotton manu-
facture, instead of the manufacture of woolens, the first
place in English industn'. The invention of the spinning-
jenny first made possible a vast incr!'as!' in the production of
yarn for weaving, and since better goods could now be pro-
duced at a lower price than before, the demand for the goods
was much increased. Hence weavers, still using the old
hand-loom, were kept at higher wages than th!'y hall
before r!'ceived. But within a f!'w years the power-loom
for weaving was invented and impro\'ecl. and many of the
weavers found themselves out of employment. As it was
possible for a single person to tend four power-looms, three
out of four of the \yorkmen were thrown out of a job until
the increasecl demand for the finished goods should increase
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IX E.YGLAND 65
the number of looms. Moreover, as weaying by the power-
looms required deftness rather than strength, women aud
children came to be employed instead of men, because they
could be hired at lower wages. Just at the close of the
Eli 'Yhitney, our Connecticut Yankee, gaye a still
further stimulus to the cotton industry by inYenting til('
cotton gin, a deyice for clearing the cotton of its seed. .,,'
The greatest change was wrought in the cotton-manu-
facturing industry. For technical reasons England had been
unable to establish this industry, which was carried on chiefly
in India; but the new inyentions for te:-.-tile manufacture and
the introduction of steam power changed the seat
of the industry from India to England, and gave cotton
manufacturing a foremost place in the English economy.
::iimilar results attended changes in the manufacture of
woolen, linen, and silk goods.
The new was at first operated by water power,
and factories first sprang up chiefly in l'\orth England in
places where rapidly flowing streams furnished an economical
"head." Soon, with the development of the steam engine,
and the resulting deyclopmcnt of coal production, the center
of industry was transferred to thc ":Midland" counties,
where England's iron, the material of her machines, and
England's coal, the basis of her motiYe power, undcrlie the
whole region.
By the invention of the steam engine, the output of
England's coal mines was vastly incrcased, since shafts could
now be sunk deeper and the mines kept free from water.
A blast furnace, by which iron could be smelted with coal,
Ras now introduced in place of the old process of charcoal
smelting, and the iron trade was therefore quickly revolu-
tionized. The importance of this change may be understood
when we remember that under modern conditions of in-
dustry those nations that surpass in the production and
66 ELE.lIESTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECOSOMICS
manufacture of iron and steel for their maehinery hold till
leadership of the world's trade,
Changes in Transportation, - The III
methods of farming and manufacturing naturally a
new stimulus to the development of tran'portation
facilities, The public were first imprond
undert he direction of such engineers as Telford and :'.Iaca<lam,
from whom methods of roall construction ha\e taken tlwir
names, );ew and lon!(er canals were dug, and the mO\'e-
ment would have gone much farther had it not been checked
after li)25 by the dewlopment of the system of steam rail-
ways. E\'en before 1825, when the first steam railway was
opened, steam had for some years been sucns"fully applied
to water transportation. Within a half century, England
became one vast network of railways, and it became pos;ible
to transport the bulkiest commodities from one ('nd of the
kingdom to the other more clu'aply than they had bcen
moved from one COllllt;' to another with the old means of
transport. Indeed, wheat can now be carried from our
Western grain fields and laid down in the English markets
more cheaply than it could he mowd all distance
of from to forty miles in the En!!land of 1 iliD.
Changes in Economic Legislation. - \\,ith the passing of
the old industrial methods came a flt-mand fo;' freedom from
the old Yexatious restrictions. \\,hate\'er might ha \'1' been
said ill justification of su('h restrictions in earlier the
time for them had now passed, and they were destined to go.
The old laws were, of course, not repealed in a body.
Such a thing neyer happens in England, and is a rare occur-
rence ill any Some laws were repealed. some ,imply
died. Thus, the law requiring sewn apprentice,hip
before one could ellter certain trades died during the latter
part of the eighteenth century. Years afterward, at the be-
ginning of the nineteenth century, in the labor troubles of
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN ENGLAND 67
the time, some workmen in desperation turned back to the
old law and prosecuted employers for violating it. The re-
sult was that the law was at first suspended and later re-
pealed, as being plainly ill adapted to the new conditions of
industry. Thus, little by little, the old laws were repealed
or forgotten, and men were left free to bargain and manu-
facture as they pleased.
Labor Laws. - Of the many old laws regulating labor, it
must be remembered that they had been designed not so
much to help the workmen as to check their growing power
and aspirations. \Yhen Adam Smith declaims against labor
laws, he has in mind laws directed against labor, not laws
like those of modern times, which han been designed to
benefit workmen. Indeed, he says in one place that if any
law chanced to be beneficial to labor, it WitS sure to be a just
law. A striking instance of the unfairness of the old labor
laws is seen in the case of the statutes against combinations.
Although from the first capitalists were allowed to combine,
workmen were forbidden to do so under seyere penalties.
Eyen after the laws bearing on apprenticeship, regulation of
wages, and inspection of goods had been repealed or had
lapsed, this law against workmen's combinations continued
operative, and under it men who attempted to form labor-
unions were at times severely pUlli,;hed. But eventually
this law also was repealed.
Results of the Changes. - 1. [wlllsirial Disturbance.-
The results of the changes that constituted the In-
dustrial Revolution have b2C'n startling. The area of the
markets for various commodities was widened,
and distance from the consumer no longer weighed heavily
in the mind of the manufacturer in determining the placing
of his plant. The balance of convenience rather inclined
toward concentrating industries in those places where they
could be carried on to special advantage. Thus, there was
68 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
first a concentration of industries near favorable water
power, and later near facilities for the production of stearn
power. This change took place usually not by the removal
of old plants and industries to new localities, but by the
'rrowth in favorable centers of such powerful rivals that the
"
older factorie,; were gradually forced to go out of business.
Thus, not only were country artisans forced out of employ-
ment, but even certain towns were sacrificed to others that
a more favorable situation.
2. Growth of Citirs. - Another important result of the
changes in the methods of industry, and particularly of the
(hanges in the methods of transport, was the growth of cities.
'''hile concentration of population has had many beneficent
results, and promises still other and greater ones in the future,
the evils connected with such aggregations of people have
formed one of the most serious problems that our generation
has to face.
3. Flwillatiolls in Trade. - One cause of the comparative
simplicity of the old and slow-going system of manufacture
and tra(lc was its great regularity. One was much like
anotllPr. Producers could calculate the amount of their prod-
uct that \\'onld be required, and could calculate also what
\HlUld be the return to their labor. 'Vith the growth of na-
tional and international markets carne increasing
of ,,'ants and increasing fickleness of fashion. It was no
longer easy to know what things would be wanted or in what
quantities goods would he taken by consumers when pro-
duced. A perlod of overcautious production would lead to
unduly high prices. N"ew capital would be tempted by thp
profits, and manufacturers would forget their caution.
Then would come a glut, prices would fall disastrously, fac-
tories would close, and workmen would be thrown out of
employment. But depriving a large section of the consuming
public of its purchasing power, - its wages, - is not an ideal
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN ENGLAND GO
lllethod of reviving industry. T h u ~ times of plenty for the
workmen would be succeeded by times of great want, with
all the evil result upon character that uncertainty of life
and work can produce.
Reaction against the Passive Policy of Government.-
"'e have already explained that accompanying the change
in industrial methods went a radical change in opinion as
to the proper attitude of the state toward human affairs,
including industrial affairs. This change was in part due
to a feeling that men had really become so intelligent and
reasonable and just that they would know and respect one
another's rights. But the chief reason for the change ,YUS
the general acceptance of Adam Smith's central doctrine
that self-intercst will regulate men's actions for the general
good more nearly and more surely than can any statutes
framed by man. 'Ve have 1I0W to study in detail some of
the points in ,,-hich this theory of governmental passivity -
the doctrine of laissez-Jaire - has broken down under the
test of experience, and some changes that mcn have found
themselves compelled to make in consequence.
Although we shall have occasion to refer to the matter
again in studying the industrial history of our own country,
it may be well to point out here that in no other country
did the laissez-Jaire idea gain such a hold upon the minds of
the people as in the Lnited States. Of the grcat modern
nations Germany was probably least affected by the obses-
sion, and France less than England, while even in England
recognition of the necessity of social control of industrial
forces and movements developed gradually during the nine-
teenth ccntury. In our 0"71 country we were so slow in
U Inlking that some critics feel that we almost lost our birth-
right to our wonderful natural inheritance. Indeed it is
only during the present century that we have become alert
to the situation; and we are still confused as to rcmedies,
70 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES uF ECONOMICS
however painfully conscious we may be of the evils of our
plight.
1. Public Inspection of Goods. - In repealing the old laws
for the inspection of wares, it was claimed that under the
free play of self-interest in competition, cheating would not
pay and would therefore cure itself. Needless to say, these
hopes were never realized. Men might perhaps be safely
left to pursue their own interest in buying goods if they knew
enough to do so, but as a matter of fact they do not. In-
deed, it was far easier to assure oneself of the quality of one's
purchases in the old days when the goods were of less variety,
were more simple in their character, and were made by crafts-
men who were not remote from the purchaser. But who in
Ollr ddy can tell the quality of baking-powder, of ground
spices, or of a thousand and one things that arc subject to
adulteration? How many can distinguish butter from oleo-
margarine? How many can detect fever germs in water
or trichin1e in pork? For all these and muny other things
the ordinary buyer's knowledge is worthless: an expert
must be employed. And what guarantees of honest wares
are offered by modern commerce, in ,,'hich it is sometimes
open to question whether greater profits can be realized by
following the principle that" a satisfied customer is our best
ad vertiser " OT by unscrupulous reliance on easy methods of
gulling the puhlic?
Such questioning has heen justified by the experience of the
English people, and t h ~ i r law now provides for the inspec-
tion hy government eX'Perts of meat and fish, groceries,
drugs, butter, and other articles of food. Gold plate and
sil ver plate, gun barrels, steam boilers, drains and sewers,
gas, weights and measures, - all these are tested on the same
general principle that the government through experts must
guard the people frOID those serious dangers against whieh
they canllot or habitually do not protect themsel ves.
THE l.VDL'STRL1L STA.GE IN ENGLAND 71
In rt'ulity, men do of course in this case protect themsel yes,
but do so through their government, which represent,;
their cooperative effurt, rather than each man for him:;elL
For every man to attempt to do everything directly for
himself would be to return to barbarism. Division of labor
and eooperatioll are causes and signs of advancing civilization.
:2. Social Protection of Labor. - was freedom
more absolutely demanded at the time of the Industrial
Revolution than for labor, and nowhere was it more needed.
The old restrictions were galling and burdensome alike to
masters and men. But what of the freedom that took their
place? \Yhen machinery was introduced it became possible
to employ women and ehildren in work that had formerly
required the labor of men. But monern machinery is as
dpstruetive of life as a cannon if human life gets in its way;
and the destruction of life and limb in the early days of
was appalling. I-Jere again it had bt'en ingen-
iously argued that self-interest would lead employers to
proteet their employees from injury of every kind. The
basis of the argument was of course the assumption that such
protection would be to tlw benefit of the employers. But
this assumption is not nJid.
So scandalous was the neglect of thc carly manufacturers
that a reaction set in against the old liccnse, and laws were
passed requiring under heavy penalties what the simplest
dictates of ought to have secured and would have
secured if men had heen fit to be left to unregulated competi-
tion. The of children four and five years of
age, the apprenticing of pauper children to work in the cotton
mills, bad ventilation in factories, working over hours, neg-
lect of children's education, and many other evils, called
for a like interference.
The result of a pul-,:ie recognition of these evils was a
series of Acts of Parliament, known the Factory Acts,
72 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
beginning with that of 1802 and running down to thc prcsent
time. Laws now in force pro,"idc, among other things, for:
(1) the fencing in of all dangerous machinery; (2) ventila-
tion and other sanitary conditions in factories; (3) pro-
hibiting the employment of women and "young persons"
for more than eight hours a day, and, with certain exceptions,
for any night work; (4) prohibiting the employment of
children under fourteen, or of young persons under eighteen
except by express permission of the school authorities;
(5) Saturday half holiday for women, "young persons,"
and children; (6) compulsory part time or full time school-
ing for persons" up to the age of sixteen;
(7) physical examination of children and persons"
before entering employment; (8) school feeding, medical
inspection, and nursing schools for children two to five years
of age; (9) the keeping of a register by employers in which
mllst enter all children under eighteen to whom they
giye out work, thus affording opportunity to inspectors to
inspect the places where such work is done; (10) govern-
ment inspectors to see to the enforcement of the laws. This
last proyision has been found by experience to be one with-
out which the rest of the legislation might as well not ha "e
been passed, and the authority of such officials has been con-
tinually enlarged.
In contrast with the provision which limits the work of
women and children to nDt more than eight hours per day,
place the old law of apprenticeship by which a boy must
work at least from five in the morning till between seven and
eight at night, with time off for meals. The change is signif-
icant as showing that whereas the old laws were framed in the
interest of employers, modern ones have been designed in the
interest of employees, or, to consider it rnore broadly, in the
permanent interest of the people as a lclia!!!. From children
to ";\"oung persons," and from" young persons" to women,
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN ENGLAND 73
ihe protecting hands of the state havc becn successively
extended; first to cotton, then to other textile mills, then
to factories generally, the powers of regulation and inspec-
tion haye been applied.
1\IoreoYer, during recent years England has introduced
sickness, accident, unemployment, and maternity insurance;
workmen's compensation; old age pensions; minimum wage
regulations, applicable not alone to women and children,
but in coal mining and certain other specified trades, to adult
men as well. These are only a few illustrations of how the
old laissez-faire ideal of free competition has yielded to the
social ideal of competition regulated in the interests of all
members of society.
England was the first nation to be transformed by the
Industrial He,olution, and nowhere has the transformation
been more complete than in the island kingdom. Xowhere
have industrial problems been more acute, and nowhere
have more diligent and earnest efforts been made to correct
their evil effects; indeed, evidence is not wanting that the
nation, in recent years, has possibly gone too far in her pro-
gram of social legislation with results injurious to the wage-
-earners themseh'es as well as to the country as a whole.
Sturdy individualism is a condition of well-being, and ex-
cessive reliance on legislation is an evil as well as the neglect
to recognize the proper place of social legislation. The influ-
ence of England's example has extended not only to all Eng-
lish-speaking nations, but to all industrial nations as well ;
and social insurance of an advanced type, where it is not
already established, seems certain of early adoption.
3. Trade-unions and the Government. - Generally speak-
ing the factory legislation just outlined gave protection only
in an incidental way to adult men. To be sure, regulations
once applied to a given shop would affect all the workers in
that shop; but in the effort to cope with the conditions
74 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
created by the Industrial Revolution, the chief reliance of
the men was the strength derived from union. Consequently,
as the wage system developed there was a growing tendency
among workers to group themselves by trades into or-
ganizations for the protection of their own interests.
So jealous were the ruling classes, and so fearful lest the
lower classes, who grcatly outnumbered them, might by
combining abatc their power, that they had passed laws
against such combinations at intervals ever since 13GO.
Hence, when the "'age-earners found the need of union rap-
idly increasing, they were dri\'en to secret organizatiun for
lack of the open methods which were denied them. In 1800,
Parliament, finding that, in spite of the law, unions were
steadily gaining in strength and numbers, passed a compre-
hensive law to suppress them, even declaring illegal "all
agreements between journeymen and workmen for ubtain-
ing advances of wages, reduction of hours of labor, or any
other changes in the conditions of work,"
So odious did this law become that employers sometimes
voluntaril,\' plcdged themselves not to have recourse to it.
In 1824, after a prolonged agitation led by Francis Place,
who at first recei\'ed less support than might han been ex-
pected, Parliament confessed the law a mi5take, and at the
same time repealed earlier laws relating to combinations of
workmen. Thus freed from trade-unions grew at
an astounding rate. But they were still subject to legal per-
secution of one sort or another. Especially did the." suffer
at the hands of the courts from ad\'erse decisions which dc-
c1ared their united efforts to advance their interests con-
spiracies " in restraint of trade."
In 1875, a law was passed which expressly declared that
the purposcs and actions of trade-unions were not to be held
unlawful on the ground that they were in restraint of trade,
and in the second place, that acts whicll are lawful when done
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN ENGLAND 75
by one person shall be held lawful even when done by two or
more conjointly, if such acts are in furtherance of an object
sought through a trade dispute. Finally, in 1906, The Hud-
son Trades Dispute Act conferred still further immunities
and pri"ileges upon trade-unions in the matter of strikes,
and picketing; most important of all, it protected
unions against suits for damages by employers to cover
property losses incurred by them as a result of strikes.
Thus, organized labor, legalized in 1Si5, was yet further
strengthened through this later act which protected the funds
in the union treasury against suits for loss and damages.
The recent grO\vth of the power of the Labor Party in English
national and local government, and the strategic part played
by organized labor during the war offer additional evidence
that the union is not only legally established, but that it is
fully recognized in the broader political and social sense.
Between 1914 and 1919, the membership of British unions
more than doubled, being in excess of 6,600,000 in thc latter
year.* In the United Kingdom, a group of this size organ-
ized for action can exercise a tremendous influence on politi-
cal and economic life. The necessity for wise and far-seeing
leadership was never more urgent than now.
Conclusion. - lYe have pointed out a few of the many
ways in which the new theory failed to justify itself when
applied to the new economic power. The new power was
that which created the revolution. The new theory was
that which asserted the universal efficacy and beneficencc
of unrestrained industrial freedom, or unregulated compe-
tition. The theory and the power were alike strange to
men. The new theory promised an immense increase in
the product of national industry and a just distribution of
the product among those who contributed to its making.
An immense increase of product there was, though this was
* l,;nited Stutes Lr;7)()r Hr1.'ic:w, Yay, 1922.
76 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
due to inventions and to enlarged markets as well as to com-
petition. But the theory failed to fulfill its promise as to
the distribution of the ncw wealth. Kot until benevolence
was standardizerl ancl enforced by legislation was the situ-
ation in this respect endurable. The reaction against the
theory was not sUllden, nor was it a conscious and definite
revolt at all. The essentially practical ancl concrete habit
of mind of the English people has become proverbial. They
had been driven into the temporary acceptance of unregu-
!'1ted competition by the great changes in When
"'eakness in the action of that principle became manifest,
they simply changed its action little by little by
the reglliative power of society. And when the nineteenth
century had passed, it was found that the good in the com-
petitive principle had been rptained, while the principle in
its universal form had ceased to command assent.
,,'hen, therefore, we hear the principle of a " fair field and
no favor" and "no state intervention" advocated by a
man strong in the consciousness of personal advantages, -
for such he is likely to be, - we may J...-now that he is a full
century behinn his time, and that he has not read or has lIot
profitcn by one of the most impressive chapters of human
history. For the English nation to-day, after a fair trial of
free competition without interference by organized society,
has undeniably returned to the principle of collective action
which she had sought to abandon. Bitter experience ha:;
taught her that it is among the true functions of
to protect its citizens amI to further their material and social
\Yell-heing by every law ant! every which can con-
tribute to that end.
But it must not be supposed that in the social legislation
of England and in the activities of trade-unions in that
country no mistakes have been made. To assume that what-
ever is, is entirely correct and sound is as unreasoning when
THE INDUSTRLtL STAGE IN ENGLAND Ti
labor is gaining increasing control as it was to take the sanll'
attitude one hundred years ago beforc the principles of social
legislation and control were accepted. ,re must not
guard and preserve the essential principles of individualism
without which a high civilization is impossible, but we must
always ask what arc the long time effects of social action
upon character, and we must ever distinguish between what
is possible and what impossible. This caution is
in place when it comes to the consideration of social insur-
ance. The function of insurance is to guard against con-
tingencies like accidents and unemployment so far as may
be. But the costs may be unduly high and may possibly
aggravate the evil, especially in the case of unemployment.
The purpose of these observations is not to discourage any
well-considered plans for social amelioration, but to warn
against those attempts not founded on sound principles in
which American history abounds and which lead to disap-
pointment and reaction. It is for the trained minds of the
country to provide the needed leadersh;p.
SUMMARY
1. In 1760 agriculture \Vas still primitive, mannfadure was in the
handicraft stage, and there was much rcstric1i ,'e legislation.
2. After 1760 there was a revolution in the sy.' , em of landholding
and landworking, transportation was revolutionized, and tilt'
factory system was developed.
3. The Industrial Revolution produced great Eorial confusion, Im-
moral competition, and yiolent fluctuations in trade.
4. A reaction against the old absence of restraint has made itself
increasingly manifest in the years that han followed, and
cially during the last quarter of a century.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. How was production carried on before 1i60'? What was th"
nature of the markets?
2. What chang;es in social organization resulted from the Industrial
Revolution?
78 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF BCUNOMICS
3. Describe the struggle of labor-unions for existence and for legal
recognition.
4. 'Yho was Adam Smith? 'Yhat was his as a vOice
of the time?
5. Discuss the question of the passive policy of govcmment.
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Do vou see any resemblance between the eighteenth century strug-
oi the handworker against the factory lind the prc.sent-dny
struggle of the village storekeeper against the "mail order"
department store?
2. If workers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have won
stupendous victories from public opinion and from lawmakers,
does the fact suggest anything as to the future of thc hbor move-
ment?
LITERATURE
Cheyney, E. P.: An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History
of England, Chs. VII-VIII.
Cunningham, W.. The Growth of English Industry alld Commerce.
Yo!. II, Bk. VIU, PI. II.
Curtler, W. H. R.: ShOl'l History of English .Igri'nlillre.
Gibbins, H. de B.: Industry ill Englaw/ (revised edition), p. 204.
Hamilton, W. H.: Current Economic Problems (revised edition),
46, 48, 49.
Hobson, J. A.: The Evolution of Modern Capitali . m, Chs. II and IV.
Innes, A. D.: England's huilLstrial Development, Cbs. XVII-XXI,
XXV-XXIX.
IIhrshall, L. C.: Readings in Indu.trinl Society, 17-25, n, n.
Price, L. L.: A Short History of English Commerce and In,IIIstry.
PI' 184-192, 192-201,210-217.
Prothero, R. E.: English Farming, Past and Present, Chs. I-IV.
Report of the United States Industrial Commission, Vol. X,'I, also
the .Monthly L2bor Review on Foreign Labor Laws.
Toynbee, Arnold: The Industrial Revolution, eh. IV, PI'. 46-57.
CHAPTER VIII
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN THE UNITED STATES
1. THE Il\lH':;STRIAL REVOLUTION IN TIlE U)1ITED STATEE
AXD ENGLAND CONTRASTED
THE story of the Industrial Hevolution in England, ane!
of the industrial epoch that followed it, is in large part re-
peated in all countries which bave become" industrialized."
In the economic history of the United States
for the similar period, it is therefore unnecessary that we
should enter again into all the details that go to make up the
great movement. But as no two countries have the same
racial and physical peculiarities, so no two countries are
affected in precisely the same ,vay by great industrial changes.
The economic history of the United States is, in part, the
Jlistory of the attempt to apply the principles of free com-
petition and a minimum of state interference to a new country
instead of to an old one, as was the case with the English ex-
periment. This difference is so great as to have modified
the result materially, and it will therefore be profitable to
study thcse differences more particularly.
The principle of non-intervention was adopted in our own
country eyen more fully than in England, where the state
never ceased to exercise supervision and control oyer many
life interests, iacluding religion. In some respects the re-
sults in the two countries haye been parallel, in others not.
At first sight it may seem that American experience does
not so sharply condemn the passive policy of government
as does that of England, and the question may be asked
79
80 ELEMENTARY l'RINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
,,,hether our conclusion from the history of English industrial-
ism was .after all correct. "'hich of the two countries has
given the prim:iple of unregulated compt:tition the fairer test?
It will be remembered that the suffering which attended
the Industrial Beyolution in England was of two kinds and
from two different sources. One was due to the
and magnitude of the industrial change; the other was due,
not to the change, but to the manner in which the change was
effected, and to the system under which the new industry
was carried op. In other words, one kind of suffering was
due to change, the other to unregulated competition. It is
necessary to keep these two causes distinct, if we are to reach
a just conclusion regarding the influence of unrestrained
competition upon industrial life.
1. Comparative Difficulty of Transition. - \Y e have al-
ready sepn how difficult was the transition from the old to
the new order in England. In our own the diffi-
culty ,vas slight, or perhaps we might more properly
that there was no transition, since, when the Industrial
He"olution began, there was in America almost no manu-
facturing at all. Our industries were scarcely started when
the spinning-jenny, the power-loom, and the steam engine
were introduced, and so almost from the beginning the fac-
tory seempd the natural one. Such change as there
was from hand industries to power manufacture produced
results similar to those witnessed in England; but the change
with us was so insignificant in extent as scarceh' to attract
, .
public attention. 1Vlorcowr, artisans who "'ere thrown out
of \york had greater opportunities, and, on account of the
less fiwd conditions of life, were more to get new em-
in the growing industries of the time. Thus, the
change which in England was a revolution was in America
an rrolufion, a proress of construction with little destruction,
since there was little to
THE I.VDUSTRIAL 8T.l(;E 1.\' ('.\'ITED STATES 81
2, Comparative Difficulty in Operation of Competition, -
ruder the system of unrestrained competition, the Euglish
workmen played a continually losing' game; such was 110t
the case with their American cousins, Just as the smallness
of our industries at the beginning of the Industrial He\'o-
lution mitigated the sufferings from the changl" so the great-
ness of our territory mitigated thc sufferings from the system
of competition.
The average American does not realize adequately the
difference between Americans and Europeans in their readi-
ness to moye about from place to place, a difference due in
part to the fact that all those now in our are either
immigrants from other countries or the descendants of im-
migrants of a comparatively recent time. A comparison
of census figures of our country with those of European
countries shows that with them the proportion of persons
living in town or country other than that of their birth is
slight, while with us it is large. About one-third of the
American people are living in states other than those in
which they were born. Among the urban population alone
the proportion is more than two-fifths. Thus, in :\ew York
City about half the population was born in some state or
country other than the state of N'ew York; and consid-
erably less than half of the people of Chicago were born
in Illinois. Migration is much more common in the indus-
trial Korth than in the South; and still more common in
the West, where about two-thirds of the people were born
outside the state in which are living.
Moreoycr, throughout our until within recent
years, the American workman has always been able to se-
cure cheap or even frce land where he could earn an inde-
pendent living. Under these two conditions of mi-
gration and access to independent proprietorship, it
was impossible for the downward pressure of competition
82 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
to work out such results in manufacturing industry as must
show themselves when no counteracting influence is opposed.
Indeed, we may say that competition in A maim Ims regulated
from the beginning, not by legislation, but by thuse great indus-
trial forces and opportunities which lee have just mentioned.
But this influence could not be exerted forever. Our
territorial resources, great as they are, have their limits.
The American "frontier" has disappeared forever. We
!!.lwe already reached the parting of the ways. Henceforth
our reliance must be placed upon some other agency than
the free bounty of nature. Extremes of wealth and aliena-
tion of social classes have become so great as to arouse the
apprehension of all thoughtful men. Labor riots that call for
military interference, such as those in West Virginia, in Illi-
nois, and elsewhere, testify to the fact that we have not es-
caped, and that in the future we can less and less hope to
escape the difficulties that accompany the close and intri-
cate relations of modern economic life. The problem before
us and upon which we are working with varying degree,;
of success is to lessen friction through improvement Of these
relations.
Concentration and Integration of Modem Industry.-
Thus far we have been considering the effects of competition
chiefly upon the employees, and in tracing these cffects the
history of England has been instructi\e. When.
however, we turn to the results of such competition in the
case of employers, we find that our own country offers the
most striking illustrations. Owing to the peculiar circum-
stances of our situation, the results of competition among
employers have developed more here than abroad.
Though repeated conflicts with their workmen have led to
a certain feeling of common interest in the matter of labor,
and even to frequent combinations for mutual defense against
the demands of employees, yet on the other hand the princi-
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE LV UNITED ST.tTES 83
pIe of competition has until recently made them almost
Ishmaelites in their business relations with one another.
Those rcsources to which we ha\"e referred as mitigating
the suffering of employees haye not in the same way been
available to the employers. Tied down to their large in-
vestments of fixed capital, t h e ~ " haye too often bcen com-
pelled to stand and fight out to the cnd this war without
quarter. In every such warfare the number of combatants
tends to decrease. As old riyals are killed off, the successful
sun"iYors acquire greater skill and greatcr power in the con-
flict. With the passage of time greater and greater equip-
ment is required to give any hope of a successful strugglc.
There are industries in which no such concentration has
taken place, but for a great and possibly growing number
of industries our description holds true. Thus, in spite of
the enormous growth of our industries and population, the
relative number of competitors in many industries has of
late shown noticeable decrease. \Ve cite but one instance,
that of the iron and steel industry. In the forty years after
1870 the number of plants cngaged in this type of manufac-
ture declined by ten per cent. But during these same years.
the a\"erage output per plant increased in value 671 per cent;
the ayerage amount of capital invested per plant increased
1317 per cent; and the averagc number of employees per
plant increased 313 per cent. This is (\"pical of what is tak-
ing place in an increasing number of industries. It is excep-
tional chiefly in the degree to which concentration has been
carried.
Competition of small producers attained its maximum in
the decade between 1870 and 1880, when it became familiarly
known as " cut-throat" competition. But for the existence
of free land, undeveloped rcsources, and the constant in-
crease of inventions, widespread disaster must have resulted.
Since that time the relative number, and in some cases the
84 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
absolute number, of competitors has decreased in a consider-
able part of the industrial field.
In the census of manufactures, for 1914, a classification
of establishments is made on the basis of the reported value
of their annual product. It appears that 48.6 per cent of the
value of all manufacturcs was produced in establishments of
the highest class, each reporting 81,000,000 or more a year;
and that 84.7 per cent was similarly produced in the two
highest classes, each reporting an annual product of 8100,000
or more a year. In the same way, 35.2 per cent of all employ-
ees reported in manufactures were employcd by establish-
ments of the highest class, and 77.9 per cent by the two high-
est classes combined. The highest class showed increased
percentages for 1914 oYer 1904 and 1909, both for value
of product and for number of employees.
In thc ,\"ears from 1898 - which ma!".ked the close of the
sewre industrial depression that had lasted from 1893-
to 1907, the tendency to concentration became most marked,
many of our greatest industrial combinations dating from
this period. Taking as an illustration, again, the iron and
..
steel business, between 1900 and 1910 the average output
per plant increased in value 76 per cent; and the average
amount of capital invested increased 166 per cent. At the
same time, and undoubtedly as a result, there occurrea an
interesting change in the philosophy of American business
men. Before, they had all given unquestioning allegiance
to the inspiring principle that "competition is the life of
trade." But with the organization of the "billion-dollar
steel corporation" and other mammoths of the same class,
there came an about-face, and in recent years many great
industrial managers have vied with the socialists in insist-
ing that not competition, but combination or cooperation,
is the life of trade. We shall have occasion later to con-
sider the measure of truth in this claim; here we are con-
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN UNITED ST.4TES 85
cerncd only to note the origin of this interesting change in
business philosophy.
Recently the movement toward large-scale industry has
takcn on another phase. In addition to concentration of in-
dustry, we are now having a rapidly increasing integration
of industry. Large business concerns are finding it prof-
itable to carryon, under one management, several stages of
production that formerly represented separate industries,
and also in many cases other closely rclated industries. Thus
the Standard Oil Company not only produces a considerable
amount of crude oil, but it carries most of the " crude" of
the country to refineries through its own pipe lines; makes its
own auxiliary materials and aids to marketing, such as sul-
phuric acid, boxes, barrels, cans, etc.; produces numerous
kinds of kerosene, gasolene, lubricating oils, paraffin, as-
phalt, etc.; and carries its own finished products to home and
foreign markets through its own agencies of distribution,
including a great fleet of tank steamers.
Monopolies. - Concentration of industry may be incom-
plete or complete. Incom.plete concentration resulting from
combination m.ay not lessen competition at all; it may even
increase the sharpness and bitterness of the competition. It
simpl.'>' gives business into the hands of those producers who
are best ablc to continue it under the vigorous conditions
which existing competition imposes upon the rivals. But
when concentration in any industry is complete, we have the
entire industry under the management of a single individual,
partnership, or corporation. When such a state of things
exists, or is so nearl.'>' approached that a single unified man-
agement can exercise control over the supply, and hence
over the price of the product, we have a monopoly.
We might naturally expect that where the tendency to
concentration is strongest, as in the United States, the tend-
ency to ~ o m p l e t e concentration, or monopoly, would also
86 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONO/,flCS
be strongest, and American experience would seem to justify
the expectation. Thus two of the great problems now before
the people of our country are those connected with the con-
centration and integration of industry, which leads to the
so-called trusts, and with the complete concentration of an
industry, which is monopoly.
It is particularly in the class of so-called natural monnpolie8
that the development has in recent times been most rapid
and most startling. X atural monopolies are those that rest,
not upon the will of society, but upon the economic charac-
teristics of the business itself. Such, for instance, are all
the monopolies of transportation and communication. The
reason for the unusual de\'elopment of the monopoly prob-
lem in our own time lies in the fact that the whole transport
system of the world has been developed within little more
than seventy years.
II. SOCIAL REGI'LI.TIO)/ OF CmIPETITIOX IX TIlE eXITED
STATES
Labor Legislation. - Labor legislation is important a uri
essential. As our country becomes more" industrialized"
an increasing proportion of our people depend wholly or
mainly for their subsistence upon the sale of their labor
power. This transfer of labor, or the wage bargain, is
vitally different from other bargains which merely in\'olw-
the transfer of property from one ovl'l1er to another. Wher;
the laborer delivers that which he sells, his labor power, he
must deliver himself with it; it is a part of him, it is his life.
To the dealer in building materials, it makes no difference
whether a carload of bricks be used in a palace or a sewer;
but whether his labor be used in one way or another makes
all the difference in the world to the laborer. And the
laborer usually has little choice; he must combine his labor
with the other factors of production which are controlled
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN UNITED STATES 87
by someone else. For the most part, in the past, he has been
compelled by necessity to sell his labor under those conditions
which the buyer offered - to accept not merely the wages,
but the hours, the speed, and the hazard of disease and ac-
cident as well. The laborer has sought to strengthen his
bargaining power by organization and combination, but
with varying degrees of success. In some industries, tem-
porarily, he has been able to dictate the terms of the labor
contract to his employer. But in the main our experience
also demonstrates that such efforts by the workers them-
selves must be supplemented by legislation.
\Ye have already noted and explained the fact that the
misery and degradation of the wage-earning classes, which
in England \cd to a reaction in favor of an active policy of
government, were not felt sO quickly or so keenly in the
rnited States. "'ith us, therefore, there was in earlier days
no urgent demand for legislation in behalf of the workers.
Similar conditions, however, led in the end to like results,
and in most of the commonwealths of the American "Lnion
and on the Federal statute books as well, we now have a
considerable body of factory legislation for the protection
of the wage-earners and for the promotion of their welfare.
Legislation by States. - Massachusetts, among the fore-
most of the states in the extent of her manufacturing in-
terests, was naturally among the earliest to pass labor
laws. The spread of such legislation in our country illus-
trates the principles which we have already explained, for
in general it has followed the line of industrial development
as it spread from New England to the Wcst and South.
Within recent years, however, state pride and a quickened
social sense have led many relatively non-industrial states
to imitate the labor codes of their industrial neighbors, and
a gratifying advance has marked tne opening years of the
twentieth century. The movement has been especially
88 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
rapid in recent years. Between 1916 and 1920, "twelve
new commonwealths enacted workmen's compensation
laws, leaving by HJ20 only six which had not taken this
first step in a comprehensive social insurance program .
. . . Three new states adopted the eight-hour day for women,
and five jurisdictions enacted minimum wage legislation .
. . . Despite a few setbacks, the trend has been strongly to-
ward more thorough protection of thc lives and welfare of
the wage-earning population." *
The protection of child workers particularly has made
gratifying advances. For example, in 1922, thirty-two states
forbade children under sixteen working more than eight hours
a day in factories; forty-one states prohibited night work in
factories to children undcr this age; while forty-two states
excluded such children entirely from work in mines and quar-
ries. In 1922, all statcs cxcept three hltd at least a fourteen-
year age limit for general factory work. These measures,
supplemented by compulsory education laws and a better
adaptation of school systems to local needs, go far to improve
the condition of the present generation of workers, and to
promote the well-being of future generations.
Several of the Southern states in which capital from the
northeastern part of the country, and particularly from ..'Jew
England, has been largely invested during the last three
or four decades, have been slow in attaining high standards
in labor legislation. This lack of progress is not to be at-
tributed wholly to the selfishness of the employers and to
their influence on legislation. Some, to be sure, have fought
all efforts at reform; but to an increasing degree employers
are now taking the lead in procuring the enactment of higher
standards. Difficulties peculiar to the South have hin-
dered reform. Many o{ the factory operatives are recruited
from the mountain sections, - types in which individuality
Common. and Andrews: Principles of Labor Legislation, 1920 edition.
THE INDUSTRIAL K, AGE IN UNITED STrlTES 89
is strongly developed. They themselves resent any inter-
ference by thc state in the terms of their own or of their
children's labor contracts. Moreover, laws which merelv
prevent child labor, for example, are not enough; they mu;t
be accompanicd by opportunities for education and whole-
some recreation. Until communities are willing to spend
money for schools, libraries, and playgrounds, and until
parents themselves prefer these things for their children,
rather than the pittancc which the children add to the family
income, there can be little real progress. As a recent writer
has put it, "Not an unoccupied, but a well-occupied child-
hood is the aim of child labor reform."
It is found that all those Southern states which to a
certain extent compete with Massachusetts and other K ew
England states in textile manufactures, repeat many of the
dark pages of early English experience. While they are
possibly gaining a temporary industrial advantage over the
older states, public opinion is rapidly organizing to protest
against a temporary industrial advantage gained at the cost
of the permanent wclfare of the workmen of the South as
well as of ]Vlassachusetts. True, some of the advantages
possessed by the Southern states arc derived from climate,
proximity to raw material, the absence of antiquated ma-
chinery, etc. If, with good labor laws well enforced, these
advantages are not ofIsct by the better labor market of
Massachusetts, her greater accumulation of specialized cap-
ital, with lower interest charges, her lower freight charges,
her nearness to the consumers' markets, her helpful tradi-
tions of production, etc., the new states will confer a bene-
fit upon society by producing the goods, even though it be
at a serious temporary cost to the old New England state.
In spite of the peculiar difficulties, such as those referred to
above, the South has made real advance in recent years,
an advance under difficulties which entitle her leaders to the
90 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
more credit. She has started on that path along which
England, Massachusetts, and other oloer industrial regions
have labored. It is not improbable that in a few more years
the individualism of workers and the desire to increase out-
put and profits on the part of many employers will yield
first place to the higher permanent intere5ts of the commu-
nitv and the \wlfare of all its people.
Legislation by the Federal Government. - The Fnited
States Government has enacted a compensation law for
its own employees which stands as a model for other
nations; likewise, for its own employees, it has established
the eight-hour day. In 1916 the basic eight-hour day was
extended to the railway industry. During the war period
a country-wide employment service was maintained. In 1920
the Federal Civil Service Retirement Act was passed; and in
the same year a measure providing national aid to the several
states for the vocational re-training of industrial cripples.
]\{eanwhile Supreme Court decisions have sustained state
laws regulating the hours of labor for men, minimum wage
laws, and several types of workmen's compensation laws.
lVIoreover, because of the backwardnpss of some states
in labor legislation, and because of the lack of uniformity
in those state laws already enacted, the Fcderal government
has made an effort to extend its power particularly in the
matter of protecting child workers. The first Federal Child
Labor Law, enacted in 1916, was hailed as a new Emancipa-
tion Proclamation. It was based on the right of the national
government to regulate interstate commerce. It prohibited
the shipment in interstate commerce of the products of
mines, quarries, shops, factories, and canneries in which
child labor was employed contrary to the provisions of the
* of the United States Supreme Court, April, 1923, declaring
the mInImUm wage la\"\' for the District of Columbia unconstitutional.
promises to reopen this whole lJ.ue:::tion,
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN UNITED STATES 91
Act. These provisions were that children under sixteen
years of age should not be employed in mines and quarries,
that childrcn under fourteen years of age should not be
in shops, factories, and canneries, and that be-
tween the ages of fourteen and sixteen thev should not be
at night or for more than eight hours a day. This
law was epoch-making in the history of social legislation in
the united States. But an attack on its constitutionality
was upheld by lTnited States Supreme Court in 1918,
on the ground that it was an undue extension of power to
regulate interstate commerce.
In 1919 Congress enacted a second Federal child labor
act, incorporating the same protective standards as were
included in the law of 1916, but basing the law on the
Federal taxing power. The law imposed a tax of ten per
cent on the net profits of any producer who violated its
provisions. In May, 1922, this act also was declared uncon-
stitutional, on much the same grounds as those on which the
law of 1916 had been invalidated. The Court emphasized
its belief that the real intent of the law was not to impose a
which is within the power of the national government,
but to inflict a penalty for the purpo:;e of enforcing certain
regulations; and that such regulatory powers were, by the
amendment, reserved to the several states.
Those who desire to see the national government clothed
with such regulatory powers now contemplate a movement
to amend the Federal Constitution so that such a measure
must be sustained by the courts. The motives back of this
movement are commendable; but at the same time many in-
(:elligent people sincerely interested in the welfare of the
child workers oppose the entry of the national government
into this field. They argue that the states are in different
stages of industrial and social development, are making
progress at varying rates, and that public sentiment and
92 ELEMENTAilY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
other conditions vary widely. Some thoughtful people
too are disturbed at the gradual encroachment of Federal
upon state authority in so many directions. Others see in-
superable difficulties in the national administration of such
la\ys. All these people bdieve that legislation by the in-
dividual states will meet the situation more effectually.
On the whole, while considerable progress has been made,
the labor legislation of our country leaves much to be desired.
It is particularly weak with reference to collective hargaining,
the right to strike, the settlement of industrial disputes, and
social insurancc. The lack of uniformity and the possible
conflict between state and Federal authority, as noted in
preceding paragraphs, are additional sources of weakness.
Legislation against Adulteration. - America and England
have also differed in their readiness to give heed to the adul-
teration of goods and the falsification of wares. And yet
we have certainly had need of some action in these matters.'
Not only have we become painfully familiar with goods of the
sort that unrestrained competition always produces, and
that are known in England by the expressive term "cheap
and nasty," but we have also with us, as commonly as any-
where else in the world, adulterations that menace life and
health. The faet that the theory of non-interference has
never been so completely shattered here as in England by
the pressure of labor interests, couplcd with the fact of the
delicate balance of authority between state and nation,
probably accounts in considerable measure for our general
reluctance to intrust to our government the duty of inspect-
ing wares. \Vithin recent years more serious attention
has been given to the matter, the Federal government and
many states have moved rapidly and vigorously in the pre-
vention of adultcration, and the growing interest in economic
questions is likely to result in a better realization of our co-
operative power and duty.
THE INDUSTRIAL STL1GE IN UNITED STATES 93
Social Control of Monopoly. - The question of the right
relation of organized society to industry has nowhere proved
more embarrassing and difficult than in the case of monop-
olies, and especially of the great class of monopolies which
lye have called natural. Here, even more than elsewhere,
it has been brought home to men that the laissez-faire phi-
losophy and practice cannot safely be accepted. The his-
tory of attempts to control these monopolies is long and
confusing, but we may distinguish three fairly distinct
methods: attempts to enforce competition, public control,
and public ownership.
1. Attempts to Enforce Competition. - When the monopoly
problem on a vast scale first presented itself, society was
still possessed by the idea of the beneficence and sufficiency
of the rule of self-interest. It was natural, therefore, to
attempt to enforce competition in the new field of industry.
Railway charters and charters for municipal service corpora-
tions were granted freely, even recklessly, in the belief that
competition would thus be secured. But competition can-
not exist where monopoly is natural, as will be explained
in a later chapter. The whole history of attempts to secure
such competition is a history of failure. A single illustration
may serve our purpose. The state of New York gave a rail-
charter to the 'Vest Shore Company, which constructed
a line parallel to that of the New York Central. In granting
the charter, the state attempted to enforce real and perma-
nent competition by stipulating that the should never
be sold to its rival. Yet after a few of disastrous
rate" wars," the new road was leased to the Central in 1885
for 4i5 years. The same experience has been repeated, again
and again, as often as the experiment has been tried.
2. Public Control. - The second method of solving the
social problem il1\"olyed in natural monopolies is that of
public control or regulation. This mt'thod began to be
94 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
tried about fifty years ago with the rise of thc " granger"
movement, whi"ch was at first a mere unorganized uprising
of farmers against railway abuses, but which later developed
into an organized movement, having as its centcr the" Order
of the Patrons of Husbandry," - commonly known as the
" grangers," - founded in 1867. The political influence
of this body forced many Middle Western states to pass
laws regulating railway rates and binding the roads by other
rules of action. l\Iuch of this legislation was so ill-consid-
ered that it was soon repealed, and the movcmcnt itself was
thereby for a time discredited. But much of it was well
founded, and a renewal of the effort resulted in the creation
of state and Federal railway commissions, with certain powers
of supervision, adjudication, and control.
The opening years of the twentieth century have witnessed
a further advance in public regulation of public servicc mo-
nopolies. It is not many years since Secretary of State
Hughes, then Governor of Xew York Statc, after an un-
usually bitter struggle with the leaders of his party, succeeded
in securing for his state the law creating Public Sen-ice
Commissions and gi,-ing to them a really effective control.
The cxample of i\'ew York State has been widely followed,
and for the time being there is perhaps a more confident
hope than ever before that society can solve the problem
of monopoly through administrative control, while leaving
ownership and management in private hands.
This growing confidence in the possibility of regulation is
reflected in the law passed by Congress in 1914, establishing
a Federal Trade Commission, charged with the duty of
regulating trusts, - or great industrial combinations,-
very much as the Interstate Commerce Commission and the
various state Public Service Commissions have been charged
with the duty of regulating railways and other public serv-
ice monopolies.
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN UNITED STATES 95
And yet it must be admitted that the policy uf public
control has hitherto proved difficult of application, not only
in the case of railways, but also in the case of the large class
of municipal natural monopolies. "'ealthy corporations,
retaining the best legal talent, have shown endless ingenuity
in evasion, and great power in retaliation, as is abundantly
shown in the annual reports of the rnited States Interstate
Commerce Commission and in the recent experiences of the
Federal Trade Commission. On the other hand, demagogues
have too frequently sought to gain votes and popular sup-
port by unjust and oppressive measures directed against large
corporatiuns. As a consequence it is difficult tu secure that
unprejudiced consideration of railway rates, street-car fares,
and other regulatory measures which is 'required to promote
the general welfare.
3. Public OwneriJhip. - The great difficulties in the way
of successfully applying either of thc first two methods have
led a considerable proportion of our people to look with favor
upon the method of publ;c ownership of natural monopolies,
with or without government management of the business.
In the case of municipal waterworks, the practice already
obtains very generally. An increasing number of cities are
taking into their own hands other forms of municipal service.
Technical and political considerations make it quite possible
that a giYen city may w i s e l ~ ' own one form of municipal
monopoly and at the same time refrain, with equal wisdom,
from taking over others. This question will be further
considered in a later chapter. * Then'fore, we need only
add in closing that the solution of the monopoly problem
certainh lies to-day between the methods of public reg-
. .
ulation and public ownership.
* Part III, Ch. XXIII, on Monopolies and Monopoly Values.
96 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
SUMMARY
l. In the United States, owing to the absence of established handi
crafts in the eighteenth century and to the abundance of free
land and other opportunities, the transition to the industrial
stage was not marked by great violence or suffering in the case
of the workers.
2. The intcnsity of competition in the United States has been felt
more keenly by the manufacturers, and concentration of in-
dustry has thus been hastened.
3. American cxperience confirms that of England in condemning
unrestrained competition.
4. The United States has fonnd it necessary to give up the /ais.<ez-
faire policy and to adopt a policy of social regulation of labor,
monopoly, etc.
5. The tendency to complete conccntration of industry, or monop-
oly, gives rise to grave social problems.
6i Three methods of solving the monopoly problem have been tried:
enforced competition, public control, and public ownership.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. Contrast the Industrial Reyolution in the United States with th2
same change in England, (I) as regards the workers; (I,) as
regards employers.
2. What has been the effect of the mobility of population in tbe United
States?
3. What is integration of industry; complete concentration; natural
monopoly'?
4. Mention some of tbe ways in which the government in the Unitcd
States regulates competition.
5. Name and explain the different experiment.s in attempting to
solve tbe monopoly problem.
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Can you think of any economic, social, and political conditions
in the Americ:1n colonies that would naturally give the laissez-
faire philosopby an exceptionally strong position among the people
of our country?
2. Has tbe constitution (0) of the United StOltes, (b) of your state,
any traces of tbe laissez-faire philosophy?
THE INDUSTRIAL STAGE IN UNITED STATES 97
J. Is the mobility of population likely to continue as great as it
been?
4. Is a tendency to concentration observable in agriculture in the
1)nited States; in any other country; in commerce; in min-
ing? If should develop throughout the whole
oi industry, can you predict any probable political and social
consequences?
3. When was the United States Steel Company incorporated; in
what state? What is its capitalization; its annual earnings?
"hat illustrations does it afford of concentration; of integration?
6. Is child labor in the rnited Stutes increasing in proportion to the
growth of our population? Is child idleness an evil of national
If so, what do you suggest in th" way of remedies?
7. Make a report on the number of American women in industry
and the widening range of their occupations. Study the figures
given in the Fourteenth Census.
LITERATURE
Adams, Elizabeth Kemper: Women Professional Workers.. a study
made for the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, 192L
Bogart, E. L.: Economic History of the United States, Part IV.
Callender, G. S.: Selections from the Economic History of the United
States, Chs. VIII-IX.
Carver, T. N.: Principles of Politico I Economy, Chs. IV, V.
Clay, Henry: Economics for the General Reader, Chs. VI-VIII, XXV.
Coman, Katherine: The Industrial History of the United States, es-
pecially Chs. X-Xl.
Commons and Andrews: Principles of Labor Legislation (1920 edition).
Ely, R. T .. ]IJonopo/ies (!nd Tru8ts, Ch. V.
Ely, R. T.: The Evo/ution of Industrial Society, PI'. 58-r,6.
Jenks, J. W.: The Trust Problem.
Johnson, E. R.: American Railway Transportation, Chs. II - III.
King, 'V. 1.: The Wealth and Income of the People of the United States.
Marshall, L. C.: Readings in Industrial Society, 253, 258, 293,
297-99, 300-08.
Marshall and Lyon: Our Economic Organization, pp. 250-64.
Van Hise, C. R.: Concentration and Control; A Solution of ike Trust
Problem in the United States.
Wright, C. D.: The Industrial Evo'ution of the United States, Pt. II,
Ch. XIV, pp. 174-189.
CHAPTER IX
PRESENT DAY FORCES AT WORK IN ECONOMIC
EVOLUTION
THE preceding chapters (Cbs. IV-VIII) describe in a sum-
mary way the transformations that han been effected in
the economic life of mankind within the relatively short
period of recorded history. From those primitive economic
arts and practices \yhich in the early days yielded them a
precarious and always meager livelihood, men have pro-
gressed slowly to their present level of economic productive-
ness and comfort. Among some barbarous and semi-savage
peoples we may to-day observe what was, substantially, the
manner of making a living not many centuries ago among
the ancestors of the most highly "industrialized" peoples
of the modern western world. We have noted how the
masses of men who do the work of the world cast off gradu-
ally and with much effort the thralls of legal servitude and
became "free" laborers, fully competent legally to enforce
contracts into which they had voluntarily entered; and
under the right of unrestricted association thus gained we
see men coming together to bargain collectively as to the
terms under which they would work. We have noted how in
modern times legislative bodies, which the workers in part
control through their ballots, have passed laws which give
substance and reality to the slowly-won personal freedom
which otherwise might have remained merely nominal.
vVe have seen, too, how individuals and groups o ~ c e econom-
ically isolated, reciprocally SUSpICIOUS, and potentially hos-
o ~
ECONOMIC EVOLUTION
99
tile, have been drawn together and bound into cooperating
groups as a result of economic activity. Economic self-
sufficiency of the past has yielded to individual and national
interdependence; the production of material things has
become a social enterprise which is ordinarily incomplete
or futile until its products are exchanged, in part at least,
for other socially made products. The processes of exchange
ha\e evolwd from primitive barter to what we ca!! credit
economy. All these changes were discouragingly slow in
getting under way; but once started, they advanced with
greater rapidity, and became ever more comprehensive,
until England and to a less degree, the whole
\\estern world, appeared to be abruptly transformed by what
we call the" industrial revolution."
Economic Evolution a Continuous Process. - It is easy
to fall into the habit of thinking and speaking of the "in-
dustrial rcvolution" as a thing of the past, as a chapter that
is elosed, - a chapter withal, so filled with action and events
that whole peoples were bewildered and confused. But is
it the final chapter? May it not rather be the prelude to
yet greater changes which may come in the lifetime of stu-
dents of to-day? Arc not some of these changes already
manifest? Has not the generation now living seen eco-
nomic changes as far-reaching as any that earlier generations
witnesscd? May we not now be in the midst of " industrial
revolution" ? Are the nations of the world about to throw
off the economic separatism of the recent past and come
together with a common recognition of their economic
unity? It is these questions to which we shall give our
attention in this chapter.
Recent Economic Changes. - Some of the outstanding
recent changes in our economic lifc have to do with the mech-
anism and methods of primary production. (1) In agricul-
ture, the internal combustion engine for traction and other
100 ELEll'IENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
power purposes has become an essential part of farm opera-
tions. Agricultural education, as promoted by our experi-
ment stations, agricultural colleges, high schools, and country
schools, by the county agent, by the agricultural press, and
bv numerous other voluntary public and private agencies,
improved incalculably the technique of farming. New
varieties of staple products, such as drought or frost resist-
ant wheat or corn, long staple cotton and specialized breeds
of domestic animals have made possible the profitable ex-
tension of farming in various directions. The development
of dry farming, of irrigation projects, and of improved de-
vices for draining or' clearing lands is bringing under man's
dominion thousands of acres that a few years ago were re-
garded as hopeless waste. (2) The 1dilization of mlr mineral
resources has been subject to similar improvements and
economies, due largely to the application of machine pro-
cesscs and technical knowledge. The partial substitution
of machinery for human effort in this irksome and
field of labor, the economical use of by-products which ,wre
formerly wasted, and the dewlopment of new uses for min-
eral products, for example, oil for fuel, or cement in multi-
tudinous construction projects, are achievements of the
present generation. (3) Manufacturing progress has been
even more striking. l\ilachines at once pO"'erful and deli-
cate, perform their tasks with wondrous accuracy and light-
ning specd - machines" almost human" in some respects,
and superhuman in others. In all phases and stages of the
working up of raw materials, specialized and technical knO'\vl-
edge has been pressed into service and is functioning in the
avoidance of waste, in the profitable utili:>:ation of by-prod-
ucts, in adapting the form of business organi:>:ation to the
of business conducted, in the fuller utilization of the
gains made possible by "scientific management," and in
innumerable other ways. Kor must we ignore new manu-
ECO.vOMIC EVOLUTION
101
facturing enterprises which haye come rapidly to colossal
size: notable among these are the automobile factories, the
value of whose output in 1919 was surpassed by only two
other industries, and which in that year employed about
400,000 men; and the closely related rubber industry which
increased fourfold in the fh'e years following 1914. The
airplane industry is yet younger, but has already gro,Yn to
considerable size. Other great modern industries "'hich
were or relatiyely unimportant a few decades
ago are found in the procluction of aluminum, coal-tar prod-
ucts, electrical machinery and apparatus, gas oengines, and
mO"ing pictures. Further illustrations will {)ccur to the
thoughtful sludent.
:\ot less striking than the facts mrntioned in the prrced-
ing paragraphs is (4) the actual and projected 1dilization of
power resources othrr than coal and steam. The use of
hydro-electric power for driying machinery and railway
trains, for heating, and for lighting homes and office build-
ings, its use, in short, as an economical, efficient, and cleanly
substitute for coal wherever coal is used, has passed
the stagc of experiment. Great power plants are already
in operation, distributing their oycr radii of hundreds
of miles. Some people refer to our water power as "white
coal," while others, perhaps too enthusiastic for the impend-
ing change in power application, refer to it as the "white
reyolution." It is not probable, however, that hydro-elec-
tric power, or eYen electric energy generated by the burning
of coal, will or can supplant entirely our present power de-
vices; at best this source will remain merely supplemental
to our other sources of power. Other projects which mnny
people regard as visionary, but which some scientific men
have pronounced by no means unattainable in the future,
are the utilization for power purposes of the direct rays of
the sun, and of the rise and fall of the ocean tides. Such 8
102 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
harnessing of the limitlcss of forces of nature to do the
work of the world would indeed presage a real economic
re\'olution.
But perhaps the most remarkable achievements of the
present generation have to do ,,,ith (5) in means
of and communicatiun. 'iVe have already re-
ferred to the magnitude of the automobile industry; its
influence on the economic life of the American nation is at
least commensurate with its size. In 1921, there were
nearly ten and one-half millions of motor driven vehicles
in the Unite<J States; the rest of the world had less than one-
fifth as many. Of this number, more than 9,300,000 were
" "dl'd"'l
passenger cars, an t IC remam er were commercIa
\Thicles " ; 1 it is estimated, however, that at least ninety per
cent of the first group are used more or less for business pur-
poses. It is calculated that in the year 1921, the" passenger
mileage" by motor car was nearly 71 billions, as against
37.3 billions by steam but the ton mileage of
freight moved by motor truck was less than 6.5 billions as
compared to 306.8 billions steam railways, The speed,
connnience, and general adaptability of this form of trans-
portation, both for human heings and for commodities, ex-
plain its popularity and its rapid growth. We should note,
hmve\'er. that from the economic point of view this business
can be carried on as it has been onlv because communities
tax themselves to build improved highways. If the motor
transport business were compelled to carry its share of the
upkeep of highways as the railways are burdened with their
"maintenancc of way" charges, could it continue on the
prcsent basis? Is it not true that we " ship by truck" in
preferencc to railways, to the extent we do only because the
. . .
motor truck is subsidized, unconsciously for the most part,
. *Statistirs from" Facts and Figures of the Automobile Industry," pub--
lished by Xational Automobile Chamtwr of Commerce. 1922.
ECONO;'ff IC EVOLUTION
103
by the community? Another invention that promises
much for the future, is the airplane. A viation has not vet
been developed as an economic project in carrying
and passengers; but it has, in a limited degree, shortened
distances and speeded up business by carrying mail. That
aviation has commercial possibilities is generally admitted.
The dictionaries our fathers used when they went to
school did not contain the word "aviation," or the word
" d "t t "d"" .
ra 10 III I S presen sense, or ra IOgram, or wire-
less." These words have become a part of our popular
vocabulary within the lifetime of young now under
twenty years of age. What the future development of the
industries described by these words will be, and what these
industrics hold for the future life of the world is a specula-
tion that lies beyond the province of this book. We should
observe, however, that the arts of wireless telephony and
telegraphy ha\"e not only expedited transportation on sea
and on land, but they havc made it safer. Also within our
own country there is probably not a county, possibly not
a township outside of our uninhabited desert and mountain
lands which docs not have one or mo!"e receiving sets that
are able to "tune in " on various" broadcasting stations."
Thus sections of the country far removed from one another
are in continuous and instantaneous communication; all
over the land, people receive through the air not only en-
tertainment and gencral instruction, but also specific in-
formation of practical value, such as market reports and
weather forecasts. By means of this agency the work of
the world is done with a more intciligent appreciation of the
economic needs and conditions of the world, and by such
means communities are more closely bound in all social
relationships. By these same agencies our nation is bound
to other nations and to other continents. A recently or-
ganized "radio corporation" has announced trans-Atlantic
104 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
communication at about one-sixteenth the former prevalent
cable rate.
The capacity, speed, and regularity of freight trains and
ocean liners are quite superior a ~ compared to what they were
a few years ago. Efficicnt mechanical devices for handling
commodities, refrigeration or other processes for preserving
perishables in transit or in storage, and numerous improve-
ments in the mechanism of commerce, in conjunction with
improvements in the means of communication just referred
to, have combined to widen thc markets of the nation and
of the world! For example, apples from Oregon, .:\ew York,
and the Ozarks may constitute a part of the stock of the
typical American retailer; cotton from Egypt or the Im-
perial Valley, and wheat from India or North Dakota are
bought and sold in the same market on the same day. Rep-
resentatives of enterprising firms search remote corners of
the world for commodities of different or better quality, or
of slightly. lower price. Individuals, regions, and nations
meet in the markcts of the world, and through these markets
the economic life of a community draws its sustenance from
other widely separated communities; regional and national
interdependence has been developed to a degree unthought
of a ccntury ago. Such interdependence is intensified by
tbe organization of numerous groups into local, national, or
even international associations for the cooperative cxercise
of economic functions, or for the developmcnt of more effi-
cient means for the exercise of these functions under the
prevalent conditions of competition. In our own country,
those persons engaged in practically all important lines of
economic activity - agricultural, industrial, commercial,
and professional - are organized into national "associa-
tions" of some sort which meet in frequent conventions.
Some groups have made their organizations international,
and "international congresses" are increasingly influential.
ECONOMIC EVOLUTION
105
The several " economic conferences" held since the signing
of the armistice, and participated in directly or indirectly
b ~ ' representatives from most of the important nations, em-
phasize the increased interdependence of the peoples of the
world.
Possible Significance of These Changes. - Changes and
improvements such as we have discussed in the machinery
and technique (1) of the extractive industries, (2) of manu-
facturing, (3) of commerce, (4) in the utilization of power
resonrces, and (5) in the means of transportation and com-
munication, are only a part of the considerations which are
called to mind by the questions proposed at the beginning
of this chapter. 'Ve do not presume to have answered these
questions finally; it is doubtful, indeed, whether they can
be answered finally. In this twentieth century, even now,
great changes, uncomprehended and unappreciated by most
of us, are probably under way. Some of these changes were
retarded, others promoted by the great interruption due
to the World \Var. Bitter hatreds were engendered; eco-
nomic ties that had been formed were severed. But on the
whole perhaps more markets are world markets to-day, and
more economic interests have become world interests than
e\'er before. Individuals, communities, and nations are
drawing together anew; their economic lives are more in-
extricably interwoven than ever before. Socially and '('0-
nomically, if not politically, is not some sort of union of the
nations imminent and inevitable '1
SUMMARY
L Economic evolution proceeded slowly up to the period of the in-
dustrial revolution.
2. Economic evolution has been rapid in the past two generations.
3. These changes llave affected all the major fields of economic aetiv-
ity: namely, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation,
merchandising, and communication.
106 ELEME1'iTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
4. The more intimale, and at the same time far-reaching, economic
activities have brought communities and nations into closer
relationships.
QUESTIONS
1. W h ~ t do we me:m when we say that modern production is a social
process?
2. What is the probable influence on the cityward movement of popu-
lation of (a) improved methods of agriculture; (b) increa,rd
variety of articles wanted for consumption; (c) better meaus of
transportation and communication?
3. Is an automobile of even the lowest cost of upkeep a socially eco-
nomical IDeans of transportation?
4. Are highways costing more than $10,000 per mile community
neces,ities or community luxuries? Explain.
5. Discuss the Common assertion that "highways should be feeders,
not competitors, of the railways."
6. Mention some articles of common consumption to-day that were
mrcly or sparingly used a generation ago. Is the increased con-
"ump(ion due to improvements in manufacturing or in transporta-
tion, or to some other cause?
7. Mention some specific ways in which knowledge of weather fore-
casts is an aid to different groups of producers.
S. Do you believe that changes of the type suggested in this chap-
ter warrant the assertion that an industrial revolution is imminent?
LITERATURE
Binder, R. M.: Business and the Professions, 1922. Especially Chs.
VII, VIII, IX, and XXIV.
Lippincott, Isaac: Economic Development of the United States, 1921.
Marshall and Lyon: Onr Economic Organization, 1921, Chs. VII, XIII,
XIV, and elsewhere.
Pound, Arthur: The Iron Man in Indnstry, 1922.
Slosson, E. E.: "Scien('e Remaking the World." (Series of fh'e artides;
gasolene, ('oal-tar, refrigeration, photography, sugar) in World's
Work, Nov.-March, 1922-3.
Smith, J. R.: Commerce and Industry, 1920. Especially pp. 1-26 and
533-60.
Taylor, F. W.: Principles of Scientific Management, 1911.
U. S. Department of Commerce: Statistical Abstract of the United
States, 1921.
BOOK III
THEORY
PART I. CONSUMPTION
CHAPTER X
INTRODUCTORY
UTILITIES AKD GOODS
WE have studied the history of man's efforts to get a
living, and the fundamental conditions which determine all
his efforts to that end. We have now to study analytically
. , ,
the process by which he gets his living to-day, remembering
that the process depends on certain fundamental conditions,
and that these conditions have their roots far in the past.
Reason for Studying Consumption First. - When we in-
quire men display what we call economic activity, we
discover at once that it is because they feel wants which they
aim to satisfy. Man in common with the lower has
certain primary wants for food, clothing, and shelter; these
are bodily wants for material things. Among primitiYe
peoples almost the entire economic activity is directed
towards the crude satisfaction of these wants. As man pro-
gresses, he does not necessarily want more of these material
things, but he does want them of better quality. He i"
not satisfied merely with consuming 2500 calories, more
or less, of energy; he wants three meals a day tastefully,
107
108 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
daintily, and often fastidiously, served. In a similar manner
his wants for clothing and for shelter are exalted and ideal-
ized by his expanding !esthetic nature, so that the com-
modities which finally satisfy these fundamental wants, at
the same time satisfy numerous other wants of a spiritual
or intellectual type. In other words, a standard of living
is established; and the satisfaction of the primary wants
i l l v o l v e ~ an endless procession of habitual or cultural wants.
Man's progress means that at the same time his wants
are expanding in other directions. He wants beauty in
innumerable forms; he wants friends and sociability; he
wants health and knowledge and righteousness. He be-
comes less exclusively selfish and more altruistic. He wants
all of these things not for himself alone, but for members of
his family, or for the community as a whole, or for the state.
t:nfortunately, he develops wants of a baser sort, too. But
however varied the character of these wants, they are all
alike in that their satisfaction depends on utilities; 2iJd,
as is explained in later paragraphs, most of these utilities
are to be classified as " economic goods."
It is worth noting, too, that while an individual want may
be satisfied, its satisfaction usually engenders a new want;
that, in consequence, the sum total of human wants is in-
satiable. In his effort to provide for this ever-growing mul-
titude of wants, man is stimulated to new acth'ity, to greater
eculJomic productivity, tu progress. The desire to consume,
using that word in its broadest sense, is the great moving
force back of the phenomena of the economic world.
Since in any analysis of the subject of wants the methods
of their satisfaction stand most conspicuous, it is therefore
logical to study first of all that branch of economics which
we have called by the name" consumption."
Definitions. - When anything has the power of satisfying
human wants, we say that it is a good thing, or that it pos-
INTRODUCTORY 109
sesses utility. In economics, these words "good" and
" utility" are also made to apply to the things or services
themselves. To give a definition, therefore, we may say
that a good or a utility is anything lehich can satisfy a human
lwnt.
Here we must pause to caution the student that the word
" good" is applied to any such thing even though the thing
ministers to a want that were better left unsatisfied. The
idea from the economic point of view is simply that the
thing is good in the sense of being adaptcd to the want, how-
ever reprehensible the want may be. Kotice that this def-
inition of the term "good" includes not merely material
things such as food and clothes, but also such immaterial
things as personal services. The advice of a and
a new invention are goods that we desire and are willing to
pay for, though they do not exist in any physical form.
Goods or utilities, then, may first be divided into the two
great classes of (1) material things, and (2) personal services.
In the last analysis, of course, all goods rcsolve themselves
into" services," either of human beings, or of other material
things.
Free Goods and Economic Goods. - \"hen we come to
analyze goods further, we find that some of them are given
by nature in such abundance that all of us may have our
wants for them satisfied without effort. Thus, air is a util-
ity of the first importance; but in all ordinary circum-
stances it is so abundant that we can satisfy our wants for
it without any exertion. All such goods are therefore called
free goods.
But we find by hard experience that before we can satisfy
many of our wants, either we ourselves must make efforts,
or others must exert themselves for us. The reason is that
the supply of such utilities is limited either (1) by the im-
possihility of increasing their number or amount at all, as is
110 ELEMENT.4RY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
the case, for instance, with paintings by old masters, or
(2) by the necessity of labor and sacrifice for further increase
in their supply, as is the case with watches and houses, and,
indeed, with the greater number of things with which our
economic life is concerned.
As just stated, these goods as a rule can be obtained
human exertion or sacrifice. And being thus obtained,
they can be exchanged or transferred from hand to hand by
those who possess them. Of course, many goods are of such
a nature that they cannot be readil.\ transferred or - as in
the case of land - be transferred at all. In such
cases, transfer of ttle takes the place of actual transfer of
the goods. Again, it is of course impossible for one IIlan to
transfer to another an;v special ability that he may possess.
But the services which such special ability may enable one
to render may be exchanged for the sen'ices of others or
for material goods, and we regard such services as fall-
ing in the same with the other goods we ha\'e been
describing. All such goods we call economic goods, because
they are the ones that man spends his life in acquiring, and
because the wants for them and the efforts and sacrifices
made in obtaining them are susceptible of such money
measurement as enables them to be the subjeet of scientific
analysis.
The three characteristics of economic goods, then, are
scarcity, cost, and exchangeability. To SUIll the matter up
in the form of a definition: Economic goods are goods which
are so limited in quantity that their possession, on the one hand,
reglliarly requires e.tertion or sacn/ice, and, on the other hand,
gives the opportunity of transferring or e.rchanging them.
When we speak of economic goods taken collectively or in a
body, we use the word wealth, whether the mass of such goods
be great or small.
Different Sorts of Utility. - There are five ways in which
n'iTRODUCTORY 111
material goods can satisfy our wants. In the first place,
it good satisfies our wants by reason of the elements or sub-
stance of which it is composed. Thus, coal is so constituted
that under certain conditions and in certain relations it pro-
duces heat. This utility U'llich a thing possesses by reason of
the clements of which it is composed we call (1) elementary
utility.
But the coal as it is in the mine is not ready to satisfy
man's wants. It must first be broken up by the miner into
such fragments as are convenient for man's purposes. Its
form must be changed. This utility which a good has by rea-
son of the form in which it exists we call (2) form utility. }Ianu-
facturing gives as its result form utilities, and we generally
think of manufactured products when we speak of this kind
of utilities.
When the coal has been changed by labor into a form
fitted for human uses, it is still necessary to convey it to
those who are to use it. The utility which a good has by
reason of being in a place convenient to the user Ife call
(:3) place utility.
Next, this coal, which is made up of elements fitting it for
human use, which has had its form changed by the miner,
and which has now been transported to a place convenient
for its consumption, is kept until the time when it is to be
used. 1'1zc utility which a good has by reason of its beillg
present at a time convenient to the consumer we call (4) time
utility.
Finally, by an act of exchange, the coal passes from the
ownership or possession of the dealer to a consumer. The
utility which a thing has by reason of being in the possessiull
of one person rather than (if another is called (5) possessioll
Illilily. This may perhaps be better understood by consider-
ing a " swap," an act of simple barter. 'When two boys swap
jackknives, it is possiLlc for both knives to have greater
112 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
utility for their new owners than they had before. The new.
and added utility resulting merely from change of possession
is possession utility.
Elementary utility, form utility, place utility, time utility,
and possession utility: these, in their logical order, are all
the sorts of utility that any material goods ever do or can
have. Goods about to be consumed of course have all of
these utilities; but in the case of any particular
some one utility is likely to be of special importance. Thus,
ice in summer has as its most conspicuous utility that of time.
In the same way, great place is added to tea when
it is carried from Japan or to the consumer in an
American town.
Wealth Consumption. - :'Iran satisfies his wants by the
enjoyment of these utilities. In many cases enjoyment of
such utilities inyoh'es the destruction of the goods.
When goods afford such direct satisfaction only in a single
act of enjoyment, they are called perishable goods. Such,
for instance, are coal and food. But there are other things
whose utilities are not destroyed by the user, but by,natural
forces. In such cases, the destruction is usually gradual
and slow. Thus, a house furnishes its utilities to the user
oYer a long period of years. A book, or a carriage affords
satisfaction of human wants in repeated acts of using. To
take an extreme instance, land may be made to afford satis-
faction of human wants through all time. These are dllrable
goods.
Defining, we may say that perishable goods are those that
lose their utilities in a single satisfaction of hllmanll'Unis;
durable goods are those that afford repeated satisfaction of
human wants. The direct satisfaction of human u'anis by
the enjoyment of the utilities in goods is called consumption.
Productive Consumption. - Earlier economists
included under the name consumption a destruction of utili-
IN7'RODUCTORY
113
ties for the purpose of creating new and greater utilities.
Thus, coal, when used in the engines of a factory, was said
to be consumed productively. If we were to call such con-
sumption productive consumption, we should have to use
some distinguishing word in referring to a destruction of
utilities for the direct satisfaction of human wants. The
expression adopted for this purpose was final consumption.
But since productive consumption is only a part of the pro-
cess of production, we may fairly confine the use of the word
" consumption" to the final and immediate satisfaction of
human wants by the enjoyment of the utilities afforded by
goods. What ecollomists once called productive consump-
tion, therefore, we shall call a part of production.
Relation of Consumption to Production. - We must, for
scientific reasons, mark somewhere a distinction between
consumption and production, although, as appears above,
the two often shade into each other. Consumption and
production are correlative. Consumption furnishes the
motive to production. Production affords materials and
services for consumption. Consumption makes production
necessary at the same time that it makes production possible.
To sum up in a word, consumption is the end and condition
of production, and of all economic activity; production is
the means of consumption.
SUMMARY
1. Since want satisfaction forms the motive to all economic activity,
consumption may properly be made the first division of economic
theory.
2. Want satisfiers are called utilities or goods,
3. Free goods are unlimited in quantity and cost us nothing; economic
goods require economic activity in their getting and using.
4. There are five sorts of utility: elementary, form, place, time, and
posseSSIOn,
5. C')llsumption is the use of goods in thc direct satisfaction of human
wants.
114 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
6. Consumption is the end and means of production; production"
the means of consumpt.ion.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. \\'hat is the importance of Ula1lts in " ~ t u d y of ceanomie phenomena?
2. Why is consumption first studied'?
3. What is a good or utility? VBe each word in two sentences to
show the difference between the technical economic Wie an, I
the non-technical.
4. Give illust.mtions of free goods; of ('conomic !,oods.
5. Define elementary utility; form utility; place utility; time util-
ity; possession utility.
6. What is the fa!lacy in the statement (hat tI,e farmer alone is a pro-
ducer?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Is air ever an economic good; sunshine? Is water !'ver a frce
good?
2. Is the farmer the only producer? ,
3. Is the name consumption to be applied to the use of corn in fatten-
ing hogs? Is the wearing out of a suit of clothes by a workman
consumption or a part of the proc!'ss of production'? If workers
are not consumers, who can be consumers?
4. Give examples of elementary, form, place, time, and possession
utilities.
5. Give examples of perishable and of durable goods.
LITERATURE
Carver, T. ~ . : Principles of Political Economy, eh. XXXVIII.
Devine, E. R.: Economics, Ch. V, pp. 73-78.
Fetter, F. A.: Economics, Ch. III.
Gide. Charles: Political Economy, pp. 1-4,35-44,693-95.
P"tten. S. N.: The Consumption of Wealth.
CHAPTER XI
THE LAW OF DIMINISHING UTILITY
Illustrations of the Law. - As explained in the
chapter, the wants of men are innumerable and, considered
as a whole, are never satisfied. There seems to be no limit
to the yariety of things desired. But if we single out any
one commodity, we find that our desire for it is limited. We
ha'"e all heard of the king who wanted gold and who got so
much that he finally loathed the sight of it. The story of
King Midas is but an illustration of what the economists
call the law of diminishing utility or the lale of satiable demand.
Let us consider the case of a desert truyeler, who, having
long before exhausted his supply of water, comes upon an
oasis with a cooling spring. The first cup of water may save
his life, and would therefore haye a utility which we may call
absolute. A second cup may still ha,"e a very high degree
of utility; but if we suppose him to continue the drinking,
we know that the later additions to his satisfaction will
gradually grow less and that he cannot proceed without
coming to a point where any further consumption will cause
not pleasure but pain.
This is illustrated graphically by the figures on page 116.
In Figure 1, let the equal spaces 1, 2, 3,4,5,6,7 on the line OX
represent equal portions of water, and let the perpendicular
lines reprcsent the height to which satisfaction rises in drink-
ing the respective portions. Then the parallelograms would
represent the total satisfaction derived from the successive
115
11ti ELEJlENTA.RY PRINCIPLES OF ECOjl/OMICS
acts of consumption. It will be noticed that the first par-
allelogram is left open at the top. This is because in the
example the utility of the first cup of water, since it saved
life, is not sU:iceptible of measurement. The line
a at the right, therefore, is in such a case to be
thought of as a continuing line rather than as
b terminating at a.
If now we think of the successive portions,
I---.c or increments, of the water as very
small, - mouthfuls, for in-
r----,cZ J
stance, - our figure would l:1Ve
1---, to b2 drawn as in Figure
2. Here, as before, the
f utility of the first
t water con-
4 5 fj Z 8 x sumed is ab-
F!G. 1 solute, and
tl}('fpfore the cur\ed line AB is represented as not touching
t 1)(' perpendicular 0 Y in any point. The different in-
}' A ('rements consumed are to be thought of as points
along the line OX, and the satisfaction derived from
any increment, as m, is measured by a perpendicu-
lar, as mn, cutting the curve of diminishing utility.
The curve in this case cuts the horizontal OX
in the point B, representing the point at which
utility from the water ceases, and disutility
n would begin should consumption con-
tinue.
With the figures and example
clearly in mind, let us now
___ x consider some
," Flf;. 2 of the partic-
ulars. Each unit of the commodity consumed is called
an increment of supply or an increment of consumutioll.
THE LAW OF DIMIlI']SHII'iG UTILITY 117
The utility of the first unit, which in this case is ab-
solute, is called the initial utility.
If the stock be thought of as cut off at any point along the
OX axis, the utility of the last unit is the marginal utility.
Thus mn measures the marginal utility of stock Om. As
consumption or stock increases along OX, marginal utility
falls. Thus from the point of view of progressive acquisition
or consumption of any good, we may define marginal utility
as the utility of the last 11nit acquired or consumed. Instead
of the term marginal utility, some \\Titers use the term final
utility, and others, effective utility.
The total utility is the sum of the utilities of all the units of
the stock. Kote well, however, that the total utility is not
the marginal utility multiplied by the number of units. It
should rather be thought of as equal to the suffering or in-
convenience that would be caused by withdrawing all the
units one after the other. Precisely because of the facts
summed up in the law of diminishing utility, total utility
is always much greater than the marginal utility multiplied
by the number of units.
But the law ,,-e are studying is of wider application than
to the mere case of consumption. It applies as well to pos-
session. 'Vhenevcr we have a stock of any commodity,
we impute a utility to the commodity, even when we are not
actually consuming it. The law applies therefore to the
utility of the commodity whether we are consuming it or arc
retaining the power to consume it at some future time.
Kote, however, that in the mere possession of a good, as com-
pared ,,jth its actual consumption, the marginal utility of
any giJ;en stock will be the 1dility of any 1mit or increment of
that particular stoele, since the un its or increments are to be
regarded as physically indistinguishable. Thus the utility of
any ton of coal in my cellar is the same as that of any other
ton in the same stock; but the utility of a ton in a stock of
118 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
five tons is in any given circumstances greater than the utility
of a ton in a stock of six tons or ten tons.
Formal Statement of the Law. - \\le are now prepared
for a formal statement of the important economic law of
diminishing utility. It is as follows: At any given time the
marginal utility of any c01rmwdity to its owner decreases with
every increase in the stock possessed or consumed.
Limitation. - Notice that this statement of the law con-
tains the qualification at any given time. The importance
of this qualification becomes evident when we return to a
consideration of our illustration. We know that when the
utility of water has fallen to zero, the satisfaction to be de-
rived from its consumption, after a short lapse of time, again
becomes keen. \Vith the consumption or possession of some
things, the importance of this qualification becomes even
greater. For example, a boy finds that any clothing beyond
a very small amount has a low added utility for him. But
as he grows into young manhood, his wants change so far
that a much larger supply of clothes has as great a marginal
utility as his slender stock had before. Whenever different
times are considered, therefore, we must make complete
allowance for the change of wants in the interval.
Money. - With this in mind, wc may say that the law
of diminishing utility applies to money as to all other goods,
although the rate of diminishing utility is much slower,
because money represents general power and per-
mits variety in consumption. With variety in consump-
tion, as we all know from experience, satiety is reached more
slowly than without it. Nevertheless, at any given time,
the hundredth dollar of one's stock has a lower utility than
the ninety-ninth or any other preceding one. Thus it fol-
lows that to a rich man, other things being equal, money has
less marginal utility than to a poor man.
THE LAW OF DTMINISHING UTILITY 119
SUMMARY
1. The law of diminishing utility explains how increasing a stock of
goods means decreasing the utility per unit of the stock.
2. Initial utility is the utility of the first unit; marginal utility, the
utility of the last unit, the stock being thought of as gradually
increasing.
3. The law of diminishing utility applies unqualifiedly only at a par-
ticular moment of time.
4. The law of diminishing utility applies to money as to other com-
modities.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. How great is the marginal utility of air under ordinary circumstances?
Why? Show the truth of the statement, "the only utility that
matters to us is that of the unit." Illustr,,-te with the story
of the Black Hole of Calcutta.
2. How does the law of diminishing utility apply when the consump-
tion of commodities is carried beyond the point of zero u t i l i t y ' ~
Illustrate by diagram.
3. Give illustrations of the importance of the qurrlifying phrase "at
any given time."
4. What significance has the law as hearing upon the comparative
condition of the rich and the poor?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Does the marginal utility of all commodities decrease at the same
rate? Does the marginal utility of any commodity decrease
at the same rate for all persons? Give illustrations and draw
diagrams to represent differences.
2. Is the marginal utility of a dollar necessarily less for any particular
rich man than for any particular poor man?
3. Distinguish between flowers and weeds in terms of the law of di-
minishing utility. Draw to represent the distinction.
4. Can you think of any tales or proverbs that illustrate the signifi-
cance of the law of diminishing utility?
120 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
LITERATURE
See preceding chapter. Also:
Clark, J. B.: Distribution of Wealth, Ch. XIV, pp. 209-213.
Cunyinghame, H. H.: Geometrical Political Economy.
Devine, E. R.: Economics, Ch. V, pp. 86-92.
Gide, Charles: Political Economy, pp. 5 3 ~ 5 7 .
Marshall, A.: Principles of Economics, Bk. III, Ch. HI, 1-1.
Sm:1rt, William: Introduction to the Theory of Value, eh. V.
CHAPTER XII
DEMAND
The Economic Order of Consumption. - It follows from
the law of diminishing utility that men in satisfying their
wants consume commodities in a f a i r l ~ ' regular order. So
far as they consume things to the best advantage, their con-
sumption is based upon a balancing of these two considera-
tions, - the utility of the goods, and the cost of procuring
them. Therefore, in deciding "'hat wants they will first
satisfy, they will choose those commodities which prornise the
greatest surplus of utility over cost.
To make this clearer let us take a detailed example. St:ppose a boy
with five nickels to spend standing before a booth at a fair, and bent on
satisfying a \Yant for goods there displayed. If peanuts arc five cents
a pint, it may be that his liking f0r them will be great enough to cause
him to make a pint of them his first purchase. But he knows that 11
second pint \Yill satisfy a want less keen than is satisfied by the first.
We may imagine him, then, spending his second nickel on a bag of pop-
corn. In the same way, it may be, a first glass of lemonade will give
him greater enjoyment than would a second pint of peanuts cr a second
bag of popcorn. It is possible that he has no strong desire for the
other goods displayed, and that he can get greater sati,faction from a
second pint of peanuts than from anything else that he ('auld purchase,
although they will afford less enjoyment than he derives from either the
popcorn or the lemonade he has bought. Finally, it is quite possinle
that he \\-ill like a second glass of lemonade betier than a third pint of
peanuts or even a second bag of popcorn, because the action of the la\\'
of diminishing utility is more rapid in his consumption of popcorn than
in his consumption of lemor.ude.
122 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
)low the boy has purchased with hi;; five nickels two pints of peanuts,
onc bag of popcorn, and two glasses of lemonade. The case is the same
whether he buys tbem all at the same time or distributes his purchases
throughout an afternoon. He makes his purchases according to his
judgment as to their varying utility in such a way that he will receive
the maximum enjoyment from his expenditme.
Illustration by Diagram. - Let us illustrate this. Let Figure 1 rep-
re"ent the first commodity, peanuts; Figure 2 the second commodity,
2
m
..
- -
0
I 2
,.
Q'
"
---b
a _ -----b'
,
I
I
I
,
I
1----...
, ,
,
,
3
,
4
,
5
X
FI".
1
--.
,
,
I
I
,
,----
,
Ci"
2
I 3 ' 4
- - X'
FIG.
(1 ,, ______ 1,)l f
--,
co

--, :
;---,
I I : J
I j : 1---..,
I __ , I I
I 'I I 1---...
, 4 I 5 I I I
O"'L.._-,-_2=---c....:'-I..-'-I..-=--l:-:j",-",x" '.0 .. -,-' --.:.' -1-' ---.::J-L'
-' !,)...
FIG. :3 FIG. 4
popcorn; Figure 3 the third, lemonarlc; anellet Figme4 represent any
of the other goods which, tho1lgh displayed, do not tem!'t the boy.
In these figures let successive units of the respective goods be meas-
ured by distance from 0 on the OX axis. Let the parallelograms rep-
resent the satisfaction derived from the consumption of the different
units. It be noticed that the utility of the first unit is greatest iL
the first dIagram, and that it becomes less in each succeeding figure,
but that the utility diminishes more slowly in Figure 3 and Figure 4.
DElIf .. LYD
123
Now let the price of each unit be measured by the distance between
OX and ab in each figure, since this is the same in all cases.
In the diagrams it is evident that purchase will first be made of the
commodity represented in Figure 1, peanuts, since the surplus of satis-
faction oYer cost is greatest in that case, this surplus being measured
by the parallelogram az, which is larger than any of the corresponding
parallelograms m, n, r, 8. The parallelogram n, which represents the
surplus of utility over cost of the first unit of the second rommodity, -
in our illustration, popcorn, - is greater than the parallelogram m,
,,,hich represents the surplus of utility from a second unit of peanuts,
and is also greater than the parallelogram r, which represents the sur-
plus utility from a first unit of the third commodity, - in this case,
lemonade. So, n represents the second purchase. In the Same way
T, being next in size, represents the third purchase; m, the fourth;
and 8, the fifth. Notice in Figure 2 that while the first unit of this
commodity affords a surplus, the second tlnit does not. Again, notice
Figure 4, which represents any of the commodities displayed before
him that the boy is not tempted to purchase with the stock of money
in his possession.
It will be interesting and valuable practice for the student to "ary
these figures to represent llifferent suppositions regarding consumption,
and to carry the process one step farther by supposing the units of the
commodity to be so small that the diminishing utility will be repre-
sented by a curved line instead of by the broken lines that form the top
and part of the right side of the parallelograms in our illustration. An-
other variation might well be to haw the costs vary from commodity
to commodity.
\Ve are now prepared for a formal statement of the law ()f
the economic order uf con.mll/piion. So far as commodities
are purchased and consumed rationally and economically,
choice is in every case determined by the amount of ihe surplus
of utility over cost.
The Law of Substitution, Indifference, or Equi-Marginal
Return. - To this law there is a corollary, which is also the
applica tion to the field of consumption of the more general
economic law variously known as the law uf subst'itution,
of indifference, or of equi-marginal returns. As applied to
124 ELEME},iTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
consumption this law is that ehoieeis determined by the
expectation that the S1l rpilis of utility given by the commodity
chosen will be greater than the surplus which any other commod-
ity of equal cost could yield. Expressed in another way, we
may say that choice is dictated by the desire to make marginal
utilities equal in all fields of consumption, reckoning these mar-
ginal utilities with respect to a common unit of expenditure.
Some goods, to be sure, are of such a character as to make any
nice balancing of satisfaction difficult or impossible. There
is so great a difference in the price of cameras and automo-
biles that I may satisfy my want for the one much more fully
than my want for the other; though even in this case it must
be remembered that I can achieve a certain satisfaction of
my want for automobiles without buying one outright.
But in the case of most sorts of goods it is possible to buy
greater or smaller quantities at will and at corresponding
gradation of expend iture. And in the case of such goods it
is obvious that rational expenditure will be so adjusted as
to make the marginal utilities equal in all lines of consump-
tion.
How Economic Importance Is Determined. - Each con-
sumer estimates the economic importance of any commodity,
not upon the basis of its total utility, but upon the basis of
its marginal utility. Its importance is measured, not by
the total amount of inconvenience or suffering that would
result from entire deprivation of the given stock, but by the
keenness of the desire or want that he would feci if deprived
of any portion of the stock. It is the utility of a gil'en quan-
tity, of a unit, of "a little more or a little less," of a commodity
that we consider when comparing and measuring the eco-
nomic importance of goods.
If I were where I eouH not make any purchases of goods,
nor add to my stock in any way for a considerable time, and
if I had in addition to other goods fifty barrels of flour and
DEMAND 125
only three pounds of sugar, J should probably husband the
sugar more carefully than the flour. I should calculate that
with the existing stocks a pounel of sugar had a greater eco-
nomic importance for me than a pound of flour. If, how-
ewr, instead of the greater quantity of flour, I had so little
that ordinary consumption would use it up before the stock
could be replenished, I should attach the greater economic
importance to the flour instead of to the sugar. In either
('ase reason would be the same. In the first case sugar
,,"ould have a greater marginal utility than flour, because
diminution in its supply would leave me with an unsatisfied
want keener than would foilow from an equal diminution
in the stock of flour. But in the second case thc flour would
ha,"e the greater marginal utility, since a decrease in its
supply would in vol ve actual hunger before the stock could
be replenished.
It is instructive to compare the relation between thc mar-
ginal utilities of two commodities with the relation between
their total utilities. Thus, a pound of gold ha:; a greater
economic importance than a pound of iron, but the world
would probably suffer less from the loss uf all its gold than
from the loss of all its iron. The same contrast is mueh
more certainly and obviously true of diamonds and coal.
THE LAWS OF
We have already explained that the study of human wants
is directh- connected with the studY of consumption, and
that the study of consumption leads to the study uf de-
mand. But we must note that a want for anything is not
the same thing as a demand for it. "If wishes were horses,
then beggars might ride." In order that there may be a de-
mand for a thing, there must be not only a desire for it,
but also the willingness and the ability to offer for it some
sacrifice.
126 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
A penniless street urchin, standing before a confectioner's
window, may be assumed to have a very real desire for the
good things there displayed; but his desire is not demand
in the economic sense. A philanthropic individual passes
and drops a quarter into the boy's hand; he then has the
purchasing power or ability to buy. One element necessary
to economic demand for the confectioner's goods is not yet
assured: the boy must be willing to use his purchasing power
for these goods rather than for other things which he may
desire. If he is very hungry there will be no hesitation;
his purchasing power and his willingness or inclination to
buy convert mere desire into demand. But if he is less
hungry, he may look across the street and see a chum enter-
ing the doors of a thrilling" movie"; his desire for this form
of entertainment may assert itself more keenly - in other
. .
words, the utility of a picture show may he greater than that
of something to eat, and he joins his chum; he then becomes
a demander for a " movie" ticket. Demand in the economic
sense arises only when desire for a good becomes effective
through purchasing power and the willingness to saerifice this
purchasing power to obtain the good.
But in addition to this definition of the real meaning of the
word " demand" in economics, we need a definite way of
measuring its intensity. Such a method of measurement
is found in the number of units of any commodity which will
be purchased at a given price. If a table be constructed of
the different quantities of a commodity which would be
purchased at different prices at any given time, such a table
will describe what economists speak of as the state of demand
for the commodity. If to-day the people of a certain com-
munity are willing to buy
100 bushels of apples at $2.00 per bushel,
300 " " " "$1.00" "
500 " " " "$0.75" ",
DEMA.ND
127
this list or table, we say, shows the present state of demand
for apples in the community.
The demand for a commodity is said to increase, and can
only then properly be said to increase, when the quantity that
will be taken at a given price increases. There is perhaps no
more frequent mistake in economic reasoning than that of
assuming that demand for a commodity has increased or
decreased because the commodity is actually selling at a
higher or Imyer price than before. When the price rises, it
may indeed be because of an increase of demand for the
same quantity or flolC of the but on the other
hand it may be because, with no change in demand, the
quantity on the market, or the flow of commodity into the
market, has lessened. From this it follows that there is a
difference between dcmand and quantity dcmanded.
Let us now consider the conditions which determine
whether the demand in any case shall be large or small,
the so-called lan's of demand. Strictly speaking, however,
only the first and third are laws of demand, the second he-
ing rather a law of the quantity demanded, as has been ex-
plained above.
1. The Quantity Demanded Varies Directly with the Mar-
ginal Utility. - Suppose, in the first place, that the price
of a certain quality of tea remains during a certain period
at fifty cents the pound, and that during the same period
the wealth of the consumers also remains the same. Then
it is e\'ident that if the public taste for any reason changes
in such a way that the marginal utility of any amount or
flow of tea beeomes less or greater, the demand will fall off
or inerease to correspond. Note, however, that the change
in demand is not necessarily, or e\'en usually proportioned
exactly to the change in marginal utility.
2. The Quantity Demanded Varies Inversely with the Price.
- Again, suppose that the wealth of consumers remains the
128 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
same, and that thcre is no change in the marginal utility of
any quantity or flow of the commodity. Then it is evident
that the amount taken will be greater when the price is low
and smaller when the price rises. The relation between price
changes and resulting changes in quantity demanded varies
with different commodities. In the consumption of wheat,
for instance, while it makes a difference in the quantity taken
whether the price stands at fifty ccnts or at a dollar a bushel,
the difference is not so great as in the case of articles that
satisfy less urgent wants. On the other hand, a fall in the
price of certain articles, especially luxuries, is promptly
followed by a great increase in the quantity taken from the
market.
The extent to which changes in price are attended by changes
in quantity taken lcno?fn a8 the elasticity of demand. Tlmg,
when a relatively slight fall in price results in a j'clatively grcat
increase in the quantity taken, demand is said to be highly
elastic. The unit, or slandard, of elasticity is represented by
that condition in which the Pl'Od1Wt of quantity taken 1Iwltiplicr/
by the price per unit rem.ains unchanged for different Quantities
and prices. This is illustrated by the following table ill
which the total sales remain constant at MOO:-
PRICE PER Ul\'1T

1.00
.50
.25
No. TAKEN
2DO
400
800
1600
TOT.\L S.'.L!:.S
MOc)
,180
40:)
400
vVhen the product cf quantity taken and price increases
with a fall in price, the demand is said to be elastic; when
the prod uct (jccreases, the demand is said to be inelastic.
Othrrwise defined, the unit of elasticity is that degree of clan-
DEJL1S1J
129
ticity in which any changl' in price is attended by a precisely
equal proportionate but inverse change in the quantity taken,
and dce rersa.
3. The Quantity Demanded raries Directly lcith the Gen-
eral Wealth or P11Tchasing POlDer. - In the third place, if
we suppose the marginal utility of any commodity and its
price to remain the same, it is evident that anything which
increases the purchasing power of the community will in-
crease its demand for the For increase of
wealth, as has been explained, lowers the marginal utility of
money, and makes it possible to spend more for other com-
modities without losing that surplus of utility over cost
which determines purchases. The increase of incomes of cer-
tain classes during the "'orld War and their consequent
" cxtravagant" buying are excellent illustrations of the
working of this law. Here again, however, it is to be noted
that the cbange in purchasing power and the resulting change
in demand are not of necessity equal in degree.
Tbe three general statements or laws just given and ex-
plained may be summed up as follows: (1) Demand for any
commodity rarics directly, but not necessarily in proportion,
(a) with the marginal utility of the commodity, and (b) u'ilk
the p1lrchasing power of the community," rmd (2) the quantity
trd'cn from the market varies imersely, but not necessarily in
proportion, with the price. !
The student will of course have observed that these laws
do not apply in equal degree to all consumers or to all com-
modities. For example, two individuals of equal purchas-
ing power may "demand" the same quantity of a givpn
('ommodity; :f the purchasing power of both individuals be
doubled, or halved, it does not follow that will increase
or decrease equally their demand for the commodity. Simi-
larly, if the prices of two commodities be doubled or halved,
it does not follow tbat a purchaser will decrease or increase
130 ELEMENTARY PRISCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
his" demand" for each by the same amount. In brief, the
degree to which demand is elastic depends upon the char-
acter of the potential consumer, - his habits, his sense of
thrift, and the like; also upon the character of the COIJI-
modity.
Engel's Law of Family Expenditure. - Further light is
thrown on the principles which we have been studying hy
the actual facts regarding the expenditures and consumption
of families. A detailed statement of the income and outgo
of a family is called a budget. Careful studies of such
budgets haye been made in Saxony and Great Britain, and in
some of our own states, including Massachusetts and Illinois.
Since the World War many new studies have been made, no-
tably in our own country, to serve as a guide in adjusting
PERCE"'TAGES OF EXPENDITURE. SAXONY
PERCENT\OE OF THE EXPENDITURE OF THE
FAMILY OF
ITEMS OF
A man of the A person iu (>a.!lY
A workingman
circumstances
with an income
class (" Mittel- (" des Wohl-
of from $225 to
standes") wit.h It) with
$300 a year.
an income of an incoml;' of from
from 8450 to
$750 to $1100.
$600 a year.
year.
Per cent Pe; cent
Per cent
l. Subsistence
62.01
55.0
000) 2. Clothing
18.0
18.0 _
16.0 950
90.0
3. Lodging 12.0 .
12.0
12.0 8".0
4. Firing and lighting
5.0 5.0
5.0
5. Education, public
5.51
worship, etc.
2.0 3.5
6. I,ega! protection
LO 2.0
3.0 15.0
7. Care of health
LO
5.0
2.0
10.0
8. Comfort, mental and
3.0 I
uouily recreation
LO
2.5
3.5 j
Total.
I
100.0
100.0
I
100.0
DEMAND 131
wages to the cost of living. In the chapter on H Wages
and the Labor Problem" family budgets will be further dis-
cussed.
On the basis of the German statistics, the table of percent
ages just given was prepared many years ago.
The following table permits a comparison between the
conditions obtaining in different countries prior to the World
War:-
CO'IPARATIVE PERCENTAGES OF EXPENDITURES BY THE FAMILIES
OF WORKI"ImIEN IN ILLINOIS, MASSACHUSETTS, GREAT BRITA"',
SAXONY
ITEMS OF EXPENDITURE
GREAT
SA..""{or.-y
AVER."OE
CHUSF.TTS BRITAIN
SU bsistcnce . 41.38 49.28 51.36
,")5.00 49.25
Clothing. 21.00 15.95 18.12 18.00
18.27
Hent 17.42 19.74 13.4H 12.00
15.66
Fuel . 5.53 4.30 3.50 5.00 4.61
Sundries. 14.,57 10.73 13.54 10.00 12.21
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
I
As a result of his study of Saxon family budgets, as already
given, Dr. Ernst Engel, an eminent statistician, laid down
the following general law of family expenditure, or domestic
consumption.
As the income of a fa.mily increaseIJ,
(1) The percentage of expenditure for food decreases;
(2) The percentage of expenditure for clothing remaim
flpproximately the same;
(3) The percentage of e;rpenditure for rent, fuel, and light is
invariable;
(4) The percentage of expenditure for education, health,
recreation, etc., increases.
132 ELEMENTARY PRIlYCIPLES OF ECO.",;OMICS
From the figures gi\'en in the tables it is e\'ident that the
demand for food in any community has comparatively little
elast.icity, since enough for subsistence is required in any case,
and the relative amount demanded by all classes falls off
rapidly as these needs are satisfied. On the other hand, in-
creased wealth results in an increasing demand for all the
manifold goods and sen"ices that minister to cultural wants.
Since the satisfaction of man's higher wants is necessaQ"
to his complete efficiency as a producer, we can understand
from the tables how it is that" the destruction of the poor
is their poverty." They live in a yi..:ious circle. The Po\"-
eTty to which they arc born is itself the bar to their escape.
Once free them from this condition, and thc po\\"er to per-
petuate their own prosperity is giycn into thcir hands; for
they thus become more efficient as producers and more skill-
ful in securing a just share in the increased product of their
labor.
Engel's law is also of great yalue in illustrating the unfair
social distribution of the burden imposed by ignorant or in-
tentionally vicious tax laws. It is clear that a tax, of
one dollar a barrel, on flour, however laid,. is bound to throw
an entirely disproportionate load upon the ,houlders of the
poor unless the tax is counterbalanced by others which weigh
more heavily upon those with large possessions.
Owing to the World vVar, the cost of living was
augmented in all countries affected. and wages had nec-
essarily to be increased. It is instructive to study the fol-
lowing t:t ble which aims to show the smallest TJost-war bud-
get on which a " worker's family of fh"e " in K ew York
could maintain itself in " health and with a modicum
of comfort, and under conditions which would tend to en-
courage self-respect and under which children could properly
be brought up." The student should compare the items
and percentages with those in the foregoing tables (which
132 ELEMEA'TARY PRINCIPLES OF ECOlWMICS
From the figures given in the tables it is evident that the
demand for food in any community has comparatively little
elasticity, since enough for subsistence is required in any case,
and the relative amount demanded by all classes falls off
rapidly as these needs are satisfied. On the other hand, in-
creased wealth results in an increasing demand for all the
manifold goods and sen'ices that minister to cultural wants.
Since the satisfaction of man's higher wants is necessaQ'
to his complete efficiency as a producer, we can understand
from the tables how it is that " the destruction of the poor
is their poverty." They live in a vicious circle. The po\'-
erty to which they are born is itself the bar to their escape.
Once free them from this condition, and the po"u to per-
petuate their own prosperity is given into their hands; for
they thus becomc more efficient as producers and more skill-
ful in securing a just share in the increased product of their
labor.
Engel's law is also of great value in illustrating the unfair
social distribution of the burden imposed by ignorant or in-
tentionally vicious tax laws. It is clear that a tax, say of
one dollar a barrel, on flour, howenr laid,. is bound to throw
an entirely disproportionate load upon the shoulders of tIle
poor unless the tax is counterbalanced by othcrs which weigh
more heavily upon those with large possessions.
Owing to the World War, the cost of living was greatly
augmented in all countries affected, and wages had nec-
essarilv to be increased. It is instructive to studv the fol-
. .
lowing table which aims to show the smallest post-war bud-
get on which a "worker's family of five" in l\'ew York C i t ~
c(mld maintain itself in " health and decency with a modicum
of comfort, and under conditions which "would tend to en-
courage self-respect and under which children could properly
be brought up." The student should compare the items
and percentages with those in the foregoing tables (which
DEJIAND
133
were based on studies made before the war) and carefully
analyze the differences.
HEALTH AND DECENCY COST BUDGETS, NEW YORK CITY,
NOVEMBER, 1920, TOGETHER WITH PERCENTAGES OF THE
EXPENDITUllE
Food .
Clothing
Rent .
lTDtS OF
Light and heat
Household equipment
($988.88 annual cost 7'(J
IIli,cellaneous
Total .
Al\fOUN'!'S PEncr:NT ... GES
S
871. SO 33.11
529.9G 20.13
4:17.:,5
16.61
68 .. 59 2.61
69.23 2.G3
655.7.1 24.!1l
$2,632.68 100.UI)
In studying these family budgets the student should COll-
sider the comments macle in the Ilext chapter in the section
" How I\:Iueh Can a Nation Consume? "
SUMMARY
1. Men seek in their conf"Jmption to secure t'le r-;l'eatest pcsSlble
surplus of utility over cost, and to maintain em equality of mar-
ginal utilities in their diITerent lines of expenditure.
2. The economic importance of a commodity is determined by its
marginal utility.
3. Economic demand arises only when power and incli-
nation to buy make desire effective.
4. Demand varies directly with marginal utility and with t.he wealth
of the consumer: the quantity demanded varies inversely with
the price.
5. Increase of income means increased opportunity for expenditure
on the comforts and decencies of life.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
l. Draw diagrams roughly representing the initial utility und the
diminishing utility of some different kinds of consumption in
your own C:lse.
134 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
2. Which has the greater economic importance for men, water or gold;
water or wheat? Contrast other commodities in the same way.
3. State the In.w or laws of demand. Give illustrations.
4. State Engel's law of domestic expenditure. What is the bearing
of the law on the condition of the poor; on taxation?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. In what terms do we estimate marginal utilities in everyday life?
2. What would be the relative effect upon demand for automobiles
and wheat if the prices of both should fall proportionally? Why,
prior to 1920, did the prices of copper and rubber remain high
for so long, despite the great increase in their supply? What is
the present state of these two markets? Wby?
3. Was there an economic demand for wheat among the starving
millions in Russia and China during 1!l21-22'? Explain.
4. What percentages of their incomes do different persons in your
community spend for the different kinds of tbings mentioned in
Engel's law? Look up post-war family budgets representative
of several European countries for comparison with the ;\ ew
York City budget. What difference do you note?
5. Prepare tables of demand t.o show ehsticity of Ulore than unity;
of less than unity; of unity.
LITERATURE
See preceding cbapters. Also on Engel's Law and family budgets:
Monthly Labor Review, consult numbers for a year or so, particularly
February, 1921.
Roscher, W.: Principles of Political Economy (Translation), Vol. I,
Ch. 1, Secs. 1-6.
!lowntree, B. S.: Poverty: A Study of Town Life.
The English Board of Trade Reports on the Cost of Li"ing in England,
France, and Germany.
The Eighteenth Annual Report of the United States Commissioner of
Labor gives the results of other investigations.
CHAPTER XIII
THE ECONOMY OF SPENDING AND SAVING;
PRUDENCE IN INVESTMENT
IMPORTANT questions regarding economy in consumption
remain to be studied. The first question is, briefly, (1) How
can one's whole expenditure or consumption be so distributed
between the present and the future that the greatest amount of
satisfaction u'ill result? The second question assumes that the
first has been answered, and asks, (2) How the consumption of
the present may be so ordered that it 1Cill result in the greatest
total of satisfaction. Though both of these qucstions really
have to do with expenditure, still we commonly think of
the first as the problem of saving, as distinguished from the
problem of spending, which is represented in the second
question. After discussing these two points, we shall then
briefly consider the closely related question of (3) prudence
in investment.
I. THE ECOXo:IIY OF SAVING
First of all it should be noted that the proportion between
present and future expenditure conforms to the general rule
which has already been laid down as the law of the "eco-
nomic order of consumption." We seek always in our expen-
diture to sccure the greatest surplus of utility over cost;
hence we discontinue present expenditure when we feel that
we can secure a greater surplus of utility by applying any
remainder of our purchasing power to future purchases. Of
course, with many people the demands of the present are so
urgent and their means so limited that there is little oppor-
135
136 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
tunity for any such balancing of present and future surpluses.
But whenever there is any saving at all, it proceeds according
to the mental comparison just explained.
1. Hoarding. - But how are goods saved? Manifestly,
we may save goods in such a way that neither we ourselves
nor others can enjoy them in the present. The peasants
of some countries are so distrustful of banks that they lay
by or hoard their savings in secret places about their homes.
Such saving, though it is not the best, is better than harm-
ful or luxurious consumption in thc present; for if the good,
for instance, money, be storeel away in such a manner that
it will not suffer harm, it may in the end minister to real
and commendable wants.
2. Investment. - But in modern times, with security of
pwperty guaranteed by a strong government, and with easy
opportunities for devoting savings to productive uses that
\\'ill return a regular income, most provident people prefer
saying by im:cstment to saving by hoarding. Such invest-
ment may be (a) directly 1nade in business or in income-produc-
ing property. But as industry becomes more complicated
and requires more and more skill for successful management,
a greater number of people prefer to (b) imcst indirectly, i.e.,
to intrust their savings to the hands of others rather than to in-
vest them directly. The process is even carriecl one stt'P
farther in the majority of cases. Instead of lending their
sa villgS directly to those ,,ho manage productive enterprise"
(co) men deposit their sat'ings, in the form of money or credit
instruments, in banks, and the banks in turn take it upon
themselves to decide in what enterprises such savings l l i a ~ '
be most safely and profitably invested.
The difference between hoarding and saving by investment
i3, briefly, that in hoarding the goods may ultimately be
used productively and economically, while in investment
the goods saved are saeed by being used thus prod1lctively.
THE ECOXOJfY OF SPENDING AND SAVING 137
The Real Nature of Saving. - The fact that money repre-
sents goods in general is likely to cause us to overlook the
real nature of saving. From the individual point of view,
saving means the postponem.ent of consmnption. 'When a
Ulan saves five dollars out of his week's income, he is po:rt-
poning to a future time the exercise of his right to
goods to that amount from his fellows. He may do this
either by hoarding the money or by lending it to someone
else. But such acts do not necessarily result in saving from
the social point of view. Social saving means greater power
of enjoyment in the future on the part of the community at; a
u"lOle. If A lends to B money which B at once wastes, A
individually has saved, but there has been no social saving,
for there will not be more goods to enjoy in the future on
account of this act. But if, instead of wasting the amount
borrowed, B had paid it out for the making of a machine,
there would also have been social saving, since the machine
would make it possible to produce more goods in the future.
l\Iodern societies save chiefly by bettering their facilities for
producing goods; the amount of food, clothing, etc., that
the people of the "Cnited States store up for future use is
small.
The Make-Work Fallacy.-We often hear men talking
as if the man who spends money freely were a public bene-
factor, while the man ,,,ho is not thus lavish is to be regarded
with reproach. But it is plain from the foregoing that the
former is using up goods and services now, while the latter
may through his investments bc improving the productive
equipment of society. The one is telling men to serve him
in his home, in his stables, and aboard his yacht; the other
is setting them to work building factorics, - he is saving
socially. It is true, this may in turn be pushed too far.
We may make the mistake of spending all our time and effort
in getting ready to live at some future day, when it would
138 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
be ,,iser and better to spend some thought upon actual living.
But perhaps neither individuals nor nations need such a
warn mg.
" Spending money to make trade good" is thus seen to be
fallacious.
II. THE Eco;:;oMY OF SPE:NDING
Having considered the first of the two questions which
were raised at the beginning of this chapter, we have next to
consider the other,- the question of how to order one's
present consumption that the greatest good may result.
First of all, for economy in spending, two things are essen-
tial, which we may call (A) the economy of right choice, and
(B) the economy of reight use. The economy of right choice
depends upon a correct knowledge of those present uses to which
commodities may be most advantageously applied, while the
economy of right 1Ise depends upon a knowledge of the most
efficient means of applying the goods to those 1Ises.
(A) The Economy of Right Choice.- In considering the
question of how economy may be secured through right
choice, we enter into a field of thought that forms the border-
land between ethics and economics. First of all, we are
probably safe in asserting that from the point of view of society
as a whole, economy requires that the results of social effort
should, ,in the highest practicable degree, be distributed among
the individuals in society. When many toil and go without
the mere decencies of life in order that a few may be lapped
in luxury without toil or care, it is evident that a fundamental
rule of social economy is violated. Without discussing here
how far such a condition may be prevented, we may all
agree that it does not represent an ideal of economy for Ii<
democratic society.
The Waste of Luxury. - Expenditure for luxuries, or
luxurious consumption, is not economical consumption, be-
THE ECOl',OMY OF SPENDING AND SAVING 13H
cause it does not adapt resources to their most advantageous
llses. The subjl:'ct of luxury is a difficult one to discuss,
since a definition of the thing itself is by no means easy.
:\Iany things are to-day easily obtainable by the poorest
,,hich two centuries ago could be enjoyed only by the most
wealthy and powerful. Such things are never thought of as
luxuries in modern days, but if their possession in the olden
time required the exploitation of the poor and did not render
their possessors able and willing to confer great social service
in return, we must hold that they were then luxuries. To
the illiterate man, a library is a luxury; to the scientist, it
may be a necessity for complete efficiency. These illustra-
tions may senoe to show the difficulty of reaching any simple
and clear definition of luxury, and the equally great difficulty
of establishing any universal principles by which we may
ahyays judge such expenditlll'e. Yet it is possible to lay
dO"'n a definition which at the same time implies a principle
of social economy in expenditure and suggests an ethical
precept: Luxury consists in any consumption of commodities
and sen' ices 1chich is seriously out of proportion to the service
that it enables the consumer to return to society, but which is not
of necessity directly injurious to the
But, it may be asked, has not a man the right to do as he
will with his own? And the answer must be, Yes, in a very
full measure, if you judge right solely by the statute law.
:-.,ro court had appointed Cain to the guardianship of Abel.
But the statute law follows only slowly and haltingly after
the growing sense of right and duty as it develops in the race.
The laws have often granted extreme rights of property
and use, because it has been believed that on the whole men
have worked harder, produced more, and been happier,
when they were given such almost unfettered rights of dis-
posing of their product. ?\ow, however, men are becoming
more socially inclined. More and more, rich and talented
140 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
men are coming to regard their riches and their talents as
trusts that have been committed to them, rather than as
possessions that they may squander without a thought for
their fellows. As this feeling of responsibility, of steward-
ship, becomes developed, our law is changing to recognize
the change in the idea, and, so far as may be, to compel the
unsocial to feign the virtue if they have it not. Indeed,
save in exceptional instances, there may be no need for a
change in the law, since public opinion would be sufficiently
powerful to accomplish the purpose of checking lavish display.
But we must revert to our caution. Too great penurious-
ness is an evil only less serious than prorl.igality. We must
not forget that a rational expansion in the number and
variety of human wants is necessary to human progress.
The Waste of Harmful Consumption.- In speaking of
luxurious consumption, we have said that it does not neces-
sarily involve immediate and direct harm to the consumer
himself. vVhen such harm does result, it is more usual to
speak of the consumption as harmful rather than as III.furious.
It goes withollt saying that harmful consumption calls for the
censure of the economist no less than for that of the etHcal
tcacher, since it is in the highest degree wasteful, whetlwr re-
garded from the point of view of the individual or from that
of society. When a nation a large amount of its labor
and capital to the production of commodities which, in their
consumption, cause more misery than happiness, and u'eal:en
the nation's future resources of energy and intelligence, there is
a departure from economical consumption so serious as to call
for the severest condemnation. If society would forego such
injurious consumption, bread would be cheaper, higher
u;ould find satisfaction, and man would be working away
from the beast's low lenl of mere sensual gratification.
Some Rules for Economy in Choices. - \Ve ma v exercise
un influence over the growth of our own wants in a way
THE ECONOJIY OF SPENDING AND SAVING 141
that a great real satisfaction may flow from a comparati\'ely
small expenditure. Thus (1) we should cultivatc cnjoyment
or coruJUmption that is comprehensive or inclusive rather than
C.TClliSire in its nature. It is evident that if a community
can cultivate such a love for art that its satisfaction will
consist in viewing beautiful pictures or statues rather than
in owning them individually, it will be possible to secure such
satisfaction most economically by joint purchase. Again,
(2) tee should cultivate harmonious consumption. 'We all
know, to take a homely example, that bread and butter
to;iether give a greater enjoyment than would result from
the consumption of the two separately. But harmony of
consumption is by no means limited to such simple cases as
this. Whenever a group of commodities produces in combina-
ti'Jn a greater satisfaction than results from the consumption of
the same commodities separately, the consumption of the group
is hannoni011s consumption, and is most economical. Finally,
(3) u'e should cultivate variety in consumption. The greater
fhe variety of goods consumed, the higher will be the marginal
utility of the goods, and hence the keener the satisfaction in their
consumption. l\Ioreover, the wider the range of a man's
likings, the more certain is he to find satisfaction under
widely varying conditions, as when traveling among strangers.
To take a simple instance, a family with little variety of
taste or desire in the matter of food is at the mercy of price
changes within that limited range of food purchase, while
those who have cultivated varicd tastes are able to give lip
the consumption of anyone form of food, when it becomes
expensive, without great loss of enjoyment. The experience
of the American people in war economy taught them that
by cultivating a taste for othcr kinds of bread than that made
from wheaten flour, they could get satisfaction from these
other kinds as well as from the wheaten bread itself, and more
cheaply.
142 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
(B) The Economy of Right Use.- Hitherto, we have been
speaking of a lack of economy due to the failure to choose
the right commodities or to appropriate those chosen to
their most advantageous uses. But even when they are so
applied, there is generally some waste in the method of using
them. It is even probable that more waste arises in this
way than in the other, though the harm to character is, of
course, incalculabl:, less.
The Economic Importance of Housekeeping. - It is here
that thc great influence of the wife and mother can be seen.
Probably not less than three-fourths of the income of the
average family depends, for the economy of its expenditure,
upon the woman to whom the affairs of the household are
intrusted. The importance of this consideration has often
been overlooked. Americans, in particular, have incurred
the reproach of wasteful methods in providing food for the
family. Such waste may result (1) from the choice of foods
that contain relatively little nutriment; (2) from the choice of
foods not well suited to the particular needs of the comurners;
(3) from failure to utilize all the rnaterial that is purchased and
that ,,ould supply nutriment; (4) from bad preparation of
the food; (5) fromfaihlTe to 1dilize to the full the fuel deyoted
to cooking. Similar wastes are repeated in thc matter of
clothing. Some years ago, it was calculated by careful
inYestigators that through these channels there is a waste in
the ordinary family income of oyer one-tenth of the total.
If the calculation be correct, we may conclude that a stop-
page of these wastes would enable the ayerage family to
secure its present enjoyments with a working day shortened
by an hour, or to increase the sum of their enjoyments by
more than a tenth without any increase in the amount of
work required.
Thrift during the World War.- For many years prior to
the World War thrift was characteristic of most of the
THE ECONOMY OF SPENDING AND SAVING 143
European nations. But it was not so of our own. Thrift
seemed to us, not only distasteful, but uncalled for in this
land of opportunities.
The war, howeyer, taught us differently. In food economy,
in war gardens, and in numerous other practical ways thrift
became, for the time bcing, almost uni'ersal. Savings in-
creased remarkably. At the end of 1918 a billion dollars'
worth of thrift stamps had been purchased, or a per capita
average of over 89.50. The membership of building and
loan associations grcw from two and three-quarters millions
in 1914 to four millions in 1918, and their share capital from
12.50 millions to 1900 millions.
Reports from some 1500 banks to the Federal Reserve
Bank of Richmond - typical of the ent.ire country- showed,
for the two calendar years of 1917 and 1918, a great increase
of deposits, the savings alone growing nearly 33 per cent.
Howenr, we still lag far behind other countries in the num-
ber of our savings bank depositors. Switzerland in 1920
stood first, and after her the following in their order of rank:
Denmark, j'\orway, Sweden, Belgium, France, Holland,
Germany, England, Australia, Japan, Italy, the United
States.
The rebound following the armistice carried most of the
peoples too far in the direction of reckless spending. But
the general depression of 1921 had a sobering effect.
How Much Can the Nation Consume?- An individual or
a group consuming more than it producE'S - unless under
exceptional conditions and temporarily - is, from the eco-
nomic point of view, to be regarded as a social liability rather
than an asset, as a parasite upon the other units in the
economic organization. Indeed, there must be a balance of
production over consumption, or the economic community
will stand still or deteriorate. Economic progress, material
improvement, comes about only when we refrain from
144 ELEMENTARY PRI,VCIPLES OF ECO,VOMICS
consuming all in the present,- when we save as explained
earlier in this chapter.
The amount of new wealth created each year in the LlIited
States has been estimated; a valuation of 850,-
000,000,000 is frequently made.* In the preceding chapter,
page 133, the student has noted the suggested minimum war-
time family budget of something more than S2GOO for New
York, where the cost of li\'ing is high. We
should all rejoice to see not only every i\ew York family,
hut every family in America, able to cnjoy such an income,
But our population would make 21,000,000 families of
five persons each; at this rate they ,yould consume \Yealtll
each year valued at more than 554,000,000,000. Making all
allowance for the probable of these estimates,
and for the abnormal war conditions, it is obvious that the
nation consuming at such a rate would have only aver;
small savable surplus, or none at all. This would be eco-
nomic suicide; a nation must san out of each year's income
enough to replace used up, worn out, and out-of-date capital
goods. If it would get ahead, it must save an additional
sum.
Before the World ,,'ar, out of a total national income
estimated at 510,000,000,000, England "'as creating approx-
imately $2,000,000,000 of new capital each year. At this
same rate, the "United States should save at least 310,000,-
000,000 a year.
With the present inequalities in the distribution of our
national income, some families have only enough, or less
than enough to maintain themseh'es; the small sums that
they sometimes spend unwisely receive an undue amount
of criticism; for such families any considerable saying is
out of the question. Other families receive a larger amount,
* Such estimates of annual wealth production Ul1lst be used with caution.
See p. 154
1'HE ECQZ'i021,fY OF SPENDING AND SAVING 145
- more or less perhaps than the suggested $2600, but enough
by wise management and judicious spending to maintain
more than decency with a modicum of comfort. Unfortu-
nately, however, a large percentage of these moderate in-
comes is injudiciously spent or wholly wasted; with large
numbers of people the attainment of decency and comfort is
secondary to luxury, self-indulgence, and often anti-social
expenditures. The billions of dollars squandered on non-
essentials by people of moderate means in this country is
evidence of the truth of these statements. At the same
time we must recognize that within this income class, which
includes most of our wage-earners, small tradesmen, teach-
ers, ministers, and many of the other professional classes,
high standards of decency and comfort are maintained.
Indeed, on $2600 or less, people do live well, the children
are educated, and by careful planning, wise" economy" and
often some sacrifice, savings of varying amounts are made.
These savings, while large in the aggregate, are far from suf-
ficient for our national needs; many families in this group
need yet to learn that the self-respect engendered by saving
is a more permanent satisfaction, and of more social worth,
than that which comes from thoughtless gratification of
fleeting wants. Indeed of greater social value than the sums
which people of small incomes save is that strengthening of
character and self-reliance that comes from self-denial and
frugality.
A relatively few families have vastly more than they can
consume. They spend extravagantly, often foolishly, and
often in an anti-social way. But they do have a surplus and
it is from this surplus that the major part of new capital
takes its rise.
These considerations are not offered for the purpose of
justifying the present great inequality of incomes, but
only to suggest thf:,t this does make essential
146 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
saving possible. But if family had S:WOO a year, or
even a somewhat smaller amount, would not this sa\"able
surplus be wiped out '! Could we then meet the maintenance
charge of our economic machine? Or could we make those
improvements in the machine which progress demands?
III. PRlJDEXCE IN b;TESTMEXT
The student has probably learned from the newspapers,
if from no other source, how snares are laid for the
person who has any savings available for indirect invest-
mcnt; i.e., investment not in his own business or property,
but in that of other persons. It is no exaggeration to say
that millions of dollars of hard-earned savings are annually
lost in "wild cat" schemes, worthless land, dubious stock,
etc., whose promoters hold out tile Jure of large and in
fact impossible earnings. They seek so-called "sucker-
lists" of easily misled people and approach them in the guise
of well-wishers offering " inside" information about stocks,
and citing examples of men made rich by small il1\'estments
in Standard Oil or the Bell Telephone. Many states have
endeavored to protect their citizens the enactment of
the so-called "blue sky laws"; but the real need is for
small investors to know what constitutes prudence in invest-
ment. They should know this eYen if they trust others to
. ,
place their investments for them.
Investment, Promotion, and Speculation. - First the in-
vestor should distinguish between investment and mere pro-
motion; e.g., a mining prospect, or a new patent. Investing
means placing one's capital in an enterprise which has a
history of demonstrated and consistent income-earning
power, Again, he should make a clear distinction between
investment and speculation. Both are legitimate, but an
inexperienced investor should be verv cautious about enter-
ing into speculation. The differenc; between them is that,
THE ECONOMY OF SPENDING AND SAVING 147
with our present means of information, the future returns
from an investment can be anticipated with practical ac-
curacy, but how a speculation will turn out no one has yet
learned to foretell. Speculation is an attempt to take
tage of fluctuations in market price. Investment depemb on
income earned by the ZJroductivc use of the capital invested.
The investor should be careful, furthermore, to spread his risks,
or, as the saying is, not to put all his eggs in one basket.
A good motto is: "Look out for the principal and the interest
will take care of itself"; another good motto is "five per
cent will beat six per cent every time." These are not to be
. taken too literally; but mean that a high rate of in-
terest in itself suggests danger.
Sources of Information. - The investor should be careful
to inform himself regarding tht' character of the mm in whose
securities he contemplates investment. One can trust only
men of character. The reports of corporations in which he
is interested he should painstakingly study. The most re-
liable reports, he will find, are prepared and certified, as a
rule, by professional accountants. Owing to the very com-
plex organization of modern business, the individual investor,
however prudent ancl equipped with general information,
will almost certainly feel the need of expert ad vice. Many
banks now employ experts to counscltheir customers regard-
ing safe investments' in recent years a considerable number
, ,
of bond houses have built up a reputation for sound advice to
their investing clients and for remaining responsible to their
clients for the latter's investments, until both interest and
principal have been realized. "Consult banker" is
a good general rule; and consult these other sources of infor-
mation. Some periodicals of high standing, e.g., the Remew
of Reviews, the World's Work ancl the Outlook, have
ments to give advice about investments to their reeders.
Forms of Investment. - The most general forms of invest-
148 ELEMENTARY PRIJI.'CIPLES OF ECONOMICS
ment are (1) farm mortgages; (2) urban real estate; (3) do-
mestic bonds - Federal, state, and municipal; (4) foreign
bonds; (5) securities of corporations - railway, public
utility, industrial, and mining. The investor should select
forms of investment according to whether he chiefly desires
permanency or COil vertibility in his investment; for or-
dinarily he cannot secure both qualities in the same invest-
ment. A security that is listed as active on the stock ex-
change may be readily convertible, readily turned into cash;
but as a rule, the income yielded by such a security is smaller
than that yielded by an equally safe security which does
not figure actively on the stock exchange; i.e., is not readily
convertible. This latter form of security is a proper choice
if the investor is looking for a permanent investment rather
than for ease of convertibility.
SUMMARY
1. Economy in consumption rcquircs an economical balancing, of
expenditures between the present and the future, and an eco-
nomical ordering of present expenditure: the one is the economy
of "saving"; the other, the economy of "spending,"
2. Saving, unless it is merely hoarding, is really spending for the
future. Therefore, a wise babncing of present and future is
secured by the mean between prodigality and parsimony. The
prodigal is not a public benefactor,
3. Economy in present cQnsumption requires right choices and right
uses of the things chosen,
4. Lm.:ury and harmful consumption both violate the rule of right
choices and arc uneconomical, Inclusive, harmonious, and va-
ried consumption is most ('conomical.
5, The economy of right uses depends largely upon the home maker.
6. During the World War the American people learned valuable
lessons in individual thrift,
7. If the nation would progress, it must save enough out of each year's
production not only to maintain its "economic machine" but
to make" additions and betterments,"
8. Many individuals lose their savings by making imprudent invest-
ments.
THE ECONOMY OF SPEl"iDISG AND SA VING 14!}
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. Discuss the fallacy: ,. Spending money makes trade good." Why
and how does t.he man who saves spend? Through what agency
i, this spending for the future usually done in modern society?
2. What two general principles must be observed in economizing on
present expenditure?
3. What is luxury? 'Vhat arc its economic effects? How does it
differ from harmful consumption?
4. Explain by illustrations the economv of variety in consumption;
of harmonious consumption; of inclusive consumption.
5. Give illustrations of thrift practiced by the American people dur-
ing the war.
6. What is the relationship between saving and economic progress?
7. Distinguish between investment and promotion; investment and
speculation.
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Why is a public library economical?
2. What is meant by the statement that "saving is spending"; that
"saving is spending for future goods"?
3. It has been said that the stress now being placed on thrift, i.e., saving,
tends to undermine our appreciat.ion of art, music, literature,
etc. Is this true?
4. What would be the result if all men spent their income only for
what they regarded as sheer necessities?
5. Can a poor man save, i.e., spend for future goods, otherwise than
by putting money in a savings bank, or by what is usually called
investment? What of expenditure for increase of efficiency of him-
self or his children? Can saving be carried too far?
6. Use the marginal utility theory to show possible social gain from
more nearly equal distribution of social income among men.
7. "Extravagance gives em ploymcnt to labor." "Hiding money
away is thrift." What is fallacious in the foregoing statements?
8. Thrift is a "family and individual problem." Explain and il-
lustrate. Suppose yourself and your family considering the
question: How much can our family save by the end of a year?
9. The Jatest estimate (befDre the Prohibition Act) of th yearly con-
sumption of liquor and tobacco in the F nited States was over 2800
million dollars, or $28 per capita. This includes 1200 million
150 ELEMENTARY PRISCIPLE.') OF ECONOMICS
dollars for tobacco. Add other fi1(ures anu illtL,trations to show
the influence of personal spending on national well-being.
10. Discuss the significance of the following annual per capita losses
from fire (as of 1913).
Vniteu States, $2.10
England, .53
France, .49
Germany, .28
Austria, Italy, and
Switzerland .25
Holland .11
11. Discuss prudence in investment.
LITERATURE
See preceding chapters. Also:
Annals of the American Academy, vols. 87-89; January, 1920, special
number on Thrift.
Atwater, \Y. 0.: "Food Waste in American Households" in Forum
for September, 1893.
Carver, T. N.: Principles of Politirol Economy, Cbs. VI, IX, XX,XIX,
XLI.
Clay, Henry: Economics for the General Reader, Ch. XII,
Ell', R. T, et al.: The Foundations of National Prosperity.
Ely, R. T,: Property and Contract, Book I, Ch. VI.
Gibson, Thomas: Simple Principles of Investment.
Gide, Charles: Political Economy, pp. 700-729.
Hamilton, J. H.: Savings and Savings Institutions, pp. 31-38.
Jones, E. D.: Investment.
King, \Y. 1.: The Wealth and Income of the People of the United States.
Marshall, L. C.: Readings in Industrial Society, 320-324.
Patten, S. N,: Dynamic Ecanomi"", pp. 39-49.
PART II. PRODUCTION
CHAPTER XIV
INTRODUCTORY
Why Production Should be Studied Next.-We have made
human wants, consumption, ami demand the first subjects
of our study of economic theory because it is from these that
all other economic phenomena take their rise. 'Ve have
seen why men exert themselves in the work of production.
The next logical step is to inquire how men go about the work
of production. We have studied the cause and the laws of
demand. We have next to make a similar inquiry regarding
supply. Our present study therefore is of the general sub-
ject of production.
What Production Is. - Just as consumption means the
destruction, not of matter, but of the particular utilities of
certain forms of matter, so production means the creation,
not of matter, but of utilities. Man cannot create matter.
the farmer nor the merchallt adds one atom to the
existing material of the earth. Yet both are called pro-
ducers, and properly so. What, then, do they produce? If
one thinks about it, one will discover that they are produc-
ing utilities and nothing else. And how do they do this?
Simply by putting things in places appropriate to that pur-
pose. "This one operation," says John Stuart 111ill, "of
putting things into fit places for being acted upon their
own internal forces, and by those residing in other natural
objects, is all tbat man does or can do with matter."
IS),
152 ELEil,fENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
'Ve have said that production means the creation of utili-
ties. All people, therefore, whose activities are directed
toward supplying the things which gratify human wants arc
producers. We may divide productive activities into two
great groups: (1) those whieh are directc(l toward the pro-
duction of material goods; and (2) those which render per-
sonal scr1)ices.
It has seemed to some, even among economists of an
earlier time, that the farmer is more truly a producer than
the manufacturer, and the manufacturer than the merchant;
but careful thought discloses the fallacy of such a view. All
industrial classes alike produce one or more of the sorts of
utility which we have described,* and they do so by changing
the relations of things in time or space. The farmer changes
the position of grains of corn by dropping them ilito the
earth. Then he removes weeels and throws earth about the
rising stalks. Thus man's acts in changing the relations
and position of things, aided by nature's materials and
forces, result in more corn for human consumption. The
manufacturer in the same way changes the position or pieces
of matter, and, aided by natural forces within and without
the object of production, he causes matter to assume a form
which fits it, or better fits it, for human needs. So, tou, the
merchant changes the places 8f things from where they are
less useful to where they are more useful, or holds them in one
place until a change of extemal circumstances gives them a
greater time utility. He is producing utilities as truly as is
the farmer or the "-''-l'nfaeturer.
Of courSe it pc.';sibk that the utilities actually produced
by could be produced with a smaller expenditure
of economic force than is the case at present, and that saving
could be effected by a better organization of the work of
production. Again, may be that the merchant may now
See pp. 110-112 above.
I NTRODUCT()RY 15:3
anrl then secure a larger return for the production of a "iven
quantity of utility than does the farmer. But all this affords
no justification for the popular impression that his work is
really less productive in its nature than is that of any other
industrial dass. The only difference is ill the sort of utilitr
that the different classes are engaged in producing. Any per-
son who aids in increasing the of utilities - whether
his addition be of elementary, form, time, place, or possession
utility - is truly productive. A thing is not fully" pro-
duced" until it is in the hands of him who wants it,
and in the form, at the time, and in the place ,,hich he
desires.
Finally, it must be remembered that people want not only
things, but innumerable services as well; we want medical
advice, we want knowledge, recreation, etc.
the physician, the teacher, the" movie" producer. and all
others who are engaged in rendering personal services, are
creating utilities, and are therefore producers.
Production, then, we ma,\' define as the creation of utilities
by the application of 1I1an's mental and physical powers to the
pnY5ical1Inivcw" which furnishes maierials and forces. This
appi1:cation of m.an's pon:crs we call1aboT.
Relation between Labor and Utility. - We have already
defined goods and economic goods. It remains for us here
to call attention to the fact that those quantities of utility
that result from labor are economic goods, but that not all
economic goods are to the same extent the result of labor.
One may pick up a diamond or a nugget of gold upon which
one has stumbled: in such a case it can hardly be said that
the economic good is the result of labor at all. But e\'en in
such rare ca,es it must be remembered that while the one
diamond or the one nugget han required no labor in
gettin", yet the whole stock of such c .Jds is the result of
toil and suffering alJd pri\'atioll !c, , ... lllch the value of our
154 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
diamonds and gold, it is frequently said, does not represent
anything like a proper recompense.
Individual and Social Wealth. The distinction between
the indi\'idual and the social points of view runs throughout
economics, and it is particularly important in the case of the
concept of wealth or economic goods. What is wealth to
the individual may not be wealth to society, and, on the
other hand, what is wealth to society may not be within the
ownership of an individual. Thus a mortgage is wealth to
the individual who holds it, but it is not a part of social
"'ealth, since if the claim for which it stands is extinguished,
society is neither richer nor poorer. The case is the same
with bonds issued by a city, a state, or a nation. To mark
this distinction, such things as mortgages, notes, bonds, etc.,
arc sometimes called "represcntatil'e goods." From the
point of view of society such documents are not wealth, but
only e\'idences of legal claims to parts of the social \\'ealth,
or symbols of the part ownership of wealth.
Productive Elements Often Overlooked.-There are many
important facts regarding production which a ~ e often over-
looked. Thus we are likely to forget that cYen to-day a
large part of production is household production, and is
not designed for the market place at all.
Again, we are l i k e l ~ ' to overlook the fact that in the rural
districts, whcre approximately one-third of the population of
the United States lives and works, there is annually produced
a vast amount of goods which are destined not for the mar-
ket but for horne consumption. Vegetables, small fruits,-
cultivated and wild,- butter, eggs, meat, fish caught in
public waters, and game are some of the things that may
serve as illustrations.
Considerations of this character show the great need of
caution in attempting to compare the annual production of
one country with that of another, or to compare the anllual
INTRODUCTORY
155
production of the same country at different periods. House-
hold production is becoming relatively less important, while
the production of things for the market, the value of which
is readily measured in money, is constantly gaining in im-
portance. Hence, apparent aIlnual production - the pro-
ductioIl of things which have a market price set upon them
- is increasing more rapidly than is the real annual produc-
tion.
The result is a tendency to overestimate our progress
and even to count as progress what may not be progress at
all. Thus, should boarding house and hotel life displace
private housekeeping, annual production might appear to
increase as a result of the change, though the real wealth
and income of thc country would evidently be affected in no
snch degree. The fallacy underlying such statistics is the
key to the old joke about a community whose members
" get their living by doing one another's washing."
Still further care must be exercised in studying official or
unofficial estimates of the wealth of a country. These esti-
mates are ordinarily made in terms of money. Kow if com-
modities are very abundant, relatively to money, their price,
other things being equal, will be low, though the rcal wcalth
of the country is great. If, for instance, the quantity of
cotton cloth produced doubles between two census periods,
while the price falls one-half, the total value of the product
will appear in the census estimates as equal in the two cases,
though it is evident that society in the second period has
twicc the amount of this valuable commodity.
Overproduction and Under-consumption. - It is not un-
common to find men expressing a belief in the possibility of
general overproduction. Still more common is it for men
to hold views which could onl v he corrcct if general over-
production were a En'n somc economists a cen-
tury ago fell into the same error. fly general overproduction
156 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
is meant a production of commodities in general beyond the
needs of suciety.
Careful thought will show at once the absurdity of such an
idea. The purpose of production, as we ha\'c seen, is con-
sumption. Manifestly, there has newr been a time when
more economic goods were produccd than men really needed
to satisfy their legitimate wants. On the contrary, there
has never been enough produced for this purpose. Some-
times, indeed, production moves forward unevenly, and
undue amounts of labor and capital are for a time devoted
to producing particular commodities; more of such commod-
ities may be produced than can be disposed of at a profit
to the producer; but until all men are well fed, well clothed,
and well housed, and furnished with material appliances
and other agencies for their higher life, such as books and
music, it will be a manifest absurdity to talk about general
overproduction. When there is an almost universal difficulty
in disposing of goods, the chief cause is not OLerproduction but
under-consumption. :Men want the goods, but they cannot at
the timc dispusc of their services, and consequently lack the
purchasing power that would enable them to satisfy their
wants.
When any class of goods is produced in such quantities
that the price falls below the cost, we may say that there is
overproduction of this class of goods. Snch overproduction
is not uncommon. It is one of the unpleasant features of
our complex organization of economic society that its parts
do not always work together harmoniously. The large yields
of wheat, corn, and other American farm crops in the years
1921 and 1922 were frequently c: :ed as cases of overproduc-
tion. At the same time mun.l American families were suf-
fering from want of adequate fCJj and clothing, and in other
lands uncounted numbers of people actually died of starva-
tion. Producers are more and more separated in time and
INTRODUCTORY 157
space from those who are to consume their products. It
follows that only the shrewdest producers can calculate
with any approach to accuracy how intense will be the wants
for their goods, how adcquate will be the purchasing power
of those who want, and in what quantities ri"al producers
will furnish goods to the market.
"Mistakes in judgment result in overproduction in particu1ar
industries, and overproduction in a few industries often lcads
to the spread of doubt and uncertainty throughout the business
lcorld. Then men, in their fear, restrict production and tllUi!
incidentally close the marlcet for labor. Laborers, seeking and
failing to find regular employment, lose their purchasing power,
with the result that the under-consumption spreads all along the
line, and society passes through what is called a crisis or panic,
followed by an industrial depression. Such crises and depres-
sions have been startlingly regular since the Industrial
TIe\'olution, the greater ones coming at intervals of about
twenty years, with minor ones in the alternating ten-year
intervals.
The explanation here given of crises and the resulting industrial de-
pressions is widely accepted by economists, but there are two other
explanations that should be mentioned. Some radical writers regard
the unequal distribution of wealth as the fundamental cause. If wages
do not rise in proportion to the general increase in wealth, it is argued,
the maS5 of the consumers, who arc wage-earners, will lack the means
to purchase the goorls protluccd. Again, other writers emphasize the
monetary ant! credit aspects of crises. The cri,i.; of 1893, for example,
is by some regarded largely as a monetary disturbance.
Production and Sacrifice. - Consumption regularly affords
satisfaction. Production as regularly requires sacrifice and
exertion. We should recall here what we have already
noted in studying consumption, - that the balancing of the
satisfaction of wants derived from consllmption against the
exertion and sacrifice required by production lies at the very
158 ELEMElvTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
center of all economic thought. It is true that much labor
seems in itself so pleasurable that it affords its own satis-
faction. But if such labor is not sufficient to produce the
goods that society demands, other labor which does not con-
tain its own rcward must be applied to production, and the
same reward wiII be paid by society for all labor applied to
that end. In most cases, however, it will be found on inves-
tigation that the pleasure comes from the actual or antici-
patcd result of the labor rather than from the labor itself.
Again, when we consume to-day less than we have means to
consume, with the object of greater production in future time,
we are aiding production by temporary abstinence from a
possible pleasure. True, in such cases we hope to get in
the future a satisfaction that will outweigh the present
unsatisfied feeling, but the unsatisfied feeling is present
with us and must be endured if we are to contribute to pro-
duction.
The Production of Goods and Services. - In what follows
we shltll treat the production of material goods and services
together, since there is little essential difference between the
two forms of production. It is worth noting, however, that
the proportion of. human effort devoted to the production of
commodities and services respectively, varies -with the progress
of civilization. In early stages, when only the most pressing
wants are either felt or satisfied, men perform for themselves
such simple services as are required. It is only later that
there arises a want for such personal services as call for
special training. The social order gradually increases in
complexity, and as a result of new wants and increased means
of satisfying them, division of labor among men makes a
place for the singer and poet, the physiciltl1 and priest, and
for other classes who are engaged in producing personal serv-
ices. As the production of material goods becomes better
organized, requiring less proportionate human effort, greater
INTRODUCTORY 159
nnmbers of people will find it profitable to specialize their
training and effort toward rendering personal service of one
sort or another to society.
SUMMARY
1. Production means the creation, not of things, but of utilities, by
the application of man's powers to the physical universe.
2. Production takes two chief forms: increasing the supply of material
goods, and rendering personal services.
3. Individual wealth is not always social wealth.
4. Many productive elements, such as woman's work in the house-
hold and the gathering of natural products for home use, are
often overlooked.
5. There can be no general overproduction. What i., thought of
when that expression is used should rather be called under-con-
sumption or unbalanced production.
6. With advancing civilization, an increasing proportion of human
energy is devoted to rendering specialized personal services.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. Define production. Compare the definition of consumption with
that of production.
2. Why and how is the physician a producer; the teacher; the
actor?
3. Mention instances of individual wealth; of socid wealth. Do
all your examples belong to hoth classes?
4. What is usually meant by the expression" overproduction"? Is
such a thing possible'! What is it that is commonly mistaken
for general overproduction?
5. Show by a detailed explanation how it is that more men arc en-
gaged in rendering personal services than was the case in earlier
days.
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. What economy results from the fact that, with increasing popu-
lation, there is a wider range of occupations open to individuals?
2. Is there any sense in which it may be argued that soldiers in war
are producers? Is theft a praces3 of product.ion? Is the
160 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES nF ECnt.,'O.'lJICS
policeman a producer; the congressman; the jail warden;
the insurance agent?
3. A farm worth $10,000 is mortgaged for 35000. Is the value of
the farm and mortgage together $15,000 or $10,OOO"! Explain.
How should a tax be placed in this case upon the wealth?
4. What utilities are produced and consumed in your home which
do not have a money value put upon them?
LITERATURE
For a general discussion of the subject of production consult any
standard work on Economics. A considerable number of these are
listed in the Appendix. Some special references are:
Carver, T. N.: Principles of Political Econ<Jmy, Chs. VIII, IX, XIII.
Clay, Henry: Economics for the General Reader, Cbs. III, V.
Marshall, A.: Principles of Economic:<, Bk. II, Ch. II.
Marshall, L. C.: Readings in Industrial Society, 100, 105-106,
111-112.
Marshall, Wright, and Field: Materials for the Study of Elemfntary
Economics, 15--17, 24-25, 41-43, 51, 53-58.
Mayo-Smith, R.: Slatisties and Economics, Cbs. III, IV, and Y.
Mill, J. S.: Principles of Political Economy, Bk. I, Ch. I, 1 and 2.
CHAPTER XV
THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION-
LAND
The Three Factors. - Three thing's contribute to produc-
tion as it is carried on to-day. They are therefore called the
factors of production. Of these, two are called original or
primary factors, because they exist in the very earliest forms
of production, and because it is from them that the third
factor is derived. These two factors are land, or nature,
and labor. Of these, in turn, we may notice that one, land,
is passive, while the other, labor, is acfite. In other words,
it is primarily labor, acting upon nature, that produces
wealth. From this action of labor upon nature, followed by
saving, i.e., postponement of the enjoyment of the result of
the labor, comes capital, which we therefore call a secondary
or derived factor. That is, it is secondary to nature and labor,
and is derived from them.
::\ATL'RE OR LA",D
Meaning of the Term. - Under the term "nature" we
hE're inelude all the matE'rial things furnished directly by her
hund, together with all the natural forces used in produc-
tion, - the power of the wind, the movement of water, gra\'i-
tation, cohesion, etc. Some of these materials and forces
are furnished in unlimited quantities, and arc therefore free
goods. It is common in economics to use thc word" land"
instead of " nature," because of all the gifts of nature it is
land with which we have chiefly to do ill our sciencc. But
161
162 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
it must be remembered that the word "Jand " in this use
has the very broad meaning which WE' have here given it.
To avoid any possihility of confusion some economists have
used the term" natural agents," when the broader meaning
is intended.
What Land Does for ProductIon. - By analysis we learn
that the service of land to production is not a single or a sim-
ple thing, but that it usually rt'nders one or more of four
dist:nct services. In the first place (1) it j1lrnighpg standing
room, or situs. It gives men something upon which they
may rest and move about while conducting productive pro-
cesses. Mere space is often a source of great value, as can
be seen in the case of city rE'al estatE'. As a continually in-
creasing proportion of a growing population dwells in cities,
this first service rendered by land is becoming more impor-
tant. In the second place (2) it enables men to utilize the
natura{ forces that go u'ith the {and itself. In the third place
(3) land contains those elements needed by plant life, and
thus renders a service to agriculture. \Ve call this property
of the land its "fertility." Fin<dly, (4) land contains natural
products below it;; surface, such as coal, gas, petroleum, iron,
silver, and gold. l\fan does not create thE'se natural treas'ures
nor give direction to nature in their formation. Some
nations have deemed it unfair that they should become the
property of individuals, and have therefore treated them as
a common heritage, exacting a rent or royalty for the oppor-
tunity to exploit them.
Diminishing Returns from Natural Agents. - One of the
most f uudamental and far-reaching laws in economics is
that \\"hich describes the result of investing labor and capital
upon land or other natural agents. This law, known as the
law of diminishing returns, will repay careful thought and
study, We may profitably begin our study of the law in its
application to agriculture.
THE FACTORS OF PRODCCTJOS - D:1.Y D 163
Every farmer is naturally ,ksirous of th(
possible return from his expenditure of lahor and capital
upon his land. Yet this wry statement implies that there
is a limit beyond whieh further expenditure will be unprofit-
able. Let us sec why this limit exists. and how it is deter-
mined. Suppose the case of an acre of land whieh a farmer
intends to "put into" potatoes. The firhl wouhl yield
some crop even if it were and poorly plowed, if no
fertilizer were used, and no rare were takt'n to presen'e t \1('
growing vines from destruction. Yet the farmer knows that
further expenditure of labor and capital will result in a much
larger crop, and that, if prices are good, the inercased erop
will fully repay the increased outlay. If we were to inquire
more particularly from the farmer as to his opinion relrarding
the possibilities, we might get from him something lih thp
following estimate: -
$ 5
10
IS
20
25
30
3.';
"OI"!.11 C;tYE A TOT.\.L
HETt.:RX Ol!'
40 bushels
100 bushr 1<
1!l5 bu.'hrls
200 bushels
2'2,'; bu"hels
hu,hels
:':4:; bll,hels
On .\,:'\," :\,'ER.\(;1-; "Ell
DOLl . AR I!Ii\'l.bTLD OJ,'
S huslw Is
10 blL'hrls
11 bushels
10 bushels
9 bushels
I; blL,hels
7 hushels
Lt,t us stop for a monH'nt to ('onsider carefully what the
table means, In the first column inYt'stnwnt. of rOllr:,e,
Illeans dollars' worth of lahor and capital ('xl){'ndt'(l in culti-
\'ating the aere. lIenee, if at a parti!'ular point the farml'r
grts a product that sells for all amoullt of 1ll0IJPY t'qulIl to
t hl' ill \'('stnll'llt, h(' will ha \'l' IW(,1l repa id fully for his work
:In(1 waiting. :\Iorl'o\'er, tht' ill w,;tllll'llt lIlay, for the ,a k,
164 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLE8 OF ECONOMICS
of be thought of as at the date of the sale of the
product, thus including an allowance for accrued interest
on the labor and capital applied to the acre. But the num-
bers in this column do not include any payment for the
use of the land, since we arc here considering only the cost
of cultivation; moreover, as will later appear, our present
study will show us how and why anything can be paid for
the use of an acre of land, and how much can be so paid under
:my given conditions. The numbers in the third column are
the quotients obtained by dividing the corresponding num-
bers in column two by those in column one. With this ex-
planation of the table, let us now return to it to discover how
it illustrates the law of diminishing returns.
An examination of the figures will show that doubling the
expenditure, from $5 to 10, results in more than doubling
the product, and that similarly, in the case following, the
increase in the product is more than proportionate to the
increase in expenditure. But notice that when the expendi-
ture is increased from $15 to 20, - an increase of one-third,
- the increase in the product is from 165 bushels to
200 bushcls, - or only a little more than one-fifth, - and
that in the same in the following case, increasing the
expenditure by one-fourth results in an increase of product
of only one-eighth, and so on. In other words, up to a cer-
tain point, - here represented by the $15 investment,-
an increase of cxpenditure results in a proportionate or more
than proportionatc increase in return, while after that point
has been reached, further increase in expenditure results
in less than a proportionate increase in the return. If it were
not for this fact, there would be no limit to the amount of
labor and capital which the farmer could profitably employ
in the cultivation of the acre of land. And the fact that
farmers are everywhere strictly limited as to the amount
of such profitable expenditure is in itself complete proof
THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION -LAND 165
that such a point of diminishing returns exists in the applica-
tion of labor aJl<1 capital to natural agents.
Influence of Price. - It will appear on reflection that the
farmer will not necessarily discontinue his expenditure upon
the land at the point at which the product begins relatively
to diminish. The limit of profitable e:rpenditure - or in-
tel/sire margin of cultivation - will depend upon the expected
price of the product. Thus at a price of ten cents a bushel,
the farmer would lose absolutely in all except the second,
third, and fourth cases in our illustration, ancl he would make
a surplus only in the third case. At a price of nine cents a
bushel, he could not afford to raise the crop at all. On the
other hand, at a price of one dollar a bushel he could afford to
expend 835 upon the acre, since the last 85 of expenditure
would yield a return of five bushels, which would sell for
e n o u ~ h to repay him for the marginal labor. materials. etc.
We may, therefore, say that there are two ways in which
t he proportion of returns diminishes as expellditure increases:
there is a diminishing return from the IJoint of view of the
product, and there is a diminishing return also from the point
of view of the value of the product. The second is of COUf$e
decisive with the farmer, but thisaself is due to the diminish-
ing return measured in terms of the product.
Influence of Inventions and Improvements. - A further
point remains to be particularly noted. An imperfect under-
standing of the nature of the law has led at times to the
conclusion that as population increases it must inevitably
become increasingly harder to sccure the means of subsist-
ence from the soil. But this conclusion is at variance not
only with the known facts of the history of society, but
also with the law itself when the law is properly stated.
Such a conclusion would indeed be valid if the point of
diminishing returns remained everywhere at the same point
from year to year and from generation to generation. But
166 ELEAfENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
we all know how far from the truth this last assumption is.
The art of agriculture is constantly improving as a result of
invention and the discovery of better methods and processes,
and every improvement makes it possible to secure a greater
crop without a greater expenditure; in other words, every
slIch improvement Pllshes forward the point of diminishing
returns. The law of diminishing returns still holds true.
There is still, and always will be, a point beyond which fur-
ther investment of labor and capital upon an acre of land
will yield a less than proportionate return, but that point is
not now reached so soon as formerly.
Final Statement of the Law.- We have taken for our illus-
tration the case of labor and capital expended in agriculture.
But the law is equally true of the expenditure of labor and
capital upon land or other natural agents in the case of min-
ing, manufacturing, and commerce. The only difference is
that in these industries greater amounts of labor and capital
may be expended upon a given unit of land,- sayan acre,-
before the point of diminishing returns is reached, than is
the case in agriculture.
\Ve are now ready for a formal statement of the law we
have been discussing. At any gi1'fn time, there is a point in
the investment of labor and capita! upon a unit of any natural
agent beyond which further 1"mestment yields a less than pro-
pori'ionate return.
This statement of the law of diminishing returns is the
one that has been most used in economic analysis; and this
form of the law will always be meant when reference is made
to such a law, unless otherwise expressly stated. But it is
possible to look upon the law of diminishing returns from
other points of vic\\' than that adopted here. For example,
instead of taking an acre of land as a unit and supposing suc-
cessive amounts of labor and capital to be applied to it, we,
might have considered the farmer himself as the unit, giving
THE FA.CTORS OF PRODUCTION-LA.ND 167
him successive amounts of land, labor, and capital to manage.
In this case we should also have found at first an increasing
and then a diminishing return. And in like manner, we
might consider the effect of combining increasing "doses"
of land and labor with a fixed amount or unit of capital.
Summary, Questions, and Literature bearing on this chapter will be
found at the end of Chapter XVII.
CHAPTER XYI
THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION-
LABOR
Definition. - The second of the primary or original fac-
tors in production is labor. Labor is human exertion of mind
or body undergone lrith the object of creating 1 I i i i i t i e . ~ .
A common classification distinguishes mental from phys-
ical labor. In making this distinction it is well to bear in
mind that from the purest instance of mental labor to th'
purest instance of physical lahor there is aJwa.ys some mixing
of both forms. Thl:' philosopher must labor with hand or
tongue if he would give the results of his thought to the
world, and, on the other hand, eVl'll the ditch digger can by
no means do his work without the exercise of intelligence.
'Ye must never forget that labor ig not an end in itself,
but is only a means to an end, the satisfaction of wants.
With this thought firmly fixed in mind, it ,yill not be diffi-
cult to understand that increase of labor, unless it means in-
crease of human satisfactions, is not socially desirable.
Breaking window panes makes a chance for labor, but it
does not increase human satisfactions as a result of that
labor. On the other hand, labor-saving devices, while they
may injure individual laborer,;, are beneficial to society as
a whole, since they enable i: to sec-ure greater satisfactions
by the same exertion.
A Nation's Labor Force. - A question of prime impor-
tanc'e in connection with labor is that of the conditions affect-
ing the total amount of a nation',; labor, - what might be
168
THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION-LABOR 169
called the nation's labor force. What determines this? Evi-
dently it is not mere numbers, since a hundred workers in
one country often furnish much more labor to production
than do a hundred workers in another. Analysis of the
subject shows that the two main determining factors are
(I) efficiency and (II) quantity.
(I) The efficiency of labor depends in turn first of all upon
(1) the efficiency of the workers themselves, - upon their
characteristics, mental, physical, and moral. Temperance,
trustworthiness, skill, alertness, quick perception, compre-
hensive mental grasp - all these good qualities minister
to the efficiency of the workmen, and hence of labor. In
the formation of these qualities the physical and social en-
vironment in which the laborers are reared and do their
work is of the greatest importance.
(2) The second influence conditioning the efficiency of
labor is the manner in which it IS organized and directed. As
we are to discuss this separately and at some length in the
next chapter, we need note here only that when labor is care-
fully organized and directed, so that each worker can do con-
tinuously the work for which he is best fitted, the labor by
that means becomes indefinitely more efficient.
(II) The second factor in determining a nation's labor
force is its amount or quantity. This depends partly (1) upon
the aggregate number of hours during which laborers work,
varying with the length of the working day, the number of
halidays in the year, etc. A ten-hour working day means a
greater quantity of labor than an eight-hour day, and there-
fore a greater labor force, prol'ided the efficiency is not pro-
portionateiyimpUI:red by the long hours of leork. Studies
made bv the British :l\Iinistry of Munitions and other
agencies' during the "'orld War gave us new knowledge on
this latter point. The British found that what they called
the "physiological balance" was an important factor;
170 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
for example, a worker conscious that he was entering upon
a twelve-hour day would not produce as much in the first
ten hours as he would produce in the same length of time if
he knew his day was restricted to ten hours. On thl' other
hand, the shorter hours, accompanied, as they were
during the war period, by higher wagrs, often resulted in a
very appreciable decline of output. That efficiency is lIot
increased if the working ciay is extended beyond a reasonahl"
length is ampl,\' demonstrated; but what constitutes a
"reasonahle length" varies with the type uf work, the con-
ditions under which the work is carried on, the character
of the worker, and numerous other factors.
GROWTH OF l'Ol'lL.\TIOX
Other things being equal, a nation's labor force also il1-
crenses, (2) with Ihl' gl'iJlI'll! of l)(JplI/ation, which means a
sib/ell/crease in the number of' laborers.
The Malthusian Theory. - to the growth of popu-
lation there is no ab,olilte limit save that presented by the
means of subsistence which can be secllfec/. Throllg-hout
recurdecl history we again and again find the populatioll
of one country and another increasing to the stan'ation
point ; i.e., ilH:reasing until the nwans uf subsistence were
less than sufficient for all who had bet:'n born. From this
fact has arisen a ft:'ar lest this overpopulation shall always
repeat itself in the future as it has in the past.
Those who are much moved by such a fear have often on
their lips the theory ('aIled Malthusianism, from the name
of an English economist, Thomas Robert 2\lalthus, who lived
and "'Tote at the end of the eighteenth century and during the
first third of the nineteenth century. According to this
tht:'ory, population tends to increase in geometrical
sion (i.e., by multiplication: 2-4-8-16, etc.), while the best
that we can hope in the case of food is that it may increase in
THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION - LABOR 171
arithmetical progression (i.e., by addition, 2-4-6-8-10, etc.).
Consequently, there is always a pressure of population on
food supply and if there were no other checks upon the in-
crease of population, men would soon reach the point of
starvation.
Positive and Preventive Checks upon Population. - It is
admitted hv the theory that such checks exist. These are
'. .
of two kinds, positive and preventive. Positire checks are
thnse that act through the death of the livinfl, ~ checks that in-
c,ease the death rate, such as plagues, pestilence, intemper-
ance, infanticide, eannibalism, and war. These positive
checks may he " exclusively misery," as proeeeding unavoid-
ably from nature, or they may come indirectly from vice
that leads to misery. Preventive checks arc those that act
through a lowering of the birth rate. These are found either
in vices which result in incapacity for parenthood, or in ,,,hat
Malthus called prudential restraint, ~ a moral check, COII-
sisting in the postponement or avoidance of marriage, or of
the upbringing of a family. Conscientious men will be slow
to marry unless they can support a wife and rear their chil-
dren worthily. As population becomes denser, such men
find the burden of rearing a family heavier, and therefore
postpone marriage or avoid it altogether. "Yith every in-
crease of the average age at marriage, the number of chil-
dren born decreases more than in the same proportion. In-
numerable customs exist all over the world which have grown
up from the social need of checking marriage and population,
as, for instance, the custom which obtains in some peasant
communities of marrying only when a cottage becomes vacant
by the death of its former occupant. l\Jalthus himself for-
mally deduced only this lesson: let no man marry until he has
a reasonable prospect that he 1cill be able to support a family
of the average size. He wished to intensify in Englishmen
the feeling of parental responsibility.
172 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
" Prudential Restraint." - Some people have thought that
as men made progress, prudential restraint alone would be-
come operative in such a way 2-S easily to prevent the danger
of overpopulation; but Malthus himself often forgot the
hope contained in man's gradual enlightenment, and was
inclined to take a gluumy view of the future, although as
the successive editions of his work appeared, a more hopeful
tone is noticeable. Others, following Malthus in his gloomy
reasoning, have thouiiht that there is no escape for the race
from repeated overpopulatiun with all its resulting vice and
misery. 'Modern civilization, however, gives much cause for
hope that as prosperity becomes diffused among the people,
the problem of overpopulation may lose its serious aspect.
Statistics show conelusively that cvery\yhere advancing
civil izatiun has been accompanied a decline in the birth
rate. This is notable in the latest censuses of population in
a number uf countries, even after allowing for lusses due
to war. Following arc some examples of decennial increase
rates: Scotland, 6.4 per cent in 1111, 2.5 per cent in
1921; France, 1.6 per cent in 1911, but a decrease of 8.5
per cent in 1921; however, in 1920 for the first time in six
French births exceeded deaths. The decennial in-
crease rate of the lTnited States was 21 per cent in the Thir-
teenth (1910) Census, but only 15 per cent in the Fourteenth
Census. The first accurate census ever taken in Japan
(HJ20) showed the population of Japan proper - 56 millions
- tu be considerably smaller than had been estimated.
The decrease in the birth rate seems to be moving from
the well-to-rio classes through the artisan class and toward,
or even to, the class of the very poor. In large though vary-
ing measure the tendency appears among people of nearly
all advanceri countries, sections, races, religions, and social
classes, though interesting differences are observable. The
growth of democracy, with its spur to ambition, and its
THE PACTORS OF PRODUCTION - LABOR 173
stimulation to activity; the improvement in the status of
women, especially on the economic side; and the ingenuity of
people in new possibilities and methods of devel-
opment - all have probably operated to lessen the birth rate.
At the same time progress in these and other directions has
made possible the existence in the worlcl to-day of a popu-
lation not only greater than ever before, but on the whole
living more comfortably anel with a more complete control
over its food supply and other necessities than previous
generation knew. How far this result may be attributed
to an extension of the "prudential restraint" of which
-:\Ialthus wrote is still to some degree a matter of dispute.
Population and the Standard of Living. - In a later chap-
ter, on 'Wages and the Labor Problem, we shall study at some
It'ngth the influence exerted upon population by the standard
of lit
1
ing, - the amount of necessaries, comforts, and conven-
iences which people are acclIstomed to enjoy. Here we may
just pause to note that where the standard of living is a high
one and is firmly maintained, anything that threatens it
will set in operation the preventive checks to which we have
referred. But the standard of living is not absolutely fixed,
and changes in population through the action of preventive
checks come about only slowly. It may therefore happen
that when the standard is assailed by continued national
adversity, the rising generation may be brought up to accept
a lower standard, according to which a greater increase of
population will be possible and natural. Such a possibility
represents one of the costs of war that has been too little
considered.
Conclusion as to the Malthusian Theory. - Many forces
of which ?lIalthus had little or no comprehension are oper-
ating to prevent, or perhaps only postpone, the dismal fate
to which his conclusions seemed to doom the world. While
we must recognize the important clements of truth contained
174 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF' ECONOMICS
in his famous theory, we must also admit that social phe-
nomena are so complex that it will probably always be difficult
if not impossible to formulate any very precise law of popu-
lation. Further discussion of the subject is obviously be-
yond the just limits of an elementary text such as this.
The Two Sources of Increased Population. - The popu-
lation of any country, as distinguishcd from the whole
world, has two sources of grov.1:h, - natural increase and
immigration. Katural increase comes about in any country
through a continued excess of births over deaths; in other
words, through a birth rate which on the average exceeds
the death rate. Such an excess, however, may result from
anyone of several widely differing conditions. Thus some
countries, e.g., Russia, have a vcry high death rate with a
still higher birth rate; while in other countries, e.g., England,
the increase results from an excess of a low birth rate over a
still lower death ratc. It is evident that the proportion of
persons capable of labor, and hence thc nation's labor force,
will be greater where the death rate is low. Manifestly,
too, it makes a great difference in the real happiness of a
country whether the increase in population is due to the one
condition or the other.
Increase in Population in the United States. - In our own
country population has increased regularly, though at vary-
ing rates, throughout the whole period of our national ex-
istence. This increase has been due both to natural growth,
the excess of births over deaths, and to immigration. The
following table shows in round numbers our increase by dec-
ades from 1790 to 1920.
Fp to 1840 immigration was small and we note that the
rate of increase tended to become less. The next two dec-
ades witnessed a great influx of foreigners; the rate goes up.
Then came the Civil War decade, with its casualties, its rela-
tively fewer immigrants, and its probably lower birth rate;
THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION - LABOR 175
I

I


YEAR
l\lILLWK.S
!\'iILLIONS
PI:::R CENT
,
1790 3.9
1800 5.3
1.4
3.5.1
1810 7.2
l.9
36.4
1820 9.6
2.4
33.1
1830 12.9
3.2
33.5
1840 17.1
4.2
32.7
1850
23.2
6.1
35.9
1860 3l.4 8.3
35.6
1870
38.6
7.1
22.6
1880 50.2 1l.6
30.1
1890 62.9
12.5
25.5
1900 76.0
12.9
20.7
1910 92.0 16.4
21.0
1920 105.7
13.7
14.9
the rate of increase falls to less than 23 per cent. The census
of showed recovery from war conditions and an increase
of :30 pcr cent in population. Sincc 1880, in spite of ever
more immigrants, the rate has tended downward; the re-
markable drop in the Fourteenth Census is due primarily to
the extreme falling off of immigration due to the World War,
hut partly also to the larger death rate in 1918, as noted
below.
Two rather striking facts may here be noted. First,
that more than half of our increase in population in the dec-
ade ending 1910 was due to immigration; second, there have
been no additions to the territory of continental United States
since 1900, but in these twenty years population has grown
30,000,000. In 1900 we had an even 25 acrcs of land for
each inhabitant; in 1910 this had shrunk to 20.7 acres, and
in 1920 to 18 acres.
The N aturaJ Increase. - \Ve see that in onc hundred and
thirt.y years our llumbers have grown from less than four
176 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
millions to nearly one hundred and six millions. How much of
this grm\'th is due to natural increase we can only conjecture.
The eyidence indicates, however, that the birth rate for
the most part has declined; but at the same time the death
rate has declined to an equal or greater degree, so that the
natural increase in our population has probably been unin-
tcrrupted. A few states in recent years have kept accurate
records of births and deaths.* In this registration area thE'
birth and death rates from 1915 to 1920 were as foIlo\\'s: -
nATF: PER THoe:qXI) OF POPl'L_\TIO);
YE.-tR Births
I
Deaths

over Deaths
1915 24.9 14.0 10.9
1916 24.8 14.7 10.1
1017 24.6 14.1 10.5
1918 24.4 18.2
6.2
1919 22.3 13.0
9.3
1920 23.7
I
13.1 IO.G
I n the above table the student will be impressed the
unusual increase in the death rate in 1918 and the decrease
in both birth and death rates in 1919.
Increase Due to Immigration. - The figures for increase
due to immigration are more satisfactory. The following
table shows in round numbers the total arriyals by decades
for the past one hundred years, together with the regions
from which they came.
In the year 1820 a few less than 8400 foreigners entered.
Up to 1844 the increase in number was gradual, the largest
number coming in 1842, - slightly over 100,000. After
*The 1920 census reports that 23 states and the District of Columbia.
aggregating nearly 39 per cent of the area and including nearly 60 per cent
of the population of continental United States maintain birth registration
statistics.
THE FA.CTORS OF PRODUCTION-LA.BOR 177
PER CE':-'T OF TOTAL FRO:\I
DECADE
!"\V:\.fBER OF
bnUGRANTS North and South and
Other
'Vest Europe East Eurupe
Countries

1.52,000 87.0
2.9 10.1
1830--40
599,000 92.5
1.1
6.5
1840-.')0
1,713,000 95.9
.3 3.8
1850--60 2,598,000 94.6
.8 4.5
1860-70 2,315,000
88.5 1.5 10.1
1870-80 2,812,000
73.7 7.1 19.2
1880-90 5,247,000 n.o
18.3 9.7
1890-1900 3,688,000 44.8 52.8 2.5
1900-10 8,79.5,000 21.8
71.9 6.3
1910-20 5,736,000
Total
33,655.000
1844 the increase was milch more rapid, going up to
425,000 in 1854. Thereafter the number steadily declined
until 1862, when only i5,OOO entered, and not until
1873 was the former record surpassed; about 460,000 ar-
rived in the latter year. Then came another falling off to
about 140,000 in 1878, followed by a rapid jump to almost
790,000 in 1882. The number fluctuated for the next
twenty years, reaching a low leyel of less than 230,000 in
1898, but rapidly mounting to almost 860,000 in 1903, and
to about 1,275,000 in 1 D07, the largest number that ever
entered in anyone year. Thc million mark was passed
also in the years 190.5, 1906, 1910, 1913, and 1914, reaching
1,254,000 in the last mentioned During the four war
years the ayerage number of arriyals was about 260,000;
but during these years an unusual number left our shores
so that the net gain was only about 100,000 a year. For
the twelve months ending .June 1920, more than 400,000
came in, and in the following year twice as many; but
during these later years, too, the tide of foreigners retl!rn-
178 ELE1IlE.VTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
ing to their native lands has not abated. The. dispropor-
tionate number returning during the war years and im-
mediately thereafter is reflected in the following figures from
the United States Census. There were resident in thi:;
country in 1900 foreign born whites to the number of 10,-
214,000; in 1910 there were 13,346,000, an increase of 3,132,-
000, or nearlr 31 per cent; in H)20 there were 13,713,000,
an increase in the decade of 367,000, or less than 2.7 per cent.
Urban Preference of Immigrants. - Of the foreign born
whites in the L'nited States in 1920, 10,357,000, about 7;)
per cent, were residents of cities. The recent arrivals have
tended more and more to go to the urban centers, 00 to 95
in every hundrerl preferring the urban to rural districts.
More than 25 per ccnt of the total population of the states
of i\Iassachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and XewYork
are foreign born; while in the primaril)' agricultural states,
such as Tennessee or Arkansas, less than 1 per cent are foreign
born. In the senn largest cities of the country the propor-
tions are as follo,,'s : -
POP'CLATION
NU)[BF'.R OF I PER (;E-:\T
FOHJ.;IG:-i ()F' FC,rn:IG.
BORN "'HITE :'BOR:-;,WHlT
New York
5,620,048 1,991..547
3;).4
Chieago
2,701,705 803,482 29.8
Philadelphia.
1,823,779 397,927 21.8
Detroit
993,678 289,297 29.1
Cleveland
796,841 2:39,538 30.1
St. Louis 772,g97 103,2:39
134
Boston
748,060 238,919 31.9
Total
13,457,008 4,065,949 29.4
Control of Immigration. - The immigration problem has
been of real concern to students of the subject for more than
a !(eneration. It has been intensified by the consideratiol1$
THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION-LABOR 179
discussed in the preceding pages: viz., (I) the rapid increase
in the number of immigrants, particularly in the years just
prior to the \Yorld War; (2) the changed type of immigrant
as compared to earlier arrivals, the newer immigration repre-
senting distinctive political, social, and cultural ideals;
(3) the congregation of these strangers in colonies of their
own nationality in our larger cities, so that" assimilation"
is made more difficult; (4) the inability of the newcomers
to acquire good land easily and cheaply in case they pre-
fer to establish themselves in rural communities.
The diversity of purposes and ideals within our country,
due at least in part to "unassimilated" foreign elements,
came into clear light when the World 'War began. The
general recognition of this situation, together with the fear
of a fresh "immigrant invasion" after the war, induced
Congress to enact fllrther restrictive measures. Laws passed
prior to this time excluded indiddllals morally or
diseased, criminals, those who menaced our political insti-
tutions or were likely to become public charges, and those
who were brought in under promise of employment. In
1915 Congress passed the so-called" literacy test," which
President 'Wilson vetoed, primarily on the ground that" the
new tests here embodied are not tests of quality or of char-
acter, or of personal fitness, but tests of opportunity." It
is worth noting that both Presidents Cleveland and Taft
had vetoed similar measures. In 1917, Congress reenacted
the law and passed it oycr the President's second veto. It
became operative May 5, H117, and is ret in force. Brieflr
the law requires that the applicant for admission must be
able to read forty words in the language of his choice. That
this measure was inadequate to the post-war situation is
evidenced by the further legislation of 1921, the so-called
"three per cent law," which restricts the number of immi-
grants from a given nation permitted to enter in any year
180 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
to 3 per ccnt of the number of foreign born of that nation-
ality resident in the United States in 1910 as shown by the
census. The law, originally enacted to expire June 30,
1922, permitted entry to 355,825 individuals during the
twelve months preceding; it has since been extended for
three more vears, and the total number of entries for each
year is not to exceed 360,000.
Viewing our country as a whole, throughout our entire
national period, we can say that as compared to the old world
we have had an abundance of natural resources, - of land, -
but that the other two factors, labor and capital, have been
relatively scarcer; and that the free immigration of the past
has contributed much to our cconomic development. But
conditions are now changed, and it seems probable that
measures of some sort restricting immigration must become
a permanent part of our future policy.
Summary, Questions, and Literature bearing on this cbapter will be
found at the end of Chapter XVII.
CHAPTER XVII
THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION-
CAPITAL
Definition. - Thc third factor in production, the second-
ary or derived onc, is capital. Itself neither land nor labor,
capital is derived from the two, and yet is a new thing with
properties of its own. In everyday speech the word" cap-
ital " is often used loosely to describe things that are not
capital at all in the technical language of economics. Thus
the word is often used to include land, because, in many re-
spects, to thc man cngaged in a busincss enterprise there is
little difference between his land and his machinery. Yet
technically the two should be distinguished. Again, busi-
ness ability is often described as personal capital, and there
is a certain sense in which this figurative expression has a
value; but it should always be remembered that such lan-
guage is only figurative. Land is nature; capital is a human
product. Labor is indissolubly connected with the person-
ality of the laborer; capital is a material thing resulting
from that labor.
Even more frequently in everyday specch do business men
use the word capital to describe either the amount or value
of the capital stock of a corporation, or the whole value of a
going business, - whether incorporated or not, - including
land, buildings, stock in trade, accounts reccivable, money
in bank and in till, etc. Hence the sharp caution here given
that thc word capital, as used by the economist to name the
181
182 ELEMENTA.RY PRINCIPLES OF ECON011JICS
th'rd factor in pronuction, consists of those intermediate prod-
ucts which are wedfnr the purpose of further production. ::\lore
briefly still, capital means the produced instruments of produc-
tion.
Classes of Capital Goods. - Capital is "the medium
through which the two original productive powers exert their
It includes not only all the (1) man-made
aids to production, such as buildings, machinery, and tools,
but also all those (2) unfinished goods, such as hides and bar
iron, which enter into further production; and also (3) fin-
ished consnmers' so long as these have not passed
into the possess'ion of the final consumers, but are still having
added to them place and time utilities. Partly manufactured
materials are technically spoken of as in the "process of
ripening." Fully" ripened" goods in the possession of final
consumers are no longer to be regarded as capital, although
from their wise use new capital may result.
The Function of Capital. - The function of capital may
be expressed as follows: It enables men to utilize more com-
pletely nature's materials and forces by the substitution of
roundabout methods of prodllction for direct ones.' and it ac-
complishes this result /;y fUl'llishing the tools for such r01lnd-
about methods, and by making possible a /ongerinterl'al be-
tween the initial effort and the final effect, or consumption.
Roundabout methods are almost without exception more
efficient than direct ones, lmt these methods require tools
or machinery and a lengthened period of pronuction. Thus,
a man may lift a heavier weight by the roundabout method
of using a lever, instead of relying upon his unaided strength,
since in this way he summons nature's forces to his aid.
And generally speaking every improvement iri machinery
means a more roundabout method of applying labor. Capi-
talistic production, therefore, as it develops, shows a con-
tinu::d increase in the number of steps between the initial
THE FACTORS OF PRODC'CTION- CAPITAL 183
movement anu the final product, and, as a general rule, an
increase in the length of the int('rval.
Improvements sometimes seem to shorten processes, but
when we go far enough back in our studies, we find that the
rule given above is in general correct and that it directs at-
tention to one of the most remarkable and significant prin-
ciples of capitalistic production. The student must not allow
to fall into the easy mistake of confusing the last
stage of the capitalistic or roundabout process with the whole
proc('ss. A ride in a railway train means more than taking
a seat in a car and being whirled through space. It means
the efforts, reaching back through years, of men who have
made roadbecl, bridges, car, and engine; the earlier forms of
capital by which these in their turn were made; and so on
ancl on through a vista of years that tasks the mind to pene-
trate. So too, in watching a threshing machine at work we
note at first only that it threshes grain rapidly, but we have
not graspcd the real function of capital in this case until we
recall the innumerable steps involved in the production of
the machine and the length of the process when so regarded.
The roundabout methods, of coursc, are not an end but a
means to an end.
The Origin of Capital. - It is often said that capital is
the result of saving, but such a statement of case is at
least misleading, Saving, as such, is merely negative and
cannot produce a positive result. In orner that we may
save, we mnst first have something to savc, - that is, we
must produce, - and, moreover, we must produce something
more than is sufficient for existeilce; in other words, we
must have a surplus. If such a produced surplus is laid by
or saved, it m.ay become capital.
Methods of Capital Formation. - Such savings do be-
come capital when arc devoted, directly or indirectly,
to furthering production. One of the simplest ways il! which
184 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
saved surplus may be transformed into capital would be
illustrated by the case of a fisherman who should set aside
part of the catch of one period for his subsistence in a later
period while working at a canoe, or net, or other device for
increasing the product of his future labor.
In advanced communities the process is usually much more
complex. The farmer, for instance, who wishes a self-binder
pays for it directly with money. But the moncy has been
received in return for a saved surplus of his farm products.
Meanwhile, those who have been working on the manifold
processes which result in the finished farm machine have
been supported from a surplus which has been advanced to
them. The case is the same with the manufacturer. He
may sell his products and consume at once the resulting
means of livelihood, or he may consume less than all, and with
his remaining means may purchase from others the forms of
capital of which he stands in need. Or, having all the
machinery needed, he may invest his surplus in the stock
of some company, in which case the company will use it for
the purchase of needed capital goods. In all these cases
the use of money obscures the nature of the transaction,
which is at bottom only the turning of a part of society's
labor force from the production uf finished consumption
goods to the pruduction of capital goods in order later to
increase and make easier the production of consumers' guods.
Summing up, then, ,ye may distinguish logically the fol-
lowing steps in capital formation: (1) production beyond the
necessity of the present; (2) postponement of the consumption
of part of this product; (3) use of the saved 8urpl'US to make
possible greater f1lillre production.
Results of the Use of Capital. - It remains for us to say
a few words regaroing the results of the use of capital. First
of all, (1) capifalJllakrs possible an increased amount of prod-
uct. Things that could be produced by hand and without
THE FACTORS OF PRODCCTiO>V - C.IPITA.L 18!i
capital can be produced in much ;:;re::ter quantities \\,h0:1
capital is present. In the second place, (::!) capita! mal:es
possible certain guuds which Il'l' could not enjuy at all withuut
it. Thus, the enjoyment of oysters and shellfish at great
distances from the coast would be impossible without the
capital engaged in transportation. Finally, (3) capital
makes pussiiJl!'in many cases a higher quality of product than
could exist in its absence.
Representative Goods. - One class of goods, if they may
be so called, must be especially distinguished from capital
in the teclmical sense of the word. "'e refer to what we
ha ve earlier called " representative" goods, which from the
point of view of society are not goods at all, but only signs
of the ownership uf goods. Such are notes, mortgages,
bonds, and stolk certificates; these arc not social goods
but simply represent ownership. Neither are franchises a
part of social capital. \Yhen a city grants to a compan:.-
a franchise for the construction and operation of a street
railway, it does not thereby directly create new capital. It
merely grants permission to the company to make use of
existing social capital or to create social capital.
Fixed and Circulating Capital. - It has been common
among economists to classify capital as fi.eed and circulating.
Circulating capital is that which can be but once, 01' in
one round of value passing once and for all into
value of the product. Fi.r:ed capital, Oil the other
hand, is capital whieh last8 through a sllccession of operations,
only a part of its value passing O1Jer into the product with each
use. Thus, the raw materials and the partly finished goods
used in manufacturing are examples of circulating capital,
while the factory building and the machinery are fixed capital.
Free and Specialized Capital. - A classification, which
superficially resembles the onc just given, but whieh is really
quite distinct from it, is that of free and specialized capital.
186 ELEMENT.4RY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Even more than is commonly the case with such da"sific3
tions, these words must be understood as pointing only to
relative ideas. Specialized capital is that which by its form
or circumstances can be used for only one line of production,
or at most for a very limited number of Sllch lines of produc-
tion. Free capital, on the other hand, is capital which can
be applied to anyone of a considerable number of lines of pro-
duction. Thus coal, iron, and leather are relatively free
forms of capital, while railways, canals, and many forms of
machinery are relatively specialized. The practical impor-
tance of the djfference lies in the fact that free forms of capital
can more readily adjust themselves to changes in the social
demand for goods. Thm, if too grcat an amount of a
nation's capital is converted into specialized forms, - into
railways, for example, - the mistake is not easily or quickly
corrected, and the entire production of the country must
suffer in consequence of the bad adjustment. Such dispro-
portionate investment of capital in specialized forms is be-
lieved by some economists to be the most important single
cause of crises and industrial depressions.
SUMMARY
1. Of the three factors of production, land and labor are primary
and original, while capital is secondary and derived.
2. Land furnishes "standing room," natural forces, fertility, and
natural treasures.
3. Labor means human exertion 'of mind or body undergone with
the object of creating utilities.
4. A nation's labor force depends upon its efficiency and quantity;
efficiency depends upon the efficiency of the individual laborers,
and upon the efficiency of their organization; quantity de-
pends upon aggregate working hours and number of workers.
5. The number of workers in our own country has been much in
creased by immigration.
6. Capito 1 consists of intermediate products used for further pro-
duction.
THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTIOX- CAPITAL 187
7. The formation of capital involveR Raving or postponement of pos-
sible consumption.
8. Capital may be classified as (1) fixed and (2) circnlating; or from
a different point of view, as (1) free and (2) specialized.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. Mention some of the checks upon population. How does the
standard of life affect the increase of po)lul:.ttion?
2. Why should land be distinguished from capital? To which class
does a building upon land belong; the fertilizer that was used
five years ago?
3. What advantages flow from roundabout processes of production?
l\Iention some of the steps in the developmcnt of indirect pro-
cesses in the production of wheat.
4. Explain the bearing of "physiological balance" on the efficiency
of labor.
5. Distinguish between free and specialized capital; between fixed
and circulating capital. What are representative goods?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Is it true to say that labor produces all goods, or that capital is
not productive?
2. Is capital active or passive as regards man; as regards nature?
3. Is tennis for recreation to be classed as play or as work; amateur
baseball; professional baseball; burglary?
4. Discuss America's labor force from the point of view of the analy-
sis of this chapter. Has the Immigration Law of 1921 had any
effect on labor conditions?
5. What is the effect of a long-continued high rate of infant mortal-
ity upon the proportion of workers in any population?
6. The British census of 1921 in England anu Wales showed a pop-
ulation increase of less than two millions. This was only one-half
of the normal increase. The late Registrar-General of Great Britain
is quoted as remarking: "I think we should be glad of it, for
I do not see how under the present conditions we are going to
maintain an enormous population. Either we shall have to
work and li\'e harder than at present, or emigrate, or we shall
be starved." Look up further information and discuss this
subject.
7. "The food supply of .Japan has been developed to the limit ... The
188 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
average Japanese family numbers eight: father, mother and
six children ... 60 per cent of the family income is spent on food,
a very low standard of living. . .. The remedy has been sought in
sending emigrants abroad." See the Japanese census; com-
pare Japan's area and food resources with those of the United
Kingdom. Do you think it is true tha!: Japan's food limit has
been reached?
8. In the decade ending 1920, the tilled acreage in the United States
increased 9 per cent, while the population increased nearly 15
per cent. Has the "pressure of population on food supply"
begun in America?
LITERATURE
Adams, H. C.: Description of Industry, 16-18, 21.
Bloomfield, Daniel: Problems of Labor, "New Spirit 10 Industry,"
by Mary A. Van Kleeck.
Carver, T. N.: Principles of Political Economy, Chs. XII-XIII,
XXXII, XLII.
Clark, J. B.: The Distribution of Wealth, Ch. IX, pp. 116-123.
Commons, J. R.: The Distribution of Wealth, Ch. III.
Gide, Charles: Political Economy, pp. 65-149 and {)95-700.
Hamilton, W. H.: Cu.rrent Economic Problems, Revised Ed., 219,
222, 226, 229, 235, 237.
Marshall, A.: Principles of Economics, Bk. IV, Ch. I, 1.
Marshall, Wright, and Field: Materials for the Study of Elementary
Economics, 20-21, 24--27, 41-50.
Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 13, No.1, July, 1921, pp. 222-226. "The
New Immigration Law."
Seager, H. R.: Principles of Economics, Chs. VIII-IX.
Seligman, E. R. A.: Principles of Economics, Chs. XVIII-XXII.
Smith, J. R.: Industrial and Commercial Geography, Chs. I, II, XVI.
Smith, J. R.: The World's Food Resources.
Taussig, F. W.: Principles of Economics, Vol. I, Chs. I, II, V.
CHAPTER XYIII
THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION-
MANAGEMENT AND LABOR
IN the preceding chapter we have considered the factors
of production studying the nature of each, and
the principles governing its efficiency and increase. \\'e
have now to study the manifold ways in which production
in our day has come to be socialized and organized. It is
as though we had studied the nature of the various parts of
a machine, and were then to study further the different ways
and methods of putting the parts together, and to learn how
the resulting whole acted as a unit when the machine was
" set up."
1. ORGANIZATION OF THE FACTORS REGARDED COLLEC-
TIVELY
Early Simplicity. - We have already seen that the three
main parts of the great machine of production are land,
labor, and capital; and we may therefore first of all inquire
how these parts are "assembled" fur efficient work. In
other words, the first problem in our present study is that
of the cooperation or organization of the factors of produc-
tion taken together or collectively.
This organization, in the early stages of social develop-
ment, was exceedingly simple. The old household economy
was so organized that, if it were universal to-clay, we should
not think of distinguishing in it the three separate factors.
189
190 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMiCS
The same man owned the land, the labor, and the capital,
and as sole judge of what was right distributed the total prod-
uct among those who aided in production. When, with
advancing civilization, production came to be carried on by
village communities, there was collective ownership of the
instruments of production and management by a common
authority, and the distribution of the product was regulated
by custom.
Later, under the gild organization of industry and com-
merce, there was a similar lack of sharp separation of the
factors. The early gilds embraced apprentice, journeyman,
and master, and regulated industry and commerce under
governmental supervision. The master directed the busi-
ness, owned the capital, and worked with his own hands.
He received the entire product of the business after sup-
porting the apprentice and paying the journeyman. Labor
was in a certain degree set off from the other factors, but
the separation was by no means complete. The man who
at any time supplied labor looked forward, not ",;thout rea-
son, to the time ,,-hen he himself in turn should become
capitalist, employer, and manager, for such advance was a
regular part of the gild system.
Growth of Complexity. - As has been explained in earlier
chapters, the last one hundred and fifty years or so have
witnessed a great change in the organization of the produc-
tive factors. Here and there traces still survive of the earlier
simplicity, and one great branch of production, agriculture,
is generally carried on in our country without much separa-
tion in the ownership of the factors. A large proportion of
our small farmers own the land they cultivate and the capital
they employ, and depend wholly or in great part upon their
own labor and that of their families for their product.
In contrast in commerce, manufacturing, and transporta-
tion, we have as a rule to-day one large class furnishing labor
THE ORGANIZATIO.V OF PRODUCTION 191
only, another class furnishing capital and sometimes land,
and a third class organizing and managing business. A
modern railway corporation serves as a good illustration of
this. The holders of the bonds and stocks furnish the capi-
tal for land and equipment, and receive in return interest
on their bonds and dividends on their stock. Labor, sup-
plied by others, is paid for by wages and salaries. We
haye rent also, though this does not usually appear a ~ a
separate item in railway bookkeeping, except in those ca'iCS
where the land has been leased instead of being purchascd
outright. Finally, till' managers and directors of the busi-
ness, chosen by the stockholders from their own number
or from without, conotitute a separate class in the organi-
zation.
The Entrepreneur. - It is easy to see that when business
organization has grown so complex, some central guiding
intelligencc is necessary, which shall overlook the whole
field, and, after deciding what things shall be produced, and
in what quantities, shall provide that the necessary factors
of production work together in creating the product. The
man who docs this usually assumes the risk of loss or failure,
and, on the other hand, pays a stipulated sum to those per-
sons or classes who supply him with the factors of production.
In the England of the eighteenth century such a man was
('aIled an "unc)('rtaker" or "adventurer." As the word
" undertaker" has since come to be applied to one small and
special class of business men, and as the word" .ad venturer"
now carries with it an idea of rashness or even dishonesty,
the French word" entrepreneur," an exact equivalent of the
word" undertaker," is now commonly used, though in recent
years the name" enterpriser" or the figurative title" Cap-
tain of Industry" is frequently used instead.
The function of entrepreneurship has become of the utmost
importance in modern society and seems to be growing ill
192 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOJllCS
importance with eVE'ry increase in the complexity of indus-
trial organization. The entrepreneur has been well called
the" Captain of Industry," since it is he who marshals and
commands the industrial forces, and more than anyone else
bears the responsibility for failure or success. Business
enterprises under able leaders achieve brilliant success only
to languish and become bankrupt when death removes the
guiding hand and brain. Whole towns in many cases depend
for their prosperity upon a few shrewd Captains of Industry.
Possibly, however, the importance of any aIle individual
for the success of a business tends on the whole to decline
with growth in the complexity of The organiza-
tion of a vast modern corporation, with its large directing
board and its manv executive officers, seems at times to se-
cure an impersonal stability and permanence that may defy
the chances and changes inevitable in the life and work of the
single individual.
The function of entrepreneurship is so important in
modern industry, and the services of the entrepreneur so
distinctive, that it might almost be well to treat the entre-
preneur or entrepreneurship as a fourth factor of production,
in addition to the factors explained in the preceding chap-
ter. Indeed, when we corne later to discuss the shares of
social income secured by the various factors, we shall rec-
ognize the peculiar and distinct character of entrepreneur-
ship by studying its separate share under the name of
profits.
The Forms of Business Undertaking. - The entrepreneur-
ship of a business is not always undertaken by a single in-
dividual. On the contrary, a rapidly increasing volume of
business is corning to be carried on in forms which call for
a division of the function or functions of the entrepreneur
among many individual:;. The following are among the
main forms of business undertaking in the modern world: -
THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION 193
1. The Single Entrepreneur System. - In this form of busi-
ness a single individual owns or hires the capital and land,
employs the labor, directs the business, and bears the whole risk.
2. Partnership. - In the case of a partnership the owner-
ship, direction, and responsibility are shared, sometimes in
unequal proportions, by the two or more partners, who as a
rule are severally liable at law to thc full extent of their
fortunes. ,.,..:, ,:
,
3. Business Corporations. - This form differs from the
foregoing chiefly in the fact that the individual responsibility
of the members of the corporation is limited by the charter
or by the statutes governing such companies, and in the
further fact that there is no necessary legal limit to the life
of such corporations. On account of the magnitude of busi-
ness transacted under this form, it often happens that the
functions of entrepreneurship are divide,d, the shareholders
owning and controlling the business, and bearing the risk,
but committing the active management to elected directors
and, through the directors, to hired superintendents and
managers.
One of the most striking characteristics of the industry of
the United States during the last fifty years has been the
mighty trend from individual and partnership to corporate
ownership, especially in the fields of transportation, mining,
and manufacture. Transportation has passed almost com-
pletely into this form. Mining is not far behind. In manu-
facture, according to the twelfth United States census, cor-
porations reported G5 per cent of the value of all manufac-
tured products in 1899. Ten years later, 79 per cent, or
nearly four-fifths of the value of manufactures, was being
produced by corporations. By 1914 the proportion was over
8 ~ 3 per cent, and it is not improbable that the proportion of
the entire value of mallufactures produced by corporations
at the present time is close to 90 per cent. In agriculture
194 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
the tendency is so slight that the U nitro States census has
made no study of the forms of ownership.
4. Cooperative Businesses. - In what is technically known
as cooperative production, the workmen comhine - under
the legal form of partnership or corporation - in the o",,'ner-
ship or control of t h ~ other factors of production, share all
risks, and secure direction of the business either through
their 0\\11 members, c h o ~ e n for the task, or through regular
salaried managers. This form, therefore, in its hgal char-
acter, cannot be distinguished from a partncrship or corpora-
tion .
. 5. Governm.ent Enterprise. - The I<'ederal, state, and local
governments severally own and manage many businesses 01
great importance. In these cases the people as a whole own
the business and bear all risks, while the v commit the direc-
v
tion to elected or appointed managers.
II. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FACTOR LABOR
In studying the forms of business undertaking, we have
really been studying the different ways in which society
secures cooperation and organization of the factors of pro-
duction as a whole. We have now to study the ways in
which the factors, considered separately, are organized for
illcrt,ased efficiency. First let us consider labor.
If it were possible to conceive of a people among whom
every individual produced for himself all that he used, ex-
changing products with no one, we should have an example
of isolated or 1inorganized labor and unorganized production.
But there is no evidence that such an extreme state of things
ever obtained anywhere. Where'vcr we find mcn gathered
together, we find some socialization, some organization of
their efforts to secure a Jiving, some organization of the fac-
tor labor.
THE ORGAS] ~ 1 TION OF PRODUCTION 195
Forms of Organization. - 1. Simple As.mcl:ated Effort. -
One of the earliest forms of organization to be developed
among men, and one that still plays a considerable part in
the economy of the world, is that which has been named
simple associated effort. 'Yhen a group of men unite their
efforts in raising a heavy weight, or two men together beat a
heated iron or work a saw, we have illustrated this simple
form of organization. Sometimes, as in the first of these
cases, the combination is to effect a result which could not be
accomplished at all by the single individual. The combina-
tion results in a greater accomplishment than would flow
from the sum of the efforts of the several individuals.
2. Division of Occupation. - With ad vancing civilization,
industry as a whole has been more and more broken up into
parts, and the parts have, therefore, constantly become
smaller. One of the earliest steps in the organization of
labor, perhaps even earlier than that which we have de-
scribed above, was taken when the members of primitive
society bcgan to specialize in their work. And the whole
story of society since, not only in its economic phase, but in
all its other phases as well, has been a lengthening tale of
increasing specialization of \york or function.
With division and subdivision constantly tabng place,
it is clearly impossible to recognize or name all of the stages
of progress. But two of these stages arc recognized in popu-
lar speech as of distinct character. The first of these is what
we may call division of occllpatioJUJ. Probably the most
primitive form of such division was that among savages
by which the men took upon themselves the functions of
warriors and hunters, putting upon the women the tasks of
the household and the field. Division of occupations is
indicated by the names of the manifold trades or callings.
3. Division of Labor. - The further subdivision of exist-
ing occupations has been largely the work of the last few
196 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
centuries, and especially of the last two. To this further
subdivision - this further organization - of labor has been
given the technical name division oj labor, although, as we
have seen, division of occupations is but an earlier division
of labor on larger lincs. This form of organization is of
such prime importance in modern industry that it calls for
detailed and careful study.
In our discussion of labor as a factor of production, it was
pointed out that the efficiency of labor is in great measure
conditioned by the efficiency of its organization. Such effi-
ciency of organization is secured in the highest degree through
di"ision of labor. Division of labor - as well as dh'ision
of occupations - might perhaps with cqual propriety be
called cooperation of labor. Productive processes, especially
in manufacturing, are to-day dh'ided into minute parts, one
part or perhaps two or three small parts being given to
each workman, or to each group of workmcn. Thus, in a
modern watch factory, one workman makes one small part
of a watch, another a second part, and so on. So many are
the divisions of the process of watchmaking that it has been
said that no fewer than 300 workmen are required for the
effieient operation of a complete factory. In the same way,
instead of one man performing all the operations in the mak-
ing of a boot, as was once the rule, we have to-day a front
cutter, back cutter, back-stay cutter, top cutter, facing cut-
ter, lining cutter, sorter and buncher, size and case marker,
stay skiver, top skiver, crimper, front trimmer, top-front
stitcher, top-back stitcher, and so on to as many as 113.
But while the workmen divide thc proct'sses among them-
selves, they unite in producing the completed article, and
hcnce we may say that division of labor implies cooperation
of labor. \Vhen we use the phrase" division of labor," we
are looking at one side of thc process, the individual side;
while, when we of cooperation of labor, we are viewing
THE ORGANIZATIOA' OF PRODUCTION 197
it from the opposite, or social, side. And the same is true
of division of occupations.
Division of Labor Illustrated. - A good illustration of divi-
sion of labor is afforded by the needle-making industry as it
is generally conducted to-day. Steel wire, whieh is itself the
product of highly divided labor, is the raw material of the
needle factor::. All needles pass through thc same general
list of processes. These, as the visitor to the factory may
view them, are in outline as follows: The wire is first put
through a machine called the straightener and cutter, which
removes all bends in the wire and cuts it into pieces about
one-third the length of the finished needle. These short
pieces, called blanks, are placed in small iron cylinders, which
are rotated in such a manner as to keep the wire in constant
motion under friction. They arc thus freed from scale and
dirt, and are ready for" cold swaging." For cold swaging,
the blanks are put into a hopper, from which they are taken
by machinery, one at a time, and held so that one end is pre-
sented to the action of a set of revolving sectional steel dies.
By the constant opening and shutting of these rotating dies,
the end is compressed and drawn out to form the needle
"blade." After the swaging is finished, another bit of ma-
chinery is made to stamp upon the flattened surfaee of the
needle a number or mark, which indicates what sort of needle
it is finally to be. Inequalities are next remedied by trim-
ming aJI blanks to a uniform length. When the blanks have
been trimmed and stamped, they are taken to a grooving
machine, by which a short groove on one side of the needle
and a long groove on the other side are made simultaneously.
The needle is now ready for its eye. Women are usually
employcd in this process, which calls for a high degree of
manual dexterity and keen sight in controlling thc blanks
as they are "fed" through the machine. One girl with
modern machinery can punch about seven thousand needle-
198 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
eyes a day, or more than a dozen a minute. The needles
are next given their points by machines, which differ accord-
ing to the kind of point, as "round," " twist," "diamond,"
etc. So far as shape is concerned the needles are now com-
plete; but thc softness of the steel up to this point makes
them useless for practical purposes. They must therefore
be hardened and tempered, and this in turn requires several
distinct processes and opportunities for diyided labor. Ke)..1:
they are sharpened and polished by a piece of
which holds nearly a hundred of them at once against a brass
wire scratch-brush revolying 8000 times a minute, and after-
ward against a bristle brush. The eyes of the needles are
then smoothed by stringing the needles on a cotton thread,
covered with oil and emery, which is drawn back and forth
at different angles to the needles so that the polishing powder
acts on all parts of the aperture. This is followed by finish
pointing, - done on a fine - and finish polishing,
done by a rcyolving brush with crocus and alcohol. Count-
ing and packing offer still further opportunities for divided
labor, by which the utmost economy of energy is achieyed.
The Advantages of Division of Labor. - It has been usual
for economists to enumerate the ad,'antages of the division
of labor as follows: First of all, it secures (1) a gain or sari/lg
in time. This gain in time is twofold. (a) The workman
does not have to pass so frequently from one operatioll to
another, and (b) he can learn his special process in less time.
In the second place, divisioll of labor secures (2) a gain in
skill,' each person, being confined to a single task, becomes
an expert. In the third place, the system results in (3) a gain
in adaptation, by finding a place for everyone and pulling et'eI'lI-
one in his place. The man who is or mentally
strong can devote his whole time to work that is worthy of
him, while the man who is weak in muscle or in mind can
find work in which great powers would in part be wasted.
In the fourth placE', division of labor secures (4) a gain by
TIlE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION 199
paving the way for invention. The processes being rendered
simple, it becomes easier to see where and how improve-
ments can best be made. In this view of things, we may
say that invention is becoming more and more a social
process. Finally, division of labor secures (5) a (Jain
through a more complete utilization of capital. Each work-
man, using one tool or one set of tools, or operating one
machine, keeps the capital employed all the time.
Disadvantages of Division of Labor. - But division of
labor has also its dark side. First of all, the system, by
making possible and profitable the employment of women
and children, (1) often drpril'cs men of their employment and
leads to the exploitation of lI"01nen and children. In American
cities, one may sometimes find fathers at home "keeping
house," while their wives and children are working long hours
in factories. In the second place, division of labor (2) git'es
rise to a dependence of man upon man that is often, at least
in part, an evil. We cannot, of ourselves, provide for the
satisfaction of our most elementary wants. Try to calcu-
late how many individuals, groups, or regions have cooper-
ated to provide you with the commonest article of food on
your dinner table, or even with a glass of water. On every
hand we are dependent on the efforts of others; and the
happiness of others is conditioned by the faithfulness with
which we perform our own daily tasks. Furthermore, if
a particular group of workers fails properly to perform its
task, other workers in the same industry may suffer; thus
if the hod carriers strike, the hrick layers must stop work.
Specialization has gone so far that untold suffering would
result if the railway workers cease to function for
even a few days; even a I ittle bungling and inefficiency in
the railwav business causes widespread economic misery.
And the interest in the coal strike of 1922, and con-
cern for its outcome emphasize the basic character of the
coal industry.
200 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
The same sort of hardship results from division of labor
when workmen too old to acquire a new trade are deprived
of their usual employment by a change in the conditions or
methods of production. Thus the invention of the type-
setting machine threw tens of thousands of highly skilled
and highly paid craftsmen out of employment. These evils,
to be sure, right themselves in the long rUIl; but, as one
writer has keenly remarked, the long run is too long for the
ordinary man, whosc life is but a short run. And how long
may be the run rcquired in cases where children have been
brought up in homes demoralized by the enforced idleness
of the family head?
A third evil connectcd with the system of divided labor is
that by it (:3) lauur often luses its attractiveness and, at the
same time, its educational value. A workman, who makes
a whole watch can acquire such love for his work as makes
him an artist; but who can learn to love the mere routine
of putting metal disks undcr the face of a die for ten hours
_1 ? "I . " . h lld" ~ h
a !lay. t IS, as one "TIter as we sal, a sail t mg
for a man to have to t e s t i f ~ ' that he has never made more
than the eighteenth part of a pin." This objection, however,
must not be pushed too far. The system of specialization
increases productivity, and so makes possible shorter hours
with consequent greater opportunity for education and
self-development on the part of the worker. Furthermore,
many men prefer routine work to the responsibility involved
in more abstract or complicated processes. \Vhat is dreary
drudgery for one may be the best possible arrangement for
another. To be a taxi-driver affords satisfactory scope to
one man while to another it would seem soul-deadelling.
In industry as well as in education, we must consider
the psychical and physical differences among men if we
are to form sound judgments and procure satisfying results.
Summary, Questions, and Literature bearing on this chapter will
be found at the end of Chapter XX.
CHAPTER XIX
THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION-
CAPITAL AND LAND
I. THE ORG.'l.NIZATION OF THE FACTOR CAPITAL
IN the foregoing discussion of thc organization of labor,
it will perhaps have been noticed that thc organization of
labor is intimately associated with thc organization of cap-
ital. That division of labor would never have developed
as it has done without the organization of capital in the form
of specialized machinery, is well illustrated in the descrip-
tion of divided labor in the needle industry. Here each of
the workers performs a small task which brings the piece of
steel wire one step ncarer its polished and pointed perfection.
But the task is performed only through the intermediary
machine. In this industry as in others the machine may be
simple or complex; it performs its special task with regularity
and precision j it is driven frequently at marvelous speed,
by power transformed ancl transmitted by other. special
power-producing machinery. The worker often becomes a
mere machine feeder; or the machine may be wholly auto-
matic and the worker only a tender of the machine, or of
several machines. It is his task to keep the working mech-
anism in tune. The eighteen men whose efficiency in pin-
making through division of labor so impressed Adam
Smith a century and a half ago, have been replaced by a
single machine which automatically takes in wire at one end
and disgorges paper packets of pins at the other. The labor
201
202 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
"skill and dexterity" in a case like this manifests itself
only in intelligent care for the super-human machine.
In the meat-packing business the investment of capital
is somewhat different. The slaughtering of animals is yet
performed by human labor with simple hand tools. But
division of labor has been carried far nevertheless; thirty
or more men now do what was done by the village butcher
of a generation ago. It takes several men, with different
degrees of skill and ratcs of pay, even to skin an animal.
But their efficiency as compared to the old time butcher
has increased far more than their numbers. Investment of
capital here is not so much in the promotion of machine
industry as in making possible large-scale operations, in
doing things which the village butcher could not do; for
example, the provision of refrigeration and storage fa-
cilities, or the utilization of by-products.
Thus we see that the organization of capital in certain of
its phases is intimately and inseparably connected with
the organization of labor. Another phase of capital organi-
zation, which has already been suggested, has to do with
the size of the business unit.
IHodern times have witnessed a wonderfully rapid growth
in the average size of the individual business. Indeed, the
changc in the size of the business unit during the past half
century is perhaps as striking as the change from house in-
dustry to factory industry in the second half of the eight-
centh century. The movement has gone so far and is still
proceeding so rapidly as to excite very general fear as to its
social consequences. In our own country the United States
Steel Corporation turns out more than two-fifths of our
iron and steel products. Two other" combines" proposed
in 1922 would place more than three-fifths of this business
in the hands of three great concerns. The" big five" among
the packers control more than three-fourths of the meat
THE ORGA1'iIZATIO.V OF PRODUCTION 203
products of the country. The same situation prevails in
many major fields of production. *
Certain dangers resulting from thc consolidation of large
competing corporations will be discussed elsewhere; but
it is pertinent at this point, in connection with the subject
of the organization of production, to advert briefly to the
advantages daimed for large-scale produetion and, on the
other hand, to consider economies open to small-scale pro-
ducers severally or in cooperation.
Advantages of Large-scale Production. - The advantages
daimed for production on a large seale resolve themselves
into two general classes: (1) economics in making goods, and
(2) economies in marheting goods. As to the first, it is claimc(l
that in production on a large scale there is a saving ;n
(a) capital cost, per unit of product, both in ji.?:ed and in cir-
culating capital; in (b) labor cost, owing to the possibility
of more efficient organization; in (c) the possibility of malcing
improvements, both through the employment of special in-
vestigators and inventors, and through the comparison of
methods in different departments of the same factory or in
the same departments of different factories ueder the same
ownership; in (d) the cost of superintendence; in (e) the utili-
zation of waste, instances of which are found in the Standard
Oil Company and the large beef and pork packing com-
panies; in (f) providing their olDn aids to making and mar-
keting, - making their own cans, boxes, etc., and owning
railways and steamship lines, etc. In businesses enjoying
this last advantage we have examples of integrat'ion of in-
dustry as well as of concentration of industry.
Among the second class of advantages claimed for large-
scale production, economies in marketing the goods, are the
following: (a) economy in securing trade, through advertis-
ing and commercial travelers; (b) economy in "carrying"
* Compare pp. 82-85 above.
204 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
stocks of goods, a relatively smaller stock being sufficient to
meet the fluctuations in demand; (c) economy in getting goods
to consumers, through the power to secure better freight rates
for large shipments, and through the power possessed by some
concerns to avoid" cross freights," - that is, to ship goods
always from the nearest point of supply and hence to avoid
having shipments of the same class of goods pass each other
on their way to consumers; (d) econorny in securing aforeign
market, through the greater power of the large concern to
withstand the cutthroat competition common in "hard
times."
Economies open to Small-scale Producers. - Against
these advantages of large-scale production may be set the
following considerations which seem to promise a continua-
tion of a considerable measure of small-scale production, at
least in certain lines of industry: (a) First of all, it is claimed
by experts that in many lines of business a plant of moderate
size is the plant of really moa,imllm efficiency in regard to
capital and labor costs. (b) In many cases the advantage
of the large-scale business in the matter of concentration of
power is neutralized by the fact that modern invention, es-
pecially in connection with electricity, is revolutionizing the
methods of distribution of power, putting the small manu-
facturer more nearly on a level with his greater rival. (c) It
is, furthermore, very doubtful whether large-scale producers
can secure that minute and economical supervision which
characterizes small-scale industry; whether, in other words,
hired managers can compete in this regard with individual
entrepreneurs who will reap all gains as they bear all risks.
(d) The small producer has a distinct advantage in his greater
plfIcer to !mow the personal wants of his rnarket. In many in-
dustries the personal element plays so large a part that the
small producer will for a long time be able to hold his own,
C\'ell if he cannot oust the larg' produ("('r fro III the firlcl.
TIlE ORGA.NIZATION OF PRODUCTION 205
Finally, by cooperation of neighboring small producers, it is
possible to secure much the "arne opportunities as to ( e) invention
and improrement of processes and (f) utilization of "waste"
that wc have spoken of as regularly present in large-scale
industry.
It must be borne in mind that our comparison has been
between small-scale and large-scale production, not between
small-scale production and monopolized production. 1\10-
nopolized production is usually, though by no means always,
production on a large scale. But production on a large
scale is not at all the same thing as monopolized production.
Had we been speaking of the production of monopolized
goods, it would have been possible to add many to the list of
alleged advantages or economies in production, and some of
the advantages of which we have spoken would in the case
of a monopoly have been much more marked and undisputed.
Thus in the matter of " cross freights" and again in ad vcr-
tising, many would admit advantages in the case of a monop-
oly who would deny that they accrue simply to large-scale
production.
This whole matter of the relative advantages of small-
scale and large-scale production has been of late days the
subject of rather acrimonious debate, and can by no means
be regarded as settled.
II. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FACTOR LAND
Territorial Division of Labor. - To a certain extent the
organization of the natural agents is not unlike that of the
other factors. Labor is human effort applied to natural
agents, usually aided by capital. Organization of labor,
therefore, generally involves at the same time organization
in the usc of natural agents and capital. But there is one
form of organization of production that is so generally con-
206 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
ditioned by the factor, nature, that we may well treat it as a
form of organization of the natural agents themselves. The
two names most commonly applied to this form of organiza-
tion are localization of industries and territorial division of
labor. As with the division of labor, so with localization
of industries, the tendcncy is toward increasing specialization
of function, in the Olle case among persons, in the other among
places. Thus the territorial specialization by which country
districts supply the towns with food, receiving manufactured
goods in exchange, - society thus dividing its labor into
country work and city work, - resembles the primitive
division of occupations, among savages, into man's work and
woman's work. And the finer territorial specialization by
which certain agricultural regions produce almost exelusively
some one product or some few spec:ial products, while cer-
tain manufacturing centers similarly devote themselves to
making some one commodity or some few commodities,
may, in the same way, be likened to that form of division
of labor which we have described at length.
Thc twclfth United States census disclosed many interest-
ing illustrations of territorial division of labor or localization
of industry. Thus, more than half the gloves of the country,
measured by their values, were reported as being made in
the adjoining towns of Gloversville and Johnstown, in east
central New York. .Moreover, the value of the gloves man-
ufactured was more than two-thirds of the total value of ull
products manufactured in the town in the case of Glovers-
ville, and more than one-half in the case of Johnstown.
Troy, New York, produced nearly three-fourths, in value,
of all the collars and cuffs made in the country, and nearly
seven-tenths of all the manufacturing workmcn in Troy were
engaged in this one industry. Philadelphia made almost
45 per cent of the country's carpets. Kine-tenths of the
wage-earners in South Omaha, Kebraska, were engaged in
THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION 207
slaughtering and meat packing. The thirteenth census
showed that territorial division of labor had progressed even
further than in the earlier decade, as may be seen in the fol-
lowing table which shows the percentage of selected articles
produced in particular states.
PERCENT OF
TOTAL VALUE
STA TE IN walCH
COMMODITY OF PRODUCT
}'OR L"NITED
PRODUCED
ST1LTES, 1909
Collars and cuffs. 92.3 New York
Grindstones 88.8 Ohio
Artificial flowers and feathers 82.2 New York
Women's clothing . . . . 70.8 New York
;\Ieedles, pins, hooks and eyes 63.3 Connecticut
Gloves and mittens - leather 60.7 New York
Firearms and ammunition 58.6 Connecticut
Clocks .
55_7
Connecticut
Coke. 54.1 Pennsylvania
Men's clothing 46.8 New York
BootR and shoes 46.1 Massachusetts
Among the causes which lead to such localization of indus-
try the following are probably most important; (1) nearness
to materials, (2) nearness to (Cl) water power, (4) fa-
voring climate, (5) local supply of the kind of labar needed,
(6) local supply of int'estmentjunds, (7) the momentum given by
an early start. Inasmuch as most of these causes have to do
with geographical considerations, rather than with labor,
it will be understood why have treated localization of
industries as a form of organization of natural agents, rather
than as a phase of the organization of labor.
,Just as advancing civilization brings increased specializa-
tion or division of labor, so we may expect that the future
will witness an ever growing specialization of industry on
geographical With the stability of governments
208 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
restored, with the gradual melting away of those racial an-
tipathies and prejudices which survive the World War, and
with yet further improvements in methods of rapid transit,
we may look forward again to a real world market; and
with the world market will come a condition of affairs in
which every country and ('"cry section of eycry country
will confidently produce to the utmost those goods in the
production of which it enjoys the greatest relative adYantage.
Summary, Questions, and Literature bearing on this chapter will
be found at the end of Chapter XX.
CHAPTER XX
THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION-
DETERMINING CONDITIONS
WE have already noted iri passing three of the conditions
upon which depends the efficiency of organization of produc-
tion. It may. be well to bring them together at this point
and to name in addition a fourth, and even more important
factor which conditions all production, no matter how or-
ganized.
1. Extent and Character of the Population. - Perhaps first
in logical importance is the size and character of the popu-
lation. The more numerous the consumers, the greater
must be the supply of goods; and the greater thc supply of
any commodity, as a gcneral rule, the morc minute will be
the organization which will be found economically profitable.
This idea is often expressed in the statement that" division
of labor is conditioned by the extent of the market."
2. Growth of Capital. - The second great condition of thc
organization of industry is the growth of capital, whether
in the form of machinery or in the form of means of trans-
portation and communication and exchange. Improve-
ments in machinery have made increased specialization and
organization technically possible, while railways, telegraph
and cable lines, and banks have widened the markets and
have thus made such organization economically possible, -
that is, profitable.
:3. The Character of the lndllslry. - Not all industries lend
themselves equally to some of the kinds of organization that
209
210 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
we have described, no matter what the population or the
extent of capitalization. Agriculture has hitherto in the
main defied all attempts at minute division of labor. Manu-
facturing, on the other hand, lends itself to division of labor
in the highest degree. Without entering into a discussion
of all the technical reasons for this difference, we may say
that thc main requirement, within the industry itself, for
minute organization is that the different processes shall per-
mit of being carried on simultaneously. We all know that
this feature of industry is characteristic of manufacturing,
and that, on the contrary, it is mostly lacking in farming,
in which dependence upon naturc's changes neccssarily re-
sults in serial processes.
4. The Character of the Gm'ermnent. - A fourth condition
of efficiency of organization is the character of thc govern-
ment. Even the most advanced states differ in many ways
in structure and in the legal conditions which they enforce,
but all civilized states securc at least the following conditions
of efficient organization: they all (a) rnaintain the institution
of TJTivate property; (b) protect life and TJruperty from enemies
u'ithmd and within the nation's borders; (c) create and nIointain
the institution of contract; and (d) participate directly in indl{S-
try in cases in 11'hic1lit has been clearly proved that indi1:iduals
will not act at all or 11'ill not act for the best interests of industry
as a whole. Thus, all ch'ilized governments maintain coin-
age systems, regulate weights and measures, establish and
care for docks. lighthouses, and roads, and maintain a con-
sular service in foreign lands.
Relation of Society to Trusts. - Four views seem logically
possible as to the right relation of organized to the
grcat industrial concerns which we have come to call by the
misleading name Trusts.
First, there is the view that the big concern is in c\'Cr\'
way beneficent, in achievement and in promise, and that
THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION 211
society should keep "hands off "; that those immediatelv
interested in these businesses, in ownership and control.
know better than the public ca n know how thev should be
managed, and that any social injury that selfish interest
might inflict, - if such injury must be admitted as even a
possibility, - would be less than the social sure, in
this vicw, to result from the bungling of an ignorant and
planless society. This view is found, sometimes expressed,
more often implicit, in of our periodicals and other in-
fluential sources of public information, and is more or less
successfully pressing for acceptance in thc councils of Ameri-
can political parties.
The second \'iew, representing another phase of our in-
herited ideas, is that Trusts are evil, and an unnecessary
evil; that they have grown out of unscrupulous force and
corruption rather than from economy; that, even though
possible economic gains may be credited to them, yet such
gains cannot for a moment weigh in the scale against the
advantage the small industry has always secured as a train-
ing school in initiative, business morality, individual respon-
sibility - in short, business character. Those who hold
this view propose, therefore, that the strong arm of society
should reach out to tear apart these giant combinations of
our day, and enforce among the smaller concerns resulting
from the dissolution a competition like that "our fathers
used to know." This view has relatively few open
defenders, but among its champions are men of the keenest
intclligence and bcst tested public-mincledness. Its practical
influence upon legislation and administration has been
greater than the number of its aclyocates would lead one to
predict.
A third view is that Trusts are primarily products of econ-
omy, though too often the economy has been reenforced
by fraud and force; that the old small-business school of
212 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
character must be supplemented - perhaps at some future
day even be replaced - by new methods of training, evolved
from the conditions of our own time and better suited to
those conditions; that the economies of large-scale produc-
tion can be and should be turned to the advantage of con-
sumers through reduced prices rather than to the further
enrichment of a few business supermen through enhanced
profits; and that if society is not now wise enough or strong
enough for the task, our ignorance and weakness must, at
our peril, give way to intelligence and strength; that the
rallying cry of America should be, not efficiency alone nor
democracy alone, but efficient democracy. Those who hold
this view therefore advocate a policy of active, constant, com-
plete regulation, a policy that has gained rapidly in popular
acceptance and in practical influence during the opening
years of this century.
The fourth view - that of the Socialists - is like the
third in asserting the economy and inevitability of "trusti-
fication." Socialists would go even further and claim that
what has happened in a part of the industrial field is fated
to occur universally. But to the socialist the proposal to
regulate is a subject for pitying smiles or smiling pity. Qllis
cU8todiet custodes? If we can save ourselves at all, if we can
secure for ourselves the economies of large-scale production,
- the socialist calls it "socialized production," - we can
do it through collective o,vnership and management, and in
that way alone. Over seventy years ago, Karl l\larx, the
greatest figure in the socialist movement, saw or foresaw the
tendency to concentration. His followers claim for his pre-
vision or prediction the same sort of glory that the world
accords to the disco\"ery of the planet Neptune, which was
found where it is because by Leverrier's calculation it had
to be there. .
Summary. - The four views here characterized may be
THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION 213
summarized more briefly as follows; (1) TrWlts are inevitable,
economical, arul beneficent, and will be most beneficently and
intelligently managed, if unregulated; (2) Trusts are not
inevitable, economical, or beneficent, and hence should be com-
pulsorily dissolved; (3) Trusts are inettitable and economical,
but ,in the highest degree dangerous unless they are so regulated
as to prel'ent abuse and to turn their economies to the advantage
of the public; (4) Trusts are inevitable and economical, arul
lI'ill become universal; we cannot regulate them; we mWit own
alld operate them; 1f we cannot, democracy has failed.
Post-war Attitude toward Trusts. - During the World
War there was a growing feeling in America that, in the
spheres of foreign trade and transportation particularly, the
interests of true economy and effective competition rendered
a certain degree of combination not undesirable. This at-
titude found expression in such forms as:
(1) Government approval of those war industry com-
hinations which were most successful in concentrating the
produetive energies of the nation for the purpose of win-
ning the World War.
(2) The v"ebb Export Act, passed in April, 1915, declaring
that no combination for the sole purpose of engaging in ex-
port trade, if complying with certain conditions, should be
construed under the Sherman Anti-Trust Law as illegal.
(See chapter on " International Trade.")
(;:;) The provision of the Transportation Act, 1920, per-
mitting the carriers of the country to consolidate under the
supervision of the Interstate Commerce Commission, in
conformity with a scheme of consolidation which the Com-
mission was required by the Act to prepare. In compliance
with this requirement, the Commission issued, in September,
1921, a tentative scheme looking to the consolidation of
the carriers into nineteen competing systems. (For further
discussion of the Transportation Act see the chapters on
214 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES QF ECONOMICS
"Monopolies and l\Ionopoly Value" and" Wages and the
Labor Problem.")
Post-war opinion that favors the third, or regulation,
attitude emphasizes the economy of regulated trusts III cer-
tain fields.
SUMMARY
1. Growth in the magnitude of industry has resulted in increased
complexity of industrial organization.
2. The entrepreneur direds the organization of the factors, but his
function is sometimes shared among many individuals.
3. Forms of organization of the factor labor are simple associated
effort, division of occupations, and division of labor. The last
mentioned leads to greater economic efficiency, but also to far-
reaching social interdependence.
4. Organization of the factor nature gives rise to localization of in-
dustry.
5. The limits of profitable organization of industry are the size and
character of t.he population, the amount of capital, the charac-
ter of the industry itself, and the character of the government.
6. In some industries there are many advantages in production on
a large scale. Against these may be set other features in which
the small-scale producer may hold his own, or even enjoy an
advantage.
7. There are four views as to the nature and origin of "trusts," and
four views as to the proper attitude of organized society toward
them. Experience of recent years, particularly during and since
the war, has strengthened the position of those who support
the third view.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. How was cooperation of the factors secured before the Industrial
Revolution? To what extent does this method obtain to-day
in advanced nations?
2. Name some of the duties of an entrepreneur.
3. Name the different. forms of business undertaking. Discuss them
from the point of view of their relative strength and weakness.
4. How does division of occupations differ from division of labor?
5. State the advantages of the division of labor; the disadvantages;
THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION 215
the advantages of large-scale production; the economics avail-
able to small-scale producers.
6. Why does not farming lend itself to the division of labor?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Is there any relation between the increase in the average size of
business units and the recent establishment of scbools and col-
leges of commerce, administration and finance, and the like?
2. Is there a relation between the development above mentioned
and the rapid growth of trade-unions?
3. What is the official position, if any, taken by the different politi-
cal parties with regard to trusts?
4. Does increasing division of labor furnish an argument for special-
ization in school and college education, or the contrary?
5. Does division of labor make for fullness of life and breadth of
character, (a) directly; (b) indirectly?
6. Make a study of the wonderful division of bbor in a Chicago abat-
toir.
7. Describe the processes under a system of divided labor in some
industry with which you are acquainted.
8. The British Parliament, after seven years of government opera-
tion, returned the railways to their private owners with the.
requirement, however, that they consolidate into four groups.
Read up on this Act and discuss its merits compared with our
Transportation Act, 1920, which permit, the carriers of this
country to consolidate. What common purpose do you find
in both Acts?
9. Look up the origin, duties, and powers of (1) the Interstate Com-
merce Commission, and (2) the Federal Trade Commission.
What is the most important power of the latter?
LITERATURE
Adams, H. C.: Description of Industry, pp. 232-41, 247-64.
Carver, T. N.: Principles of Political Economy, pp. 50-63, 119-31,
168-80, 192.
Clay, Henry: Economics for the General Reader, Chs. II, III.
Ely, R. T.: Monopolies and Trusts, pp. 187-190.
Gide, Charles: Political Economy, pp. 127-36, 150-57, 189-95.
Haney, L. H.: Business Organizatio.n and Combination.
Jenks, J. W.: The Trust Problem.
216 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECOlVOMICS
Marshall, L. C.; Readings in Industrial Society, l48-50, 253-04,
2.5R.
Marshall and Lyon; Our Economic Organization, pp. 167-87, 250-80,
and elsewhere.
Reports of the United States Indu;;trial Commistlion, Vol. II.
Smith, Adam; Wealth of Nations, Bk. I, Ch. I.
Thorndike, E. L.; "Psychology of the Labor Problem." In Harptr'8
Monthly, May, 1922.
Van Hise, C. R.: Concentration nd Control: a Solution of the Trust
Problem in the United States.
PART m. TRANSFERS OF GOODS
(EXCHANGE)
CHAPTER XXI
INTRODUCTORY
The Nature of the Subject. -Thus far we have studied two
of the main parts of economic analysis and theory. \Ve
have learned something regarding the consumption of goods,
and also something regarding their production. We have
now to study the question how and by what means goods
are exchanged among men, and what determines the quanti-
tative ratios in which they exchange. By the conditions of
modern industry almost e\-ery man produces more of some
one commodity or of some few commodities than he himself
COllsumes; and, on the other hand, every man consumes
n T ~ - many goods which he himself has not produced. Pro-
duction to-day is almost entircly "for the market." This
is possible only because men transfer goods from one to an-
other.
Such transfers of goods constitute a very great part of our
economic life. The business of one important industrial
class, that of merchants, consists in effecting such transfers.
The operations in which merchants are engaged we call by
the general namc commerce. But commcrce requires the
assistancc of innumerable other businesses, of which the most
prominent are those of providing means of communication,
transportation, and exchange. These include public roads,
railways, telegraphs, telephones, and banks. These agents
217
218 ELEMENTARY PRLYCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
of commerce do not confine their functions wholly to the
assistance of merchants, but aid the entire community in
hringing about desired transfers of goods.
Exchange. - Transfers of goods are of two kinds: they
ma\' be either one-sided tran4ers, as in the case of gifts, be-
qllests, inheritance, taxes, and fines; or they may be tWD-
sided Iran8jers, as is the case with nearly all economic trans-
fers with which we have to do.
The part of economics which we are about to study is by
most economists called " exchange," because the term" ex-
change," referring to two-sided transfers, covers so many
of the transactions that are the subject of our study. But
since money and banks, which are to be treated in the present
part of the book, are agencies in effecting one-sided transfers
as well as two-sided transfers of goods, we have included the
Harne "transfers" with the simpler word "exchange"
to express more completely the nature of the subject.
Since exchanges of goods regularly increase the utility of
the goods exchanged, it is evident that exchange is a part
of production and might be treated under that grneral head-
ing. But the phenoml'ua of exchangr are of a eharactcr
so distinct and so important that it is considered better to
treat th!'m in a part by themselves.
Advantages of Exchange. - It is not UIJ('ommon even
to-day to hear men talk as if an exchange of goods could
henefit only one of the two exchangers. Soml'times, indeed,
men speak as if what is gained by one party to an exchangt,
whethcr an individual or a nation, must be at the loss of the
other. We do not stop to think that when we purchase a
hat or a suit of clothes, we regularly profit b ~ ' the trans
a{'tion; for it is evident that if we did not think the thing
purchased more llseful to u ~ than the money paid for it, we
would not make the exchallge.
Let us study fur a lllOUH:llt the reasons why men find it prof-
I J;TROlJUCTORY
219
itable to exchange. In the first place, (1) the tastes and customs
which in part determine utility vary (a) from nation to nation,
and (b) from man to man. It is evident, then, that when a
commodity passes from an individual or a nation with little
taste for it to one with a strong liking for it, the exchange
creases the utility of the The ivory or rubber of
the tropics has very little utility to the natives of those re-
gions; and the articles exchanged for such commodities are
frequently of trifling value to the civilized trader. After the
exchange is made, both parties have more "want-satisfying
power" than had before. This means that the sum
total of wealth is increased. In the second place, (2) differ-
ent countriP8 or rl'gions of the earth dl:ffer from one
another in their (a) natural or (b) acquired arimntages in the
production of different commodities. Goods that one country
or one section can produce in abundance either be-
cause of superior natural ad vantages or because of thc skill
of its workers, derived from long experience, another country
or section may be able to produce only with great difficulty.
Thus, the planter of the South and the farmer of the North-
west can both profit the exchange of the cotton of the
one for the wheat of the other. In the third place, (:3) in-
dividuals also dl:ffer from one another, either (a) by nature
or (b) by training, in their fitness for different kinds of work.
Thus, one man is especially fitted by nature or by training
for carpentry, another for milling. In all such cases each
individual will find his greatest advantage in doing that
which he can do best, and in exchanging the surplus of his
product for other goods which he desires but which others
can produce at greater relative advantage or at less relative
disadvantage. Hence both regions and individuals are able
to direct their energies to producing, not those things which
they need or want, but those which they can produce most
efficiently.
220 ELEMENTARY I'HlSCIPLE8 OF ECONOMICS
The Machinery of Transfers. - In every modern nation
there now exist on a large scale institutions and appliances
for the furtherance of transfers. These may be brieflr
enumerated as follows: (1) means of transportation and
communication; (2) systems of weights and measures;
(3) money and credit, banks of various sorts, clearing houses,
and the like; (4) stock and produce exchanges; (5) commer-
cial laws and commercial administration, inclnding the a:;-
sistance of consuls who act in part as commercial agents
of their governments in foreign countries; (ti) midrllem{'n of
all sorts, including retail and wholesale Inasmuch
as exchange is a part of production, these and
agencies of exchange are also instrumcn ts and agencies of
production. It is through them that goods receive the time,
place, and posscssion utilities that fit them for final consump-
tion.
SUMMARY
1. Transfers of goods are of two kinds: one-sided and two-sided.
The latter are known as exchange, under which heading this grn-
eral subject is often treated. Exchange develops the phenom-
ena of value and price.
2. All exchange is regularly profitable to the two parties to the trans-
fers, for the reasons that men and places differ in their natural
and acquired aptitUdes for different kinds of production, anJ
that individuals and nations also differ in their tastes and cus-
toms in consumption.
3. Modern industry has developed an elaborate mechanism for its
exchanges, including means of communication and transpor-
tation; systems of weights and mrnsures; money and credit
and banks; stock and produce exchanges; commercial laws and
administration; middlemen of all sorts.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. Give examples of one-sided transfers; of two-sided transfers.
2. State the advantages of exchange.
INTRODUCTORY 221
3. Mention some of the means of transportation; of communication.
4. What is the relation of exchange to production?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. How would the adoption of international systems of weights
and measures aid exchanges?
2. Does a fall in postage rates affect territorial division of labor?
3. Do children in a "shoe town" have a better chance than others
to acquire skill in the shoe industry?
4. ~ ' h a t are some of the sources of advantage in exchanges between
the "Cnited States and Cuba; between a lawyer and a doctor?
LITERATURE
Any standard treatise. See particularly:
Clay, Henry: EcmlOmics for Ihe General Reader, Ch. III, pp. 48-53.
Marsh"ll, L. C.: Readings in Indnstrinl Sociely, 88-93.
Nicholson, J. S.: Principles of Polilical Economy, Vol. II, Ch. I, pp.
3-10.
CHAPTER XXII
VALUE
Importance of Value.-\Ye ('orne now to the important
central problem in transfers or ex('hange, as well as in dis-
tribution,-nameiy, raZZlC. The economic goods whose pro-
duction we studied in Part II of this book are transferred
from one owner to another, coming finally into the hands
of one who utilizes them; and a necessary stage, a pre-
requisite to their transfer, is their evaluation - the deter-
mination of how much of one shall be given or received for
a stated amount of another.
In a similar manner, the value of goods plays the chief part
in distribution, which we shall study in detail later. For
example, the work of making shoes is divided into a hundred
or more tasks. One worker spends his weeks polishing heels;
he is not a shoemaker, yet he contributes to the finished
shoe. \Yhat portion of the output of the factory shall be
assigncd to him in exchange for his services? Before this
question can be answered, the shoes and the services must
be evaluated; the worth of one in terms of the other - the
ratio of services to shoes - must be determined.
Taking as one unit a pair of shoes, and as another unit a
week's work, let us assume this ratio is fixed at 10 to 1, that
ten pairs of shoes will be given for one week's services. Im-
mediately the worker is confronted by another question of
evaluation. He cannot subsist on shoes; he must exchange
them for the necessities of life for himself and his family.
At what ratio shall these shoes be exchanged for bread,
coats, house rent, etc. ?
222
VALUE
223
We all recognize that in practice the factory worker is paid
for his services, not in shoes but in and that in con-
sequence it is money that he exchanges for the necessaries of
life. But this should not obscure the fact that it is in reality
his services that are being exchanged for necessities; and
that money enters merely as a convenient intermediate
agent; so that the real points to be decided are: the ratio of
shoes to the worker's services, and the ratio of the necessaries
of life to shoes. This problem of value confronts all of us
e\'Cry day in the familiar form of prices. How much money
shall we give for a stated amount of some good which we de-
sire?
Various Meanings of Value. -" Value" is a won! that is
used to express many different shades of meaning. The in-
dividual may" value" the money in his pocket, the fruit
he has for breakfast, his teacher's services, the bright sun-
shine, his mother's affections, the memory of a friend, his
own good health, a sermon he heard last Sunday. He values
anything that is useful to him or that he appreeiates or es-
teems; but it does not follow that he places a price on all
these things, or even attempts to do so.
The concept of value is as broad as human life and inter-
ests. All the things referred to in the preceding paragraph
have value in this social sense; we esteem them, - they
have utility. Economic value, however, concerns itself
with only a part of this broad field. Things have value in
the economic sense when they not onlv have utilit\, but
, , ,
are also limited in supply. We may prefer a walk in
the morning sunshine to our breakfast; yet only the break-
fast has value in the economic sense. So also that which
has economic value must be capable of being transferred to
another; it must be exchangeable. Our mother's affections,
our abounding good health, we may value very highly, but
not in the economic sensE'. \Ve economic value in
224 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECm';OMICS
those material things and personal services which have utility
combined with scarcity and tran.Yjcrabilily.
The values we have been (\iscussing thus far are subjective;
by this we mean that they arc values that exist only in the
mind of the person who is thinking about them. Let us now
try to get an understanding of the principles underlying
subjective value.
Our study of the law of diminishing utility has shO\m us
that as our stock of any increases, its marginal
utility to us falls; that is, we care less for an additional
portion of it.* We satisfy our most intense wants first, and,
as our stock increases, our unsatisfied wants become less
and less urgent. It is the degree of urgency of this unsatis-
fied want that determines our estimate of the importance
to us of a unit of any economic good; this is only another
way of expressing the idea of " marginal utility" or of sub-
jective value, as we prefer to call it here. \Ye can easily see
that subjectivc value is an individual estimate that may
vary widely with circumstances of time and place.
V{e should notice also the elose relationship, and at the
same time the sharp distinction, that exists between sub-
jective value and utility in the general sense. A cubic foot
of air has utility, but under ordinary circumstances it has
no subjective value; it has no capacity to excite desire; no
sacrifice will be made to obtain that particular unit because
no want will be unsatisfied if that unit is not ubtained. But
under exceptional cunditions, - for example, to entombed
miners when the rescue party is near, - an additional cubic
foot of air may have a tremendous subjective value. The
miners will make great sacrifices to obtain it they will
, .
struggle with or may even slay one another in their eagerness
to enjoy that unit of air. Its utility, its life-giving quality,
is identical with that of any other cubic foot; its capacity
to excite desire grows out of the particular circumstances.
* See C:-'. XI.
VALUE
225
We may sum up the relationship of the two concepts thus:
utility is the power to sa6sf/j 11'(/ nto; subjective value is the
pOll'er to excite desire.
Objective, or Exchange Value. -At any given time, the
subjective values which an individual attaches to units of
different economic goods arc not likely to be the same.
Furthermorc, the individual not only compares the sub-
jective valuations of different commodities with one another,
but he also attempts to e.rprCS8 them. in term.s of one another;
thus arises objective, or exchange value. The farmer's wife
at the country store barters a dozen eggs for five pounds of
sugar. This means that, to her, the utility of that quantity
of sugar is greater than the utility of a dozen eggs.
What she has done is merely to give e.tternal or objective ex-
pression to the relationship between her subjective valuations
of eggs and sugar, and on this basis to barter or exchange
one for the other. It is in such a manner that we compare
things as unlike as icc-cream cones, a vacation trip, or the
services of our dentist, and exchange them for one another;
hence, the phrase, e;rchange value, which we shall use hereafter.
In our day, of course, the subjective valuations of most
commodities and services are translated into terms of the sin-
gle commodity, moncy, and exchanged for it, and so only in-
directly are they exchanged for thc goods or services which
we consume or use. Therefore whilc every act of exchange,
whether for money or for other goods, registers a value, we
u:mally think of value in terms of monev; that is, we think
. .
of priccs. If a unit of an economic good exchanges for a dol-
lar, and a unit of another good for two dollars, it is obvious
that the valuc of the second is twice as great as thatofthefirst.
Summarizing then, we may say: (1) Exchange wIiueis
the expression of the relation eX'isting between two or more sub-
jective mlues. (2) Price is exchange value expressed in term.s
of money.
:?26 ELEMENTARY PRI.VCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
The Market. - For the sake of simplicity, we illustrated
the conversion of subjective into exchange value by assuming
the mel'ting ofthe farmer's wlfe with the country storekeeper.
This meeting of two persons and their agreement to ex-
('hange commodities constitute a market-a simple one, it is
true, but a market, nevertheless. A market, however, is not
Ilecessarily a physical place; the meeting of the minds of men,
their agreement to the terms of e.?:changl', constitutes the real
marl;cI. This agreement may be reached by letter, by
teleKram, telephone, cablegram, wircless, or by any other
mrans of communication. To be sure, the market with
which we are all most familiar is a place to which men and
women resort to make exchanges. There are many local
and regional market places, particularly for perishable and
bulky articles. While there are many places where other
commodities such as wheat or cotton are exchanged, these
places virtually constitute one market, a national or an in-
ternational market. ~ o r is this international market limited
merely to the aggregate of the places where men meet; the
conversation by telephone between the wheat grower and
the grain dealer in the near-by town is a part of the market
if it results in a meeting of minds, that is, in an exchange;
likewise terms of sale or purchase may be transmitted from
Chicago or Buenos Aires to New York or Liverpool and are
to be t h o u ~ h t of as a part of the same market.
II"henl'l'rr tll'O or more minds entertaining dllfcrcnt 811bjedit'c
mill!''' mat, the meeting of these minds constitutes a market:
in that market differences in subjective values disappear if ex-
change fakl's place. The ratio of the e.rchange is the then
objcf'ii/'c I'xchallge mille in that market.
Market Value and Price. The Relation of Subjective
and Exchange Value. - We have defined the market as the
1l1t'l'IillL: of llJinds - the agreement as to the terms of transfer
bet \I, Til two or any larger num ber of i 1I(1i \id uals. The valua
l.ILUE
tions of these' individuals may vary widely, as explained in a
preceding paragraph; it is now our purpose to see how an ex-
('hange or market value issues from these individual valua-
tions.
In order that we may see the operation as clearly as pos-
sihle, let us assume as a market a plaee to which each of
eight farmers has brought a bushel of apples to sell and to
whieh eight other persons have come, each of whom wish(>,
to buy a bushel. Suppose each prospective seller to han'
fixed in his own mind a subjectiYe valuation - a price helow
\\'hich he will not sell; and each prospective a pric('
more than which he will not pa:.. Let us designate the
by the letters A-H, and the sellers by the letters
S-Z; and let their respective prices be as follows: -
BUYERS'
RELLERR'
]\V.XI.UU.U PRICES .M1NIYUM PRICES
A will pay $2.00
Z will take $2.2.'5
B
"
"
1.8.) Y 2.00
C
" "
1.iO
:\ 1.80
D
"
"
1.:;.) II 1.60
l
);" :\/:IIl', L:!l11
t
E
" "
1.4.)
I
"
1.40
F
" "
1.:3.)
1
"
..
1.25
G " "
LlO
T 1.10
H
..
"
1. :!.)
. --
..
"
1.00
.-\ssume that the bushels of apples are all alike. lind tllllt
eaeh one of the six1:een men is ali\'(' to his own that
eaeh buyer tries to for less than his maximum, that each
seller tries to sell for more than his minimum price, and that
no olle makes a bargain until he is sure he cannot do better.
228 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
In brief, assuming that competition is unhindered, what will
be the market price of apples? It is evident that it cannot be
$2.25, for no buyer is willing to pay that much. It cannot
be as high even as $1.60, for though A, B, and C are willing
to pay that much if they have to do it, there are five sellers
who are willing to sell for that or less, and these five sellers,
competing with each other for the three buyers, would
bring down the price.
On the other hand, the price cannot be as low as $1.40;
for while there are four who arc willing to sell at that or a
lower price, there are five who are willing to give more than
that to have their desire for apples satisfied, and thcse five
would bid against each other for the four bushels offered by
Y, U, T, ami S and would raise the price abo,e $1.40.
The price then cannot be as great as $1.60 nor as little as
$1.40. Rut as a matter of fact it will lie between narrower
limits than those set by these two figures. Continuing to test
the possible prices as we ha ve done, we get the following results.
At $1.59 there are 3 buyers and 4 sellers
" 1.56 " "3 " "4 "
" 1.55 " "4 " "4 "
" 1.50 " "4 " "4 "
" 1.46 " "4 " "4 "
" 1.45 " "5 " "4 "
It appears that at $1.55 or at $1.46, or at any figure be-
tween them, there will be four buycrs willing to pay the price
and four sellers willing to take the price; these prices arc
those at which demand and supply are equa\. IVe may say,
then, that the market price is an equilibrium between the
subjective valuations of the buyers, as determined by the
existing conditions of demand, and the subjective valuations
of the sellers as determined by the existing conditions of
supply. It is a pricc at which the greatcst number of ex-
changes can be effected in a giwll market at a given time.
VALUE
229
Four exchanges would take place: S, T, U, and V would scll,
and A, B, C, and D would buy apples at a pricc that would
lie somewhere behyeen $1.46 and $1.55. Just where between
these two figures the price will be fixed cannot be predicted,
because within these limits it is determined by a "higgling"
or bargaining process. We may think of that area as a "no
man's land," which each side is trying to occupy; trying to
adyance its line in the direction indicated by the arrow. The
strength and strategy, the bargaining power and skill exer-
cised by either side, will determine whether the exact
market price ,,-ill be nearer to the maximum of the least
eager actual buyer or to the Mnimum of the least eager
actual seller.
The least eager actual buyer, D, would give up his in-
tention to purchase and withdraw from the market if the
price rose aboye $1.55, which is his subjectiw valuation of a
bU:ihel of apples. He i, therefore called the marginal buyer,
since when the price ri,('s he is the first to be excluded from
the market. The least eager actual seller, Y, is called the
marginal seller since he would be the first seller excluded from
the market when the price falls - in this case when the priee
falls below $1.40.
In the ideal market that we have imagined the difference
between the subjective yaluations of the marginal seller and
the marginal buyer is great. But where there are many
buyers and many sellcrs this difference is narrowed, and the
range in which thc price may fluctuate is very limited. The
market price is then just low enough to enable the marginal
buyer to stay in the market and just high enough to induce
the marginal seller to part with his wares.
Let us suppose that the price actually agreed upon is $1.48.
Four prospective buyers, E, F, G, and II, go home empty
handed because they will not pay this price, and four who
had hoped to sell, VV, X, Y, and Z, must carry their apples
230 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
away again because they thought the price insufficient.
A, B, C, and D each buy a bushel of apples; S, T, U, and V
sell, each, a bushel of apples, for $1.48. Each one of these
eight gains by his transaction. Buyer A made a good trade;
he got for $1.48 what was worth to him $2.00. Seller S did
wry "'ell also; he received $1.48 for the bushel that he was
willing to sell for $1.00. Among the buyers D gained least;
if the price had been 7 cents higher his surplus would ha\'e
disappeared. Among the sellers V gained least; a drop of
k cents would have wiped out his surplus. Each of the actual
h U ~ ' e r s am! sellers has gained by the trade an amount equal
to the difference between his subjef'tiye valuation of a bushel
of apples and the market price which was paid for the apples.
Normal Value or Price, and Demand. - In our dis-
cussion of market value, we used the phrase" existing condi-
tions of demand"; it is important that we understand what
is meant bv this. The student here should review Book III,
Part I, Chapter XII on "Demand."
\Y e assumed in the illustration used that demand for
apples remained constant. lVe know, however, that in ac-
tual market conditions, buyers are continually revising
their subjective valuations. A skillful display of their
wares by the sellers, or other exercise of the arts of selling,
such as advertising; the knowledge that the apple crop is
short and that future wants will be supplied with even greater
difficulty; or sa vings on other purchases so that the possible
halance which can be expended for apples is larger than
had been anticipated, - all may hU'rease the demand. At the
,ame time, the 811permarginal buyers, finding the prohahle
market price below their suhjective valuations, might in-
crease their purchases. If the price were $1.90 or less, huyer
A might decide to take a second bushel, and if $1.70, a third.
At the latter price buyer B might also want an additional
hll,hel. What change would this make in the market price?
VALUE
231
On the other hand, contrarY conditions may cause the buvers
to re\ise their subjective valuations do,,:nward. Further-
more, oranges may be offered at attractive prices; other
fruits also or even vegetables may be substituted for apples.
Thus the demand for apples will be lessened.
All this is equivalent to saying that the demand for apples
is not a constant quantity; it is elastic. By eiastiAJity we
ordinarily m.ean that the amount of a good which will be pur-
cha8cd rpspond8 readily to the changes in price of that good.
The degree of elasticity varies widely with different types
of goods and different classes of consumers. Among people
of even less than moderate purchasing power, the demand
for bread is relatively inelastic; it changes slightly, even
though the price be doubled. But when the price of eggs
is doubled, the careful housewife more than halves her pur-
chases; the demand for eggs is elastic. Elasticity is best
seen in that large elass of goods that lies between necessities
and luxuries, on which ordinary people" economize" when
prices advance.
Such are the chief factors that condition demand over a
period of time; it is subject to continuous change. In con-
trast we may think of market demand as a snapshot of an
ever-moving panorama. "'e must remember too that it is
market demand to which sellers offer their goods, and they
are never certain what features of this changing panorama
will be presented to them when they bring their wares to
market. In consequence, producers often suffer losses
because they fail to foresee accurately future market con-
. ditions.
Normal Value or Price, and Supply. - We noted in the
preceding section that while the sellers may to a limited
degree influence the subjective valuations of the buyers, they
must in the end take what the consumer offers, and they
can sell no more than the consumer will take. But does
232 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
the seller have no voice in the matter? We have discussed
the conditions of demand; let us now note what we mean by
the phrase "existing conditions of supply" which we have
also used.
In our illustration we may for the time being think of the
physical supply of apples as fixed at eight bushels The
four farmers whose high subjective valuations excluded them
from selling were doomed, we said, to carry their bushels
home. Rather than do this, however, they might revise
their subjective valuations. Seller W, whose valuation was
$1.60, and conceivably seller X, whose valuation was $1.80,
both might prefer to " sell at a loss," " below cost," rather
than to take their produce home. How would this revision
of sellers' subjective valuations affect the market price?
Another question which we must here answer is: How
would this experience affect the future supply of apples?
The student will recall that by market supply we mean the
amount of goods that seliers are w ~ i l l i n g to offer in a given market
at a gi!'en time. But here we are looking to the future. How
much will producers now plan to bring into market at some
future date? The answer to this question is important;
upon it largely depends the normal or long-time price. It
is plain that Wand X, who sold at a loss, as well as Y and
Z, who carried their apples home, would be discouraged
from bringing apples to market on another day. Indeed
they might be so discouraged that they would neglect their
orchards - no longer spray and prune and cultivate in order
to produce that commodity for which the consumer refused
to pay a price that would compC'llsate them for their labor
and expense. They might decide to use their labor, land.
and capital to produce berries, or fresh vegetables, or poul-
try, which they believed the consumers would take at good
prices. We must remember that this decision to change
their type of production is of no avail to change the value
VALUE 233
of those apples whieh have been produced in the past and
are ready for market now; but the market, lacking their
supplies, will in the future tend to register a higher pricc
for apples.
American producers as a whole went through experiences
similar to that ,,-hi('h we above in 1920-1922.
During the years following 1914 war was raging, and its
capacious maw is never filled; always it clamors for more;
more wheat, more meat, more cotton, more explosives, more
ships. Subjective values of these and all other commod-
ities soared; the consumers, the governments waging war,
took all that was offere(1 and paid the price. There were
no substitutes for munitions of war; there was no time for
" higgling," while the fate of the world hung in the balance.
l\Iore labor, more capital, and more land were devoted
to wheat, cotton, and corn. Bumper crops were produced.
The farmers paid high wages, high interest rates, and high
rents; expenses of production were great. Then peace
came; the devouring monster of war was stilled. The gov-
ernments ceased to buy; and their subjects, though in dire
need, wcre poverty-strieken and could not All over
this wide land farmers came to market, not with bushels of
apples, but with loads of corn, of wheat, of cotton. They
plaeed subjective valuations on their goods high enough to
compensate them for their heavy expenses of production.
But in a short space of less than a year the consumers' sub-
jective valuations had changed; great numbers of them
would not pay a high price; numberless others, particularly
in Europe, could not pay any price. The farmer's subjec-
tive valuation, justifiahle though it may have been from his
point of view, was too high; the consumer would not meet it,
and the consumer's judgment was final. What did the
farmers do? Their subjective valuations were not all the
same. Some of them, perhaps more efficient, or those with
234 ELElvIENTARY PRINCIPLES OF' ECONOMICS
better land or a more fortunate season, had produced their
crops at a lower expense per unit; their subjective valuations
were consequently lower than those of their fellow farmers;
they were willing to sell at a low price if they could not get
a higher one. Many more who had produced at greater ex-
pense, or who for other reasons placed higher subjective
valuations on thei.r crops, were compelled to sell; they had to
realize whatever sum was possible from their year's efforts;
these farmers lowered their subjectiye valuations, took what-
e\'er price they could get, and went home discontented;
but some hauled their loads back home to await a hoped-
for better market. Others did not bring their produce to
market at all, but stored it in granaries and warehouses for
better prices. All, with the possible exception of the first
group who could afford to sell at a low price, were dissatis-
fied and discouraged from putting forth such great efforts
the following season.
Let us pause for a moment to think of these same or other
farmers who perhaps brought to the market fresh fruit, or
fat hogs and cattle ready for the butcher's knife. If the
consumers would not meet the subjective valuations of the
producer of such goods, could the farmer haul his load of
peaches or fat hogs back to the farm and store them for a
better price a week or six months in the future?
Such experiences brought "hard times" to the farmers.
Many were thrown into bankruptcy; mortgages were fore-
closed. Others, who were ahle to do so, went out of the
farming business. All attempted to curtail production and
to bring no more to the market than the consumer would take
at a price which would compensate the producers. This
. meant a smaller supply, - the adjustment of supply to the
wants of the market.
A situation similar to that described in agriculture affected
the producers of practically all other commodities. Sup-
VALUE
235
plies produced under the stimulus of war demand were offered
in a market in which thc consumers' valuations had been
abruptly revised downward. Manufacturers who bought
raw materials and machinery at high prices and paid high
wages for labor, with capital which commanded a high rate
of interest, came into market six months or a year later with
their " loads" of finished products. Their expcrience with
the consumer was quite like that of the farmers. This dif-
ference should be noted, however; the manufacturers had
relied to a less degree on the demand of European consumers,
and consequently their market broke less abruptly and less
disastrously. :'\ evertheless many business enterprises failed;
some were liquidated and energy and capital directed into
lines of production that promised better returns. Others
temporarily suspended production or operated on part time.
Here also was a curtailment of supply to conform to the
merciless judgment of the consumer.
We saw the same forces operating in merchandising ac-
tivities. When the consumer began the downward re"ision
of his subjective valuation, the shelves of many merchants
were stocked with "high cost" goods. What could the
merchant do? He did not accept his customers' verdict
without a protest. lIe advcrtised; he tried to convince
the consumer that" good values for the money" were being
offered; poss;bly the prospective buyer was told that prices
would go higher in the future; "special sales" were inau-
gurated; "dollar days" were frequent. To a limited ex-
tent this "selling campaign" succeeded; but in the main
the buyers stood firm. Indeed the consumers did a bit of
advertising themselves; dramatic" buyers' strikes" gained
wide publicity; some of our mayors and other prominent
citizens appeared at their offices, not in natty new business
suits, but in overalls. In the end price cutting became gen-
eral; the merchants also "took their losses." Some were
236 ELEME1I'TARY PRINCIPLES OF EeON01lHCS
forced out of business and others curtailed or ceased for the
time to expand. The outcome, as in all other productive
enterprises, was a lessening of the supply of merchandising
services to conform to the subjective valuations of the" mar-
ginal buyers."
'Ve can trace this same succession of events, with modifi-
cations, through all other types of business. For example
in the summer of 1922, the newspapers reported that sereral
prominent Chicago theaters that had enjoyed pros-
perous summer seasons had closed for lack of patronage.
Further illustration of the principle would be superfluous.
Any observant student can cite recent examples in his own
community.
Returning then to the question with which we opened this
rather lengthy discussion: does the producer, the supply side,
han any voice in determining normal prices? Within
limits, he does. As to that part of the supply which is al-
ready produced, the seller as we have seen is helpless except
in so far as he can induce the buyer to alter his estimate of
its utility, his subjective valuation. As to the price of future
supplies, he can only look forward to what he estimates the
consumer of the future will be willing to pay, and adjust his
output to this level. His calculations are often wrong;
in competitive production he never knows what action
his competitor may take; and the changeableness of con-
sumers, thcir whims and fancies, can never be predicted
accurately. The producers - the supply - act on their own
best judgment, but we must always remember that the final
judgment lies with the consumers - the demand; if they
will not buy, they will not, and that's the end.
. .
Normal Value under Varying Conditions of Supply.-
That the conditions under which various classes of com-
modities reach the market vaQ' is apparent to anyone
who turns his attention to the mattcr. A complete under-
VALUE 237
standing of normal value must take account of these different
conditions of supply. The first result of an analytical study
of these conditions is the discovery that goods can be classi-
fied, from this point of view, into three groups: (1) abso-
lutely scarce goods; (2) monopolized .qoods; n) competitively
produced g o o d . ~ , whose supply may be increased only by
the labor or other sacrifice of men. To shorten our term,
we may describe the differing nature of the scarcity of the
three classes by the phrases: (1) absolute scarcity; (2) mo-
nopoly scarcity; (:'l) cost scarcity. The meaning of these terms
will appear more clearly in what follows.
(1) Absolute Scarcity. It should be clear now that deter-
mination of the normal value or price of absolutely scarce
goods, such as silver dollars of 1804, does not differ signifi-
cantly from the determination of their market value or price.
Supply in these cases being fixed, we may say with a rough
sort of practical truth, that their value, normal or market,
is determined by demand. Curios and rarities desired by
collectors - pictures of the old masters, for example-
often command fabulous market prices. In so far as sucb
articles are non-reproducible, they have no normal price.
(2) Monopoly Scarcity. In the case of monopoly, supply
depends on the will of the monopolist. Since monopolies
and monopoly value form the subject matter of the next
chapter, we omit any further treatment of the topic here,
except in connection with the explanation of competitive
cost value, which is to follow.
(3) Cost Scarcity.* Goods whose supply is limited because
We need not here inquire to what extent competition falls short of being
perfect in the production and sale of goods in the modern induEltrial world.
Even though it should be ;:tdmitted that Cilery branch of industry shows
traces, large or small, of monopoly or of absolute scarcity, it is sufficient for
our purpose to insist that, in a great part of present-day industry, some meas-
ure of competition is present to influence price policy. Compare pp. 240-
242 below.
ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
sacrifice is required to increase this supply constitute a large
part of our ordinary consumption; we commonly say, how-
ever, that this class of goods is freely reproducihle under com-
petitive conditions. It should be obvious to the student
that the circumstances under which additional supplies can
be produced will determine the degree of scarcity; and that
the value of these goods is due to precisely the same cause
which is back of the valuc of all goods; namely, utility llnder
a condition of scarcity.
In the chapter on Factors of Production we have explained
that at any given time there is a point in the investment of iabor
and capital upon a unit of any natural agent beyond ahich
fllrther investment yields less than proportionate returns. "'e
noted that the operation of this law of diminishing returns
may be observed particularly well in thc production of
raw materials in which land is a conspicuous factor,-
potatoes, for example. \Ve noted too that in manufacturing,
while we may continue to enjoy increasing returns to our
efforts for a longer time than in agriculture, we do reach
a point where additional units are brought forth only at
greater proportionate cost. The same is true of most
other economic activities, with the possible exception of
transportation or other natural monopolies, which arc studied
in the next chapter. speaking, the mass of pro-
duction is under conditions of increasing returns, or de-
creasing cost per unit, up to a point varying with the type
of production; but beyond this point, diminishing returns, or
increasing cost per unit, rule the field. \Ve must not ignore
entirely that type of production in which unit cost remains
about constant within the limits of the quantity ordinarily
demanded. Illustrations of this type of production are
most handmade goods, as the suit of clothes or pair of shoes
made to individual measure; most personal services likewise
are of th:s type.
VALUE
239
Summarzing, and as far as possible generalizing, we may
say that economic goods in whose production land or nature
is the dominant factor are characterized by increasing cost,
those in which capital is the dominant factor, by decreas-
ing cost, and those in which labor is the dominant factor,
by cOllsiant cost per unit. These varying conditions under
which supply can be brought to market, coupled with vary-
ing degrees of elasticity of demand, cause normal value to
be fixed at different levels for different commoditics.
Normal Value and Cost of Production: The Marginal Pro-
ducer.-It should be dear to the student that the producers,
working under widely varying conditions, are always attempt-
ing to adjust their supplies to thc demands of the consumers,
and to keep their cost of production within the sum the
consumer will pay for the article in question. Efficient pro-
ducers succeed in this attempt, and in proportion to their
success, make profits. But this more capable group of
entrepreneurs cloes not as a rule produce a supply sufficient
to meet all wants; hence other entrepreneurs, attracted by
the high prices which result from unsatisfied wants, enter the
field. This latter group may themselves be less capable;
and they are almost certain to be compelled to work under
disadvantageous conditions, which means that their costs
of production will be high. Some of them will find their
costs just equal to the price the consumer will pay; these
just " break even" and so can stay in business, but they
make no " profits."
Economic conditions, howcver, are constantly changing.
The demand may suddenly become very great and the market
price will advance. These high prices beckon entrepreneurs
to apply their productive energies to those enterprises which
promise high profits. Some entrepreneurs already estab-
lished in other businesses where profits are low are lured into
the new venture by the prospect of higher profits. Thus
240 ELEJIENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
more land, labor, and capital are brought into the new in-
dustry. But each entrepreneur who comes in finds condi-
tions a little more difficult to meet than his predecessor found
them, the expenses which must be incurred to produce the
additional quantity that consumers want are successively
greater than the marginal expenses prior to the increased
demand; thus a new and a higher normal price is established.
Entrepreneurs will continue to come into this business as
long as the lure of higher profits remains, until an approxi-
mate equilibrium of profits among all the various types of
business again prevails. Should demand for the particular
article sharply decline, prires will be less and profits will fall.
Those entrepreneurs who are marginal, who can produce
o n l ~ ' at higher costs and so are getting small profits or none
at all, hasten to leave the business and direct their endeavors
into new channels that promise greater returns; and of
course new capital, labor, and managerial ability which
become available for production avoid the declining indus-
tries; they seek the opportunities that offer large returns.
Therefore, over any period of time 8ufficiently long for these
changes to be e.ffected, the actllal price of any competitively pro-
duced commodity will tend t() equal n()rmal price ()r the cost
of production to the marginal producers. We must under-
stand clearly that it is not costs to these marginal producers
that make price what it is; hut rather price is what it is
because the wants of the consnmer are intense enough to
make him willing to pay the price which enables these mar-
ginal producers to stay in the business.
" Frictional Elements" in Competition. - I n an earlier
paragraph we intimated that competition may not always
operate without hindrance. In order that there might be
perfect competition, it would be necessary that every pro-
ducer should always know and seek his own economic in-
terest; that he should be able to moye h ; ~ JUh<;f, his capital,
VALUE '241
and his land from one occupation to another or to no occu-
pation at all, at a moment's notice, and without that loss
which the vis incrti!E of business actuaJ1y occasions in such
cases. From the fact that thcse conditions are imperfectly
realized, it resuILs that the prices of commodities day by
day, or, ;10 they u!"e callcd, the market prices, fluctuate with
the importance of the "frictional" element present, as well
as with changes in the cost of production. But the market
price of competitive goods is kept from violent fluctuations
by the fact that competition is also present, and that, so
far as the c:Jmpetition is free and complete, it is working
to produce harmony between demand and supply, bet\veen
marginal utility and marginal cost, between producer and
consumer.
We can here do little more than state the chief of t!lese
frictional elements. (1) Cllstom, especially in the retail
trade, may maintain a price above, or even below, normal
nlue for a considerable period of time. (2) Immobility of
the factors of production. Land devote(l to cotton farming
cannot be tralbformed immediately and without loss to corn
and hog farming because the price of pork products is high;
similarly, capital, in its fixed forms, cannot readily be shifted
from one use to another; nor can the laborer change from
job to job or from place to place in response to every fluctua-
tion in wage levels. (:3) Haphazard or speculative production.
In our complex industrial system, producers plan to offer their
products upon a market distant usually both in space and in
time; they hope to be able to dispose of their output at a
good price, but this hope, based on inadequate knowledge,
or perhaps a mere guess, frequently is not realized. This
" planlessness" of production results in much economic
hardship and is the basis of much criticism from those who
do not approve the economic system as a whole. (4) By-
products. That some commodities come into existence in-
242 ELEkiENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
cidentally in the production of another major commodity is a
familiar fact to all of us. It often happens that a by-product
will sell for a price which ':lears no relation whateyer to its
normal value; the relatiye market demand for the different
produets and by-products is the determining factor. All
we can do here is to call attention to the fact that the total
market price of the main product and the by-products tends
to approximate their total rwnnal value.
Other factors which tend to retard the free operation of
competition may occur to the student. Indeed, these factors
are so numerO'lS and so powerful in their influence that some
thoughtful people that" free competition" really exists;
in consequence bclie\'e that a of yalue based
on it must, at the least, be quite inadequate. Our conclusion,
however, is that competition is a real force in determining
normal value, and that the so-called "frictional elements"
do not nullify, but do modify, the value theory.
SUMMARY
1. Most of the economic gooels produced in the modern commu-
nity must be evaluated; hence n comprehension of value is essen-
tial to the student.
2. The term value has various but reb ted meanings.
3. Subjective value is the economic importance of a unit of anv com-
modity to the one valuing it.
4. By comparing various subjeeti,'e ,'alnes with one another we may
establish a value ratio - objective or exchange yalue.
5. In practice actual exchange values are established in the market.
6. Price is exchange value expressed in terms of money.
7. In any given market price will be fixed at the point of equilibrium
between the subjective valuations of the buyers and sellers
respectively.
S. Market value or price is the price in any market at a given time;
it is determined at the point where demand and supply are
in equilibrium.
9. Normal value or price is the ideal value toward which market
values tend during any period within which known conditions
of supply can exercise a dOlllinating influence.
VALUE 243
10. Goods may be classified from the point of view of their supply, as
absolutely scarce goods, monopoly goods, and freely produced
goods.
11. The normal value of absolutcly scarce goods may be said to be
determined by demand.
12. Freely produced goods may be increased in quantity: (1) at an
increasing unit cost; or (2) at a constant unit cost; or (:3) at
a decreasing uni t cost.
13. In all three cases the normal value will stund at the point where
marginal utility equals marginal cost.
14. So-called frictional elements, which obscure or modify the general
principles of value, include custom, immobility of labor and
capital, "planless" production, and" by-products ...
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. Define subjective value; exchange "alue; price; market.
2. Show the relation between subjective value and exchange value.
3. Distinguish the three conditions of supply of goods.
4. Distingui,h the thrce conditions under which the supply of "freely
produced" goods may be increased.
5. Draw a graph to illustrate (a) social demand; (b) supply of a com-
modity produced at constant cost.
6. At what point is market price determined; normal price of freely
produced goods?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. What is the deri va tion of the word value? What are some of the
meanings of the word outside of economics? Is there any com-
mon content of all the uses?
2. Is friendship or love capable of subjective valuation or objective
valuation?
3. Name some absolutely scarce goods; monopolized goods; freely
produced goods.
4. ~ arne some goods that are produced under conditions of increas-
ing cost; decreasing cost.
5. "A change in general prices is not only possible but is one of the
familiar and recurring phenomena of economics." Illustrate
this statement from the history of prices in the United States
since 1914. When prices are high has the value of money risen
244 ELK"rfENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
or fallen? If prices in general are 40% lower than in 1920, does
it mean that the value of corn, sugar, cotton, etc. is less than it
was; or is a rise or fall of general values possible?
6. How does an increase in demand for cotton affect the price of cot-
tonseed oil? How would YOIl expect to see t h ~ price of gosolene
affected by a considerable reduction in the price of automohiles?
7. Is mutton or w o ~ 1 the hy-product in sheep growing; cott.on
fiber or cottonseed in cotton culture? Give other examples of
joint products, indicating in cach instance which are the main
products.
8. What do we mean when we say that the final vertict as to what
price shall be rests with the consumers?
9. (a) If market price is determined at the point of equilibrium be-
tween supply and demand, how can retail merchants mark def-
inite priccs on their stocks of goods? (b) If the normal price of a
certain grade of stockings is 40 cents a pair, what are different
sets of circumstances that would account for any enterprising
merchant advertising a special sale of three pairs for one dollar?
(c) Give a concrete example to show that the following state-
ments are equally true; "Value depends on sLlpply and demand."
"Supply and demand depend on value. "
LITERATURE
Adams, H. C.: Description of Industry, 38-40.
Carver, T. N.; Principles of Political Economy, Cbs. XXII-XXIII.
Clark, J. B.: The Distribution of Wealth, Ch. XIX.
Clay, Henry: Economics for the General Reader, Cbs. XIV-XV.
Ely, R. T.: Outlines of Economics, Chs. IX-XI.
Jevons, W. S.: Theory of Political Economy, Chs. III-IV.
Marshall, A.: Principles of Economics, Bk. V, Ch. III, 5.
Marshall, L. C.: Readings in Industrial Society, 93-96, 17l.
Marshall and Lyon: Our Economic Organization, Chs. XIV-XV.
Marshall, Wright, and Field: Materials for the Study of Elementary
Economics, 20, 21,102,104,105,107,108,114,116,117,121,124.
Smart, W.: Introduct-ion to the Theory of Value, Chs. V and X.
Taussig, F. W.; Principles of Economics (3d revised edition), Bk. II,
Chs. VIII-X, XII-XIV, XVI.
CHAPTEI\ XXIII
MONOPOLIES AND MONOPOLY VALUE
IN the preceding chapter we reached tI1e conclusion that
in the case of goods frccly produced under competitive condi-
tions, normal yalue is determined or fixed at the point where
the marginal cost equals the marginal utility ofthe supply. At
the same time it was pointed out that not all goods are thus
produced. The largest and most important class of such
exceptional goods consists of those produced by monopolists.
In order to complete our theory of value, therefore, we must
now inquire how monopoly value is determined; and, that
we may do this the more understandingly, let us first see
what monopoly is.
Definition and Classification. - It will be well for the
student to study carefully the following definition, weighing
deliberately tI1e several words and phrases: ilfonopoly means
that substantial unity of action, on the part of one or more
perSOM engaged in some kind of business, which gives exclusive
control, more particularly, although lWt solely, with respect to
pTlce.
'Yriters on the subject of monopoly have made many
classifications, varying with the point of view from which
thc classification is approached. The following, whi<:h is
rather a classification of the sources of monopoly power
than of monopolies, will, it is believed, prove especially
helpful in explaining the origin and real nature of actual
monopolies.
245
240 ELE .,;fENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
A. Social Monopolies.
1. General welfare monopolies.
1. Patents.
2. Copyrights.
3. Trade-marks.
4. Public consumption monopolies.
5. Fiscal monopolies.
II. Special privilege monopolies.
1. Those based on public favoritism.
2. Those based on private favoritism.
B. Xatural Monopolies.
1. Those arising from limitation of supply of raw
material.
II. Those arising from peculiar characteristics of the
business itself.
III. Those arising from secrecy.
Social Monopolies. - Businesses are social monopolies
in 80 far as they are ,"wde monopolies not by their aIm char-
acteristics, but either by legislatire enactment or by fanning so
close a connection u'ith great natllralllwTloliOlies that they par-
lalee of the nature of the latter.
In old times kings and queens frequently granted exelusi"e
business privileges to favored persons and permitted no
one except those named to engage in such undertakings.
Such monopolies, however, became so odious that sOYereigns
were compelled to cease granting them. Goycrnments
still create exclusive privileges by 1m/ellt and copyright laws,
but they do so in behalf of the general public. Authors
and inventors are given exelusive rights over their produc-
tions for a limited period. These monopolies are believed
to have justified themselves through the stimulus which
they have given to invention and authorship. Yet it must
not be forgotten that all intellectual achievements are in
part a social product, - that they are due in great measure
MONOPOLIES AND MONOPOLY VALUE 247
to earlier achievement. The telephone, for example, was
preceded by a century of scientific invention and discovery
along the line of sound transmission; most of that investiga-
tion, moreover, was very ill rewarded. On the whole, ex-
perience seems to justify the conclusion that patents :'tlld
copyrights for a limited tcrm of years are beneficial but that
rest on a stronger basis than do patents, because
no two persons could ever "'Tite precisely the same book.
The trade-mark is a legal similar to the patent
and the copyright, and, in fact, is itself a cop;vright. It is
ginn a separate place here because of its peculiar importance
in modern business. In connection with lavish advertising,
trade-marks in recent days have been made the basis of
enormous profits. However, as it is open to everyone who
desires to have his own trade-marks, the number being un-
limited, the trade-mark may be regarded as essentially an
agency of competition.
Public consumption monopolies and fiscal monopolies
call for a word of special comment. They can be distin-
guished only by knowing the object which the government
has in "iew in establishing them. If the government manages
for itself or grants to arwther a monopoly of any particular
form of traffic with the object of regulating the corwumption,
the monopoly is a public consumption monopoly. If, on the
other hand, the chief object is not regulation but income, the
monopoly is ajiscal one. Often the two objects are so blended
that it is difficult or impossible to say whether the resulting
monopoly is of one type or the other.
Our classification names two kinds of special privilege
monopolies. Those monopolies that are due to special tariff
advantages or to other legislation are rightly said to be based
on public favoritism. The other class of special privilege
monopolies consists of those that grow up through special
favors granted by other monopolies, especially by natura}
248 ELEME.','TARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
monopolies. Railways in the days before regulation often
granted such favors.
Natural Monopolies. - Katural monopolies are those that
depend for their existence on cl:rcumstances or conditions within
the businesses themselves rather than on the will or consent of
society. They grow up independently of the social will and
desire and sometimes even in direct opposition to it. The
words we have used in our classification will sufficiently
explain the different sources from which they arise.
By far the most important of all monopolies are natural
monopolies of the second class. Chief among them are the
following: wagon roads and streets, canals, docks, bridges
and ferries, waterways, harbors, lighthouses, railways, tele-
graphs, telephones, the post office, electric lighting, water-
worb, gasworks, street railways of all kinds. The peculiar
characteristics that always give rise to monopoly of this
class are indicated in the following statement: Whenel'er
there is a decided increment in gain resulting from combination,
there results a tendency to monopoly uhich overcomes all ub-
stacles. This decisive increment of gain from combinaticn is
alu'ays present in businesses (a) that occupy peculiarly favor-
able spots or lines of land, and (b) that furnish services or com-
modities which must be 11sed in connection with the plant.
Of late years many economists have argued that in busi-
nesses which lack these characteristics, monopoly may nat-
urally arise through the superior power of great capital and
the superior economy of great concentration. They would
call such monopolies capitalistic. There is not space to gi\'e
all the reasons for dissenting from this conclusion regarding
so-called capitalistic monopolies. One or two very cogent
reasons may, howeyer, he stated. An exhaustive s t u d ~ ' of
the cases cited in support of this alleged tendency to monop-
oly inherent in large amounts of capital has failed to reveal
a single instance in wh ieh the monopoly did not enjoy one
MONOPOLIES AND MONOPOLY VALUE 249
or many of the monopoly advantages that we have already
mentioned and explained. l\foreoyer, many cases in which
the possession of large capital secmed on the surface to be a
dominating influence have becn cases in which the monopoly
was so short-li\'ed as to furnish little support to the argument
of those who cited them. After all, whateyer may be the
adyantage conferred by large capital, we must remember
that capital is so plentiful that no matter how gigantic the
plant already in operation, a riyal has alwars found means to
establish itself if the margin of profit was attractiYe.
Our conclusion, then, may be stated as follows: There is
a great and growing field of industry in which competition
is not natural or permanently possible, for reasons which
ha\'e been explained; there is another field within which
monopol.,' m a ~ ' easily be engendered by unwise social action
but which is likely to be narrowed as the nation grows in
intelligence and thoughtfulness; and finally there is a third
field within which natural monopoly does not and cannot
exi,t ami within which social monopoly is unlikely to arise.
The First Law of Monopoly Price. - And now, haying seen
~ ' h a t monopoly is, we may attempt an answer to the ques-
tion, How is monopoly value or monopoly price determined?
First of all, we may say that monopoly value, like all ob-
jective exchange values, is determined by the relation be-
tween demand and supply, and that demand here as else-
where is determined by marginal utility. But the supply
is not fixed as it is under normal competition by the mal'-
giual cost of production but at the point 1I,herc the monopolist
will secure the maximum of net revenue possible 1:n the existing
state of demand. In other words, the monopolist, freed from
competition and governed (fJlly by the con.'1iderati(fJl of demand,
is able to adjust supply to demand in such a way that the price
u,ill stand at the point of highest net return. This may be called
the law of morwpoly price from the point of view of supply.
250 ELEMENTA.RY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
In determining what quantity shall be supplied and hencc
what shall be the resulting pricc as fixed by the demand of
the public, - in other words, what is the point of highest
net returns,- the monopolist consciously or unconsciously
proceeds according to the following principles: -
1. lIe rcalizes that every increase in the offering of his
monopolized product will result in lowering the marginal
utility and hence the demaud price of the product, while
every decrease in the offering will result in a higher marginal
utility and hence a higher price.
2. Of the expenses of production there are some that vary
in their aggregate in almost regular proportion with the
variation in the supply. Thus if the product is doubled, the
total cost of raw material will be just about doubled. Such
expenses are called variable expenses.
3. Other expenses, within certain limits, remain more
nearly the same in their aggregate, no matter what the
amount of the product. These, called the fixed expenses,
would include the cost of plant, salary of superintendent,
interest on bonds, etc.
lIenee it follows that the monopolist, since he is seeking
the maximum net revenue from his business, will pay no at-
tention to fixed charges in establishing the price of the prod-
uct but will consider only the variable expenses in connection
with the probable demand for his goods at various prices.
An Illustration. - We may illustrate by an example the
operation of these principles. The table on page 251 shows in
parallel columns the number of units that the monopolist
handling a certain good calculates he will be able to sell at
different prices; the total resultant earnings; the variable
expenses; the fixed expenses; the total expenses; and finally
the net revenue or monopoly profit.
Study of the table will show why, in the case assumed
here, the monopoly price will stand at six cents. Competi-
Jf[ONOPOLI ES AND ,lfONOPOLY Y ALUE 251
fion, if it were present, would keep on increasing the supply
as long as normal profit could be obtained. In our illus-
tration the lowest price at which production could be carried
on wuuld be four cents; and fuur cents would therefore be
the competitive price or the price determined by the balan-
cing of marginal utility against marginal cost of production,
PIlI('T':
NlJ"I'llDER TOTAL
VARIADLE TOT.\L
FIXED TOTAL NET
PER
eNlTS
EX(>};NSES VARIABLE
EXPENSES EXPEXSES REVEt.UE:
l:NIT PErt CNIT
--
$.10 GOO, 000 $60,000 $.03 $18,000 $50,000 5G8,000 - $8,000
.09 800,000 72,000 .03 24,000 ,50,000 74,000 - 2,000
.08 1,200,000 9G,000 .03 36,000 50,000 86,000
+ 10,000
.07 1,800,000
126,000 .03 54,000 50,000
104,000
+ 22,000
.06 2,500,000
1.50,000
.03 7,5,000 50,000 125,000
+ 25,000
.05
3,1;00,000 17.5,000
.03 1015,000
50,000
1M,OOO
+ 20,000
,04
5,000,000
200,000
.03 150,000 50,000 200,000
+
0,000
assuming that the weakest competitor in the business would
merely be repaid for all expenses incurred. Other compet-
itors, more efficient and therefore producing a large part
of their product at less expense, could still derive a profit
at this price. But since the munopolist has such control
oyer the production that he can control the offering to the
market, he will cut off production at 2,500,000 units, at
which point the marginal utility, and hence the demand,
will fix a price of six cents and will give the largest net re-
turn, $25,000.
The following diagram represents the facts
given in the table. The yertical axis represents cost or price
per unit in cents; the horizontal axis the number of hundred
thousands of units produced or demanded. The demand
curve, ag, shows the number of units demanded at the
yarious prices. The supply Clave, :rs, shows the cost per unit
of producing the different quantities supplied, found by divid-
252 ELEMENTARY PRLVCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
ing the total expenses (seventh column) by the number of
units (second column).
,-- -- -
,
,
:-
"
,
-- --
--
i \
"
,--
- -
~ -
,
.1--
- -
,,,-
" -- - - -
r-
~
1\
,"-.

,! -=-
-- --
--
,
i'-
-
-
~ ~ ~
j"\
-
'''-
,
"
,
r:- ' - -
- -
- - - -
E'sK
-
. --
- --
r-
--
.
t"'o-

f:-:
,
~
1-:
, i"_
-- -- - -- -
-
- -- -
--
1"4
r-:-:
-
1--
;---
-1
l"-
t:: ,
-
-
T
- - - -
c:-
,
, ,
,
l
.
,


<

,
" " "
,
2b
"
<
.. 4'
..
"
It will be seen that if 600,000 units are produced, the cost
of producing each is 11 t cents. The price of each unit is
only 10 cents, so that the loss per unit is 1 i cents. The
total loss will be the product of the loss per unit (1 i cents)
times the number of units sold (600,000), and is represented
by the rectangle, a.Tx' a', which corresponds to the loss of
$8000 accounted for in the first line of the table.
It will be seen that the priee per unit exceeds the cost per
unit at c, d, e, and j', which correspond to the second, third,
MONOPOLIES AND MONOPOLY VALUE 253
fourth, and fifth lines in the table. In each of these cases
there will be net revenues, represented by the rectangles
czz'c', dww'd', evv'e', and frr'j' respectively; and of these
rectangles evv' e', which corresponds to the revenue of $25,000
in the fifth line of the table, is the largest.
It will be noted that the point g on the demand curve coin-
cides \I"ith the point 8 on the supply lune; that is, the price
4 cents per unit would just pay the cost of producing each of
the 5,000,000 units demanded at this price. The price 4
cents would be the normal market price of this commodity
under competitive conditions, as has been shown in the
chapter on Value.
While their growth is particularly favored by the condi-
tion of decreasing costs, monopolies may arise also under con-
ditions of increasing and constant costs. The student
will find it an interesting and valuable exercise to draw
similar diagrams showing monopoly price under these
conditions.
The Effect of a Tax. - Our numerical illustration and
the student's diagrams may both be made to convey a lesson
regarding the influence of taxation upon monopolies and
monopoly price. Fixed expenses, it will be remembered,
have no influence in determining the price. If, therefore,
a fixed tax, say of ~ 5 0 0 0 a year, were to be laid upon this
monopoly, it would not result in an increase of price. A
study of the table will show that, with such a tax, the net
reYenue at price .08 would be $5000; at price .Oi, $17,000;
at price .06, $20,000; at price .05, $15,000; at price .04,
- $5000. The reason for this is that a fixed tax would be-
come for the monopoly a part of its fixed expenses. Thus
the price .06 will still be the point of maximum net revenue
and hence the monopoly price.
On the other hand, a variable tax, for instance a tax of one
cent per unit, would result in this case in raising the mo-
254 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
nopoly price. In our illustration, such a tax would make
the net revenue at the price .08, - $2000; at the price .07,
$4000; at the price .OQ, nothing; at the price .O.j, - $15,000.
Thus, though the monopoly would find its profits greatly
curtailed by such a tax, consumers would be compelled to
pay one cent more per unit for the monopoly product. The
possible advantage which society might draw from the tax
would therefore be wholly or in part offset by the increased
price which the public would have to pay for the commodity.
Such a raising of the price will not take place, ho"'ever, if
the demand at the higher price is not sufficient to make as
great a net reyenue as at the lower price.
\Ve may conclude, therefore, that fixed taxes, or taxes on
the net revenue of a 1norwpo/y, cannot be shifted wholly or in
part by a change in price; while taxe8 laid in proportion to the
amount of business, since they contribute an addition to the
variable expenses, may be wholly or in part shifted by a change
m price. " ~
If the diagram be again used for illustration, it may
easily be seen that any fixed tax must be subtracted
from the rectangle representing net profits. It is e\'idently
to the advantage of the monopolist to deduct such a tax
from the largest rather than from one of the smaller rec-
tangles. On the other hand, a tax of one cent per unit of
output would raise the line representing the expcnse of
production per unit by a Iikc amount throughout its "'hole
length. This would entirely change the shape and area of
thc yarious profit rectangles and in the case here considered
would make the maximum net profit rectangle appear at the
price .07.
The Second Law of Monopoly Price. - It is sometimes
said that the price of a monopolized good depends solely
upon the will of the monopolist. In the strict sense of the
phrase this is not true. As our explanation has shown, the
MONOPOLIES AND MONOPOLY VALUE 255
monopolist is forced by economic motives to establish such a
price as will give the maximum net revenue. There are
certain conditions on the side of demand which therefore
have a decisive influence in determining monopoly price.
We may group the most important of these in a general state-
ment which may properly be called a law of monopoly price
from the point of view of demand. The greater the intensity
of cU8tomary U8e of the monopolized commodity or service, the
higher the general average of economl:C well-being, and the more
readily 1fealth is generally expended, the higher will be the
monopoly price which will yield the largest net returns. Thus
monopoly, without any effort of its own, shares in the in-
creasing wealth of a country, and absorbs a considerable
part of it. In our own country, for example, the larger
wealth and the greater willingness of the people to spend
freely are among the influences that make monopoly more
profitable here than in European countries. The search
for other illustrations of the law should prove an intcresting
and valuable exercise for the studcnt.
Limitations on Laws of Monopoly Price. - In our discus-
sion of monopoly price up to this point certain assumptions
haw been tacitly made, which it is well now to state and
briefly discuss. "We have been assuming that the monopo-
list, in forming his price policy, is actuated solely by desire
to get the greatest money return; that he is willing to dis-
regard unfavorable public opinion except in so far as such
public opinion would influence demand for his commodity;
that he knows definitely the expense, per unit and aggregate,
for his different possible offerings to the market, and that he
knows with equal definiteness what the public will pay per
ullit for diffcrent possible offerings.
It is of course in the highest degree improbable that any
one of these assumptions is completely true for any monop-
olist. Regard for the good opinion of his fellows may pos-
256 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
sibly lead a monopolist to get less money from them than
his monopoly power makes possible. On the other hand,
he may brave public opinion in making his money, expecting
that he can win back the approval of the public by a lavish
and spectacular philanthropic expenditure of his monopoly
gains. But if he himself, outraged public opin-
ion may find expressiun in legislation that will limit his
monopoly power. Again, such knowledge of the state of
demand as has been assumed is perhaps never present in real
life, though some monopolists seem to have an almost un-
canny knowledge of this factor. In so far as our assump-
tions are unreal in the case of any monopolist, to that extent
will the actual monopoly price be below or above the one
indicated by our analysis. How far the assumptions arc
unreal must be discoycred in each case from careful study
of the particular circumstances of that case.
Natural Monopolies of Class Two. - It was long ago said
by a shrewd English enginccr that where combination is
possible, competition is impossible. :-.row combination is
always possible in the case of natural monopolies of the sec-
ond class. Indeed, combination in such businesses is in-
evitable. If two gas companies in a city, each with a capi-
tal of a million dollars, are able without combining to make
10 pcr cent profits, they will, when combined, make much
more than 10 per cent. The force drawing them together
works as constantly, if not as uniformly, as the attraction of
gravitation.
The testimony of experience on this point is ample. There
is never any sustained competition in this fielrl. There is
sometimes "war" to settle the terms of combination, and
popular language, when it uses the word " war" in this con-
nection, as in speaking of gas wars, etc., is scientifically ('or-
recto And yet, even to-ctay, after nearly a century of con-
clu:;;yc experiment, it sometimes happens that a city is led
MONOPOLIES AND MONOPOLY VALUE 257
by lavish advertising to believe that a new and" independ-
ent" telephone company, for example, wiII permanently
lower charges and will remain independent.
The railway problem presents an excellent illustration on
a national scale of the perplexities that may grow out of a
monopoly of this class. A little thought wiII show us why
the railway is a natural monopoly, and why for the most
part competition is impossible in the business; yet the
ideal of competition persisted - it is not entirely dead even
now. In the earlier years of the industry, the various roads
competed as small separate units; then they were con-
solidated into great competing systems. Ruinous rate
wars followed, and finally to protect their very existence,
combinations, pools, and traffic agreements were entered
into. \Ye have elsewhere referred (pages 93-94) to the agita-
tion against this movement which began in the 70's and
finally culminated in the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887,
in the application of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890,
and in the passage of numerous later laws. But the com-
bination movement was not stayed; and during the few
~ e a r s of war-time Federal operation, many people who
formerly hoped to restore competition among the rail-
ways came to see the economies possible under unified
management. A natural outgrowth of this experience is
the ideal of the Esch-Cummins law (see page 259), viz.,
"arlequate transportation in the interest of all sections
of the country and of all the people"; and the specific
provisions in that law whereby railways are expressly
ullthorized to consolidate into several great systems with
the expectation that certain competition between the few
great systems will survive. This competition would doubt-
less relate to quality of senice rather than to rates.
Government Policy toward Natural Monopolies. -What,
then, should be the policy of the government in dealing
258 ELEl,fENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
with monopolies of this class? Experience has shown that
unrestricted private ownership and operation seldom serve
the public welfare in a satisfactory manner. Progressive
communities seem, then, to be limited to a choice from three
possible policies: (1) Private ownership with regulated pri-
vate operation j the railways alld many local public utilities
are now run in this manner. (2) Public ownership and
regula ted private operation, as in the case of some pub-
licly o\YI1ed mines or leased under specific conditions
to private companies for operation. (3) Public ownership
and public operation, as in the case of roads and streets, and
the post office. These have been in public hands for so many
years that we no longer think of them as a possible field for
private enterprise.
Economic and social conditions are changing rapidly;
hence, whatever policy is adopted in specific cases should
have regard not to the type of business but to the ideals
and stage of development of the community to be served.
Where private ownership exists later generations can be
safeguarded by such limitation of charters and reservation
of public rights, the right of future purchase by
the public on fair terms, as will permit the government.
easily and readily to make the changes which accumulat-
ing experience may show to be wise.
The Problems of Regulation. - As long as natural mo-
nopolies of the second class remain wholly or partly in private
hands, therc will remain the ever-perplexing question of reg-
ulating the grantillg, extension. and renewal of franchises and
of maintaining public control over such undertakings. It
would take us too far afield even to mention all the difficult
and perplexing questions arising from the attempt to coutn)l
these natural monopolies. Especially within the past few
years have the legislatures and courts of state and nation
been confronted by these perplexities.
MONOPOLIES AND MONOPOLY VALUE 259
A consideration of the single problem of railway rate con-
trol is sufficient to convince us that state and Federal com-
missions, legislatures, and courts are facing a difficult prob-
lem. Shall statc or Federal bodies exercise final authority
in fixing or limiting rates charged on traffic within the bounds
of a single state; that is,intrastate? After the railways
were returned to private management in 1920, a conflict
arose between several state commissions and the Interstate
Commerce Commission as to which had superior and final
authority in this respect. Appeals from New York and
Wisconsin were carried to the United States Supreme Court;
the decision rendered in 1922 upheld the authority of the
Interstate Commerce Commission. Granting that the
latter body has final authority, how shall rates be fi:'l:ed or
limited,-on the basis of "cost of service," or of value of com-
modities carried, or on the principle of charging "what the
traffic will bear"? Assuming anyone of these bases, shall
the railways be permitted to charge rates that will always
return a profit, even in times of war or industrial depression?
What is a reasonable profit to allow the roads?
The Federal Transportation Act of 1920 expressly recog-
nizes the right and duty of the public not only in rate regula-
tion, but also in regulation of wages and conditions of
employment in the railway industry. The law creates" Ad-
justment Boards" and a "Labor Board," charged with the
task of preventing or settling "disputes between the car-
riers and their employees and subordinate officials." Shall
the men, under such conditions, have the right to strike?
Such questions could be multiplied almost endlessly; and
new ones are arising continuously. Indeed, no sooner does
Bne of them seem about to be settled than it in turn raises
another. Such questions were never more urgent than they
have been in recent years.
The Policy of Public Ownership. -Ought we in the United
260 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
States to substitute government ownership and operation of
such monopolies for private ownership and management?
Many thoughtful people maintain that wc should. In the
chapter on the Industrial Stage in the United States we gave
some attention to the history of public policy in relation to
these monopolies, but postponed to the present point a con-
sideration of the arguments usually oft'ered in favor of the
policy of public ownership.
Advantages Claimed for Public Ownership. - The principal
adnlIltages claimed for public ownership of such monopolies
arc as follows: -
1. Increase and Diffusion of Public Prosperity. - A gen-
eral diffusion among the community of the great incomes
reaped by the private monopolies will tend to prevent an
undue concentration of wealth while at the same time pro-
moting general prosperity. 1\105t of the enormous fortunes
of our country have sprung directly from natural monopolies
in private hands. It should be noted that if such private
monopolies are taken over by the gO\'ernment, the income
from them may be diffused in either of two ways. Charges
may be placed so low that the price will simply cover cost
without allowing for profits, - the method pursued by our
post office and by the English telegraph service; or a profit
may be derived from the industries, and this profit may then
be used to lower taxes or to benefit the people in other ways.
2. Economy alld Effi6cncy. - How enormous is the "I';aste
in attempted competition in the field of natural monopolies
may be seen on cvery side. Indeed, some years ago it was
estimated, possibly with exaggeration, that, in raihvay con-
struction and operation in the Vnited States during the pre-
ceding half century, economic resources had been wasted
which, had they been economically applied, would have been
sufficient to build comfortable homes for all the men, women,
and children then in the country.
MONOPOLIES AND MONO]'OLY VALUE 261
\Vhen services of a monopolistic nature are performed by
the public, great economies can often be secured by com-
bining various serviccs, such as water, gas, and electric light-
ing. :Morcover, a better management is likely to result.
It is only a popular superstition, now apparently passing
away, that private enterprise is always and everywhere
superior to public enterprise.
Aor is it true that private cnterprise always excels public
enterprise in the matter of initiating improvements. The
American post office blazed the path for American express
companies in developing the money-order business. The
English Postal Savings Bank set a pattern for private sav-
ings banks in the establishment of branches and in the use of
stamps posted on small cards for savings. In recent years
many great technical improvements have come from the
managers of public monopolies.
3. Purification of Politics. - Private monopolies must be
controlled by public authority; but control means inter-
ference with private business, and interference begets cor-
ruption. The country has frequently been shocked by the
disclosure of bribery and corruption used in connection with
the granting or extension of franchises or in some one of the
many ways by which monopoly in private hands seeks to
secure privileges, to free itself from duties, or to escape from
deserved punishment. A lawyer prominently identified
with monopolistic concerns has declared in a public address
that the" antenatal tax" which such companies are obliged
to pay, - that is, the bribery necessary for securing fran-
chises, - constitutes a regular element in the expenses of
their business. This is one reason why our city governments
are expensive. With public ownership and management
of such monopolies, public interests and private interests
are identified, and the best citizens can offer undivided al-
legiance to the cause of good government.
262 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
In the decade 1900-1910 the American people came to
know, as never before, the extent and yariety of corruption
practiced by private owners of great natural monopolies.
Thanks to the so-called "muck-rakers," scandal followed
scandal in claiming the outraged interest of the public. A
point was reached where the old story of Diogenes and his
lantern could provoke only a rueful smile. The result has
been a great deal of legislation - briefly discussed in Chap-
ter VIII - designed to secure adequate regulation of pri-
vate monopoly by public commissions and otherwise.
4. Will Overthrow Inj1lrioUl! Social Monopolies. - There
seems to be general agreement that the social monopolies
which rest on patents and copyrights are advantageous to
the public. Trade-mark monopoly, public consumption
monopoly, and fiscal monopoly, on the other hand, are forms
of social monopoly that are not so generally accepted with-
out question. Finally special privilege monopolies of class
one are losing in public support, while special pri1)ilege monop-
olies of class two are now everywhere admitted to be dis-
tinctly injurious to the best interests of society. Some of
these injurious social monopolies have been made possible
by special favors received from the natural monopolies now
under consideration; as, for example, by receiving lower
freight rates than competitors could secure. If all citizens
could be assured just and equal treatment at the hands of
natural monopolies, the limits of competition would be ex-
tended, while the limits of monopoly would be restricted.
Jevons's Criteria. - The English economist Jevons, as a
result of careful study of government management of monop-
olies, reached the conclusion, in his "Methods of Social
Reform," that there are certain general principles or char-
acteristics by which we may judge what monopolies the
state may most safely undertakc to managc. These char-
&cteristics may be briefly summarized as follows: The
MONOPOLIES A.ND MONOPOLY V A.LUE 263
business (1) should need a single, all-extensive system for
efficient operation; (2) should minister to a permanent and
widespread public need; (3) should be of a routine nature,
as, for example, is the business of the post office; (4) should
be of such a nature as to be subject to constant public scru-
tiny and criticism; and (5) should require a relatively small
amount of capital expenditure in proportion to the amount
of business done.
As regards these criteria, it may be observed in the first
place that they afford information only as to what businesses
the state is most likely to conduct with success, - such suc-
cess or failure, moreover, being here regarded solely from the
point of view of the private business manager. In other
words, there is no place in this statement of principles for
the possibility that the state may promote the social
welfare by managing business at what, in the language of
the private entrepreneur, would be called a loss. Our public
highways are almost everywhere state-managed monopolies,
created and maintained by taxation, not by fees or tolls.
Judged solely by the standard of private management,
therefore, they do not constitute a successful business. Yet
no one to-day would advocate such a change in public policy
as would make their management" successful."
In the second place, it may be observed that although we
may be unwilling permanently to restrict the state's activity
within the "ring fence" thus set up, yet we may well use
Jevons's criteria as an aid in determining the order in which
the state should assume the management of natural monop-
olies. Furthermore, it will appear on reflection that differ-
ences in the degree to which various natural monopolies now
conform to these criteria are not permanent but are ever
changing. Thus the railway business is becoming more and
more susceptible to routine management; the need for
its service becomes every day more widespread; it falls
2G! f:U:.\fEXTARr I'RJ.W'IPLES OF ECO.\'OMICS
lJIort' and mort' until-r the intdligl'llt criticism of the publi,
\\'l' tht'refore, qu(,stion wlll,ther, ('\'en fr.d,
ti,l' l)Oint of \'il'\\' of private hUHilll'SS, all natural monopoli,
III:ly Iwt ill tiflll' 1)(' sUe('('ssfully manllg'ed by the statt'.
Conclusion. - Tlit, advantages that T('sldt fr."
"ll.li( oWlIl'rship of natural monopolies of class two h" '.
:" t'll lxplaiflltl. While these ativantag't'S, \ .
'dbt not onrlook tht' t'liormOIlS difficulties in tIll' ,
,\'erllment ownership lind ('ontrol, - the prohlt'I,'
:' at\Juinistmti\'e org'anization inyoh'etl; t I .
,.!"ohlem of the civil service ufltil men of superi .
. ,patity find (x'rmllneflt and attracti\'e carccrs in tht ,;t'ni,
. l:mernm('nts; the prohll'm of g'rcater hont,;
. :"llffieiency in the puhlic busiflcss. In the case of g'owr'
'''''flt railways We should still liaH' the problem of mh's al
, tht COflRidill./.: demands of diffl'rent section" and ind"
,rial ifltt'rtsts. In Europt'an countries, ",herl' puhlic OW/I, ,
: ,ip and operation havc bl'l'n tril'fl, as w('l1 liS in ."
, \\'11 ('lIIntry where pri\'atc t'ntlrpri.,c has ruled, tlll'st' dit'
, ,lIties arc far from final solution. question i
tJllomies is morl' worthy of the careful consideration '
I students who would lquip tht'lllsch-es for hon('>'
intelliltc1lt, anti eitiztnship.
SUMMARY
I. The !'Mentisl idl'tl in monopoly i.. ullity of actioll, IC(llling to r.
trol of price and othrr (on<lition..,
'/., Monopoly value <lifT .. ..,. from .. ompctitivc value in tlmt till' 8UPi .
oC monopoly /lioo<l" ill not JI!trrmin('d hy "ost oC productioll,
J. I\Il)nllllOly pri .... u. the pril'" oC Inultimum nel re\'enue. In ell""
liIolliD the oupply and thl' pri" ... till' rnonopolu.t du.regards Ii\
""pl'_; hen .... a fixNI tux on monopoly ('unnol be shift.
t. Monopoly price ;" .. on th" .ide of d,'mllnd by the "Pld'
anll purehuinK habiu uf "on.oume..,.,
6. f\atllral rnonopoliee uC tICCOnd (''''''" pr ..... nl the lIl ... t inliakL t
80ciaI ,.rub"'ma.
MONOPOLIES AND MONOPOLY VALUE 265
6. It is claimed in favor of public ownership of natural monopolies
that the policy diffuses prosperity, is economical, purifies poli-
tics, and overthrows injurious social monopolies.
7. Jevons's criteria of suitability for public ownership are: need of
a single, all-extensive system for efficient operation; permanent
and widespread need served by the business; routine nature of
business; openness to public inspection; small fixed capital
expenditure.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. Define monopoly. Name and deftne the different classes of mo-
nopoly. Mention some monopolies of which you have knowledge,
and explain what monopoly advantages they enjoy.
2. Sum up in a brief statement the peculiar characteristics of natural
monopolies of the second class. Mention some monopolies of
this class.
3. Show by a numerical illustration and by diagram how monopoly
price is determined. Explain the difference between monopoly
price and competitive price.
4. Explain differences in the effect of different methods of taxation
of monopolies.
5. What advantages are claimed for public ownership of natural
monopolies? What difficulties are involved in such a policy?
6. State the law of monopoly price from the side of supply; from
the side of demand.
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. How far has the price policy of the Standard Oil Company been in-
fluenced by public opinion; by law? How near to the pure
monopoly price has the company usually come?
2. Is it better for the American people to pay lower prices for their
goods or to pay monopoly prices, assuming that part of the
monopoly profits will be devoted to establishing educational
institutions, pensions for college teachers, bureaus for sanitary
research, and the like, "t the will and pleasure of the monopoli3t?
3. \Vhut result would you predict, when a city taxes a street railway
monopoly a fixed annual amount on each car operated?
4. Is political corruption in city and state and nation, - so far as
such exists, - an argument for or against public ownership of
natural monopolies?
266 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
5. "Private monopoly is always indefensible." Would you qualify
this statement?
6. Explain what is meant by the statement that the monopolist charges
the highest possible price. Qualify the statement.
7. Which does the monopolist tentatively settle first - the price or
the quantity of supply? Explain why.
S. Let the student consult reference books about: (a) the diamond
monopoly; (b) the Standard Oil Comp:my; (e) a copyrighted
book for which there is a demand; (d) a patented article for
which there is a demand; ee) the history of the Dutch East
India Company's monopoly of spices. Discuss the foregoing
with respect to methods of securing maximum net profits. Are
there many examples of perfect monopoly?
9. A great surgeon is said to charge on the principle of
tic class price." Explain and iJlustrate. Can you give other
illustrations of "class price"?
10. "Successful corners are rare." Explain. Does cornering affect
the price that consumers pay? (Look up the opinions of econ-
omists. sugar prices in 1919-1920.)
LITERATURE
Bemis, E. W.: Municipal Monopolies, pp. 66Q-6S0.
Clay, H. C.: Economics for the General Reader, Chs. VII, VIII, and
XIV, Sec. V.
Ely, R. T.: Monopolies and TTW3ts, Ch. III, pp. 102-104, also Ch. VI,
pp. 229-23l.
Hobson, J. A.: Evolution of Modern Capitalism, pp. 156-160.
Jenks, J. W.: The Trust Problem, pp. 24, 43, 53, 98.
Jevons, Wm. Stanley: Methods of Social Reform, pp. 2i9-280.
Marshall and Lyon: Our Economic Organization, Chs. XV and XVII.
Report of the United States Industrial Commission, Vols. I and II.
F. W.: Principles of Economics (3d ed. revised), Ch. XV.
CHAPTER XXIV
MONEY
HAVING discussed at length the fundamental principles
on which exchange and value rest, we pass naturally to con-
sider the nature of the mechanism by which exchange is
effected. At the wry center of this mechanism stands
money, the medium of exchange. We have already in our
historical study explained how from the custom of making
gifts mcn passed to regular exchange by barter, how from
barter eyerywhere grew up the regular use of some one thing
or some few things as means of making exchanges. With
the handicraft stage mcn had come to use the precious metals
for this purpose, and money, in the modern sense of the word,
thus became a regular institution.
The Definition of Money. - But what is money? When
we come to define the word, we find that usage is by no means
uniform. It is often convenient to use the popular and more
general meaning of the term, according to which money is
anything that passes freely from hand to hand, as a medium
of exchange, and is generally received in final discharge of
debts. But there is a narrower conception based upon the
functions which money fulfills in the modern economy. In
the first place, (1) we find that money everywhere serves as a
medium of exchange. This, the first function to be devel-
oped, is everywhere thc principal function of all kinds of
money. Our present ci,-ilization would be impossible with-
out money as a medium of exchange_ Without such a
medium, a man with a horse who wanted a coat would be
267
268 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
obliged to hunt for a tailor who wanted a horse, and even
after finding him, he might be unable to effect an exchange,
owing to the inequality in value of the things to be exchanged.
In the second place, (2) we find that money serves din'ctly
and immediately as a denominator or namer of values; money
is the" common language of t'alue." The phrase" measure
of values" is used bv many economists to characterize this
. .
function of money, because they hold that the money com-
modity must have value in itself, and that the value of other
commodities is found by comparing their value with the value
of the money commodity.
This second function springs naturally from the first, for
as men make exchanges commonly for some one commodity,
they naturally form the habit of naming the value of e\'ery
exchangeable thing by stating the ratio of its value to the
value of that commodity. That this function of may
be best fulfilled there is usually provided a definite, concrete
money unit like our gold dollar, which consists of 25.8 grains
of gold nine-tenths fine. One-tenth of the weight of gold
coins consists of an alloy of baser metals which is formed
principally of copper. The weight of pure gold is therefore
23,22 grains. When, having such a unit, we say that a com-
modity is worth $10, we mean that the exchange value of
the commodity is ten times that of the monetary unit. It
sometimes happens that men name values, not in terms of
the money actually used, but in terms of some which
has been in earlier the regular medium of exchange.
Thus, throughout our Eastern States one often hears values
reckoned in shillings, though it is long since there was any
monev of that denomination coined. Such money is called
" of accmmt."
In the third place, (3) money serves the function of a
standard of deferred payments. If I wish to sell commodities
or services to-day to one who can pay me only at some future
MONEY 269
time, it is of the utmost importance that we should have some
agreed standard according to which the payment should be
made. This function of money is usually facilitated by mak-
ing it legal tender, though such a legal tender quality is by
no mt'ans necessary to the fulfillment of the function. By
the usc of the term" legal tender" we mClln simply that the
legislature has declared that anyone having a debt to pay may
discharge his debt through the "tender" or offer of the pre-
scribed cmnmodity, and that in C(lse of a suit at law the courts
will dec/ar!' sliriz a tender to have been a legal one. It is clcar
that the third function is only an extension of the second.
Some authors attribute to money a fourth function, that
of serving as a store or receptacle of value, so that the value
may be transferred from place to place and from time to
time. Thus Roman gold preserved for two thousand
years, has brought its value down to our own time; and gold
money takcn across the Atlantic bears with it its stored-up
value.
\Ve may now sum up what we have said in a formal def-
inition of money in the stricter sense of the word. Money
is any comnwdity that serves as a medium of exchange, as a
denominator or namer of values, and as a standard of deferred
payments. And the economists who regard the fourth func-
tion of money as essential would complete the definition by
adding the worfb " and as a store uf value." The meaning
given to the word money in the following pages, whether
popular or scientific, will in each case be evident from the
context.
Qualities Desirable in the Material of Our Money.-
lVfany things have been used as money at one time or another
in the world's history: cattle almost everywhere; f1ir,. es-
pecially in the Northern countries; oil; wampum, among
the early Englanders anJ New Yorkers; tea, at Rus-
sian fai;s; tobacco, in the early Jays of and Yir-
270 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
ginia; many baser metals; and the two precious metals,
gold and silver. Of all the metals, gold and silver have in
civilized nations been found best adapted to money uses. Of
the two, gold has shown a special fitness, and now bids fair
to survive as the money metal of the future. Kevertheless,
silver is still everywhere used in large quantities, though
among advanced nations it generally occupies a subordinate
position.
Thc qualities which have given gold and silver their pre-
dominance for use as money are precisely those qualities
which we may readily recognize as the qualities that all
money should have. In the first place, they are very gen-
erally desired, independently of their ?noney use, since they
an be used in the arts as weIl as for ornament. This fact
gives them security and stability of value. Whenever their
value begins to faIl, their use for other purposes than that
of money increases and so prevents the falI in value from be-
ing as great as it otherwise would be. Moreover, this sta-
bility of value is further secured by the fact that the annual
production of these metals bears so smaIl a proportion to the
entire amount in existence. Gold and silver are almost im-
perishable. The Director of the United States Mint es-
timates that in tll2 one year 1914 about 918 tons of gold and
about 8796 tons of silver were produced, as compared with
an estimated total produced in the world's history down to
the end of 1914, of 31,626 tons of gold and 480,843 tons of
silver. Since 1917, however, only the more efficient mines
have been able to continue in operation. Formerly paying
mines became marginal or submarginal and had to close,
because the metal they turned out was onlv sufficient or
less than sufficient to ~ a y the direct costs of ~ i n i n g ; so the
annual output has fallen in recent years. Bearing in mind
the durability of both metals and the guarantee of careful
preservation assured to both by their high specific value,
MONEY
271
it will be seen that even the recent large annual production
represents but a small part of the world's total surviving
stock. And yet, as will be explained later, the great increase
of production during recent years has exercised a.marked in-
fluence on all the problems connected with money.
The high specific mille of the precious metals - that is,
their high value in proportion to their weight and bulk-
adapts thrm for use as money by making them a convenient
store or receptacle of value. Because of their high specific
val ue, the cost of transporting them from place to place is
slight, and therefore their value varies little from place to
place. In other words, they have a high degree of porta-
bility. Their durability and indestructibility are also impor-
tant qualities, while their extreme divisibilily without loss
of value makes it possible to secure a medium of exchange
of any desired value,' however small. Their malleability
renders coinage easy, as does also their homogeneity, by virtue
of which one ounce or pound is always just as valuable as
any other ounce or pound. ~ I o r e o v e r , the metals and the
coins made from them are readily recognizable on account
of their peculiar ring and their other attributes, and are
therefore well adapted for popular currency.
Let us now sum up these qualities which are found espe-
cially desirable in the money material: they are (1) com-
modity value, (2) high specific value, (:3) stability of value,
(4) uniformity of value, (5) cognizability, (6) durability,
(7) portability, (8) malleability, (9) homogeneity.
Coinage. - When the metals first came to be used as a
medium of ex(hange, they passed from hand to hand in their
rough state, as " dust" or in nuggets, and the testing of the
amount and fineness was left to the parties to the exchange.
In course of time, private individuals of note occasionally
stamped them or otherwise certified to their weight or fine-
ness, or both. - a custom which still obtains in some parts of
272 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
the world. But gradually, governments took over the work
of providing an authorized currency, and systems of regular
coinage were developed. In attempting to improve coin'.
governments have sought first of all to prevent counterfeiting
by making the coins of regular and uniform sizes, and b ~ '
various devices, such as elaborate designs upon the face, and
milled edges. In all this, governments, though they do not
give the original value to the money, do increase the value,
by the superior exchangeability which their certification
confers upon it.
When the government at its mint coins for private persons
any metal they may bring to it, the coinage is said to be on
pl'it'ate account or free coinage. The expression" free coinage,"
therefore, does not have reference to the cost of coinin,q. If the
government coins for private persons tvithout charge, coinage
is not only free but also gratllilow!. Any charge by the mint
for coinage is called mintage. When the charge is just suffi-
cient to reimburse the government for the expense of the
work, it is called by the French name brassage; anything in
excess of such a charge is then called seigniorage. vVhen the
goyernment buys the metal in the market at the market
price and coins it, the coinage is said to be un gOl'ermnenl
account. If the face value of the money thus coined exceeds
the market value of the metal by more than the expense uf
coinage, the difference constitutes another form of seignior-
age. * All the great industrial nations to-day coin gold on
private account and silver on public or government account;
they have free coinage of gold, but not of silver. In England
and the l'nited States the coinage of gold is also gratuitous:
though in England if one wants the coin immediately, one
must pay the Bank of England ltd. per ounce.
* The Director of the United States mint reported a "seigniorage" of this
kind amounting to over $12,000,000 on the coinage of sHver and other sub-
::;idi:uy money in 1920.
MONEY
273
Governments and Money. - From the fact that govern-
ments regulate the coinage of money, coupled with the fact
that they often make it a legal tender, there has grown up in
the minds of many people the erroneous idea that govern-
ments make money. As we have seen, all the functions that
render money what it is can be fulfilled and have been ful-
filled without the participation of government at all. Gov-
ernments, therefore, do not make money. But by careful
coinage to prevent counterfeiting, by stringent laws against
counterfeiting, and by conferring a legal tender power upon
the medium of exchange, governments have done much and
can do much to increase the currency or exchangeability
of money, and hence may gi,'e to a certain weight of money
material an increased value. Gold and silver would have
a considerable value to-day for use in the arts and for orna-
ment, evcn if they were not used as money at all. They
would have a very high value as commodities and as money,
even if the government should leave the work of coinage and
the work of debt ellforcement to private honor. But it
cannot be doubted that gold and silver to-day have a higher
value than they would have in either of the two cases just
assumed.
Prices and the Value of Money. - It is clear from what
has been said concerning money as a denominator or measure
of value, that a change in the value of the money unit means
a change in the general prices of other commodities. To
say that prices have risen is the same as saying that a dollar
has become cheaper; i.e., it takes more dollars to buy the
same commodity. Again, any cause that lowers prices
thereby raises the value of money, Prices and the value of
money vary inversely.
We may express the same idea in another way by saying
that the value of money is identical with its purchasing
power. This purchasing power may change because of
274 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMiCS
forces operating either on the moner itself, or on the com-
modities which it would purchase, or on both. It will be
worth while for the student to investigate some of the forces
operating during and after the World War that caused
wide fluctuations in the purchasing power of money.
Prices and the Quantity of Money. - But is there any
relation between the quantity of money and prices; in other
words, between the quantity of money and the value of the
unit? When prices are high, it is evident that a
larger volume of the medium of exchange is needed, the rapid-
ity of circulation remaining the same, than when prices are
low. If coats are $20 apiece, it takes a greater quantity of
the medium of exchange to huy them than when they are
only $10 apiece. This is a fact about which there is no
dispute. But it is a distinct and difficult question whether
it is the high prices that call forth the increased quantity of
the medium of exchange, or whether an increased quantity
of the medium can of itself make prices high.
The Quantity Theory. - To compare and discuss the dif-
ferent theories of the causes that determine the value of
money is beyond the scope of an elementary treatise. We
shall confine ourselves, therefore, to the quantitr
which in one form or another has been supported by many
American economists. It is not easy to state the quantity
theory briefly, and at the same time accurately, but in a
general wa;v it runs as follows: Other things being equal, the
mlue of 7II()n(lJ mTies inversely, and general prices mry directly
with the quantity of money. Stated in another way, with a
view to include some of the" other things" that in the abo\'e
statement are assumed to be " equal," we might phrase the
a, follows: Other things being equal, the value of moncy
and the gl"ncral price level will be determined by the balance of
demand and supply of money.
By demand for money is meant the total amount of money
MONEY
275
work to bc done, i.e., the number of exchanges to be effected.
With trade brisk, a great volume of commodities is produced
and exchanged, and there is a strong demand for money.
Hence unless the money is increascd in amount, or the rapid-
ity of its circulation is increased, or unlcss something else
takes part of its work of exchanging, each piece of money
will have to do more work, and it can do this only by ex-
changing each time for more goods, i.e., the prices of goods
will bc lower. By supply of money is meant its quantity
taken in connection with the rapidity of its circulation.
l\ow, according to the theory, if the general state of business
is thought of as unchanging and if other things remain the
same, while the of money increases, due either to a
greater actual amount, or to greater rapidity of circulation,
there will be less work for any piece of money to do. Each
piece of money, having less work to do, will exchange each
time for a smaller quantity of goods, which is the same as
that prices will be higher. To go one step farther,
\yc may say that, other things being equal, if demand for
money incrcases faster than its supply, its purchasing
power will increase, that is, thc general price level will fall;
and l'ice versa.
In the foregoing explanation of the quantity theory, we
have used the phrases" other things being equal" and" un-
less something else takes part of its work of exchanging."
Th
' h " h h' "tl"
e most Important among t e ot er t mgs, le some-
thing else" we had chiefly in mind is the use of credit to re-
place or supplement money in the work of exchanging. This
use is already widespread throughout the world and is rapidly
increasing. Credit in exchange is used chiefly in two ways:
first, in the form of credit money such as government and
bank notes; and, second, by the transfer of bank deposits
that results from the use of checks. The phrase deposit
currency is coming to be used to describe this last element
276 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
in the general medium of exchange. And just as money may
have more or less rapid circulation or " turn over," so bank
deposits may be used more or less briskly in the work of mak-
ing exchanges by checks.
To expand the quantity theory further, therefore, we may
say that changes in the general price level depend upon relative
changes in the volume of trade, as corny Jared with changes in the
volume and rapidity of circulation of the currency with which
the trade is carried on, this currency consisting wholly or chiefly
of money and deposit currency.
The Value of Money and Its Cost of Production. - The
theory holds also that in the long run, the value of money is
influenced by the cost of production of the precious metals.
Dear money and cheap goods, it is said, will make mining
cheaper and more profitable, and hence will tend to increase
the output of the precious metals. Conyerse!y, cheap money
and dear goods will lessen the incentive to mining, and hence
will tend to lessen the supply of money metal or diminish
its rate of increase.
The extent of the practical influence of cost of production
upon the quantity of money and hence upon prices, will
depend upon many factors, such as the greater or less degree
of chance in mining. While it is admitted that during and
after the 'Vorld 'vVar exorbitant mining costs were a large
factor in the decline of American gold production, - our
output in 1920 being about 40 per cent less than it had been
in 1914, - yet it is generally agreed that under normal con-
ditions the cost of mining the metal has relatively slight in-
fluence on the value of money.
General Prices and Prices of Individual Commodities. -
It is to be particularly noticed that we have spoken of changes
in general prices, or of changes in the" price level." There
is nothing in the theory that would be inconsistent with an
increased value of mODey coinciding with a rise in the value
MONEY 277
of some other commodity or group of commodities. It is
a l w a ~ ' s happening that while general prices are rising or
falling, the prices of some commodities are moving in the
opposite direction. For example, even though the quantity
of mOlWY were very greatly and very rapidly decreased, yet
the difficulties of producing some one commodity might
increase ill an even greater degree, with the result that the
yalue of that commodity measured in terms of money would
rise instead of fall; or the reYerse situation might arise.
Paper Money. - Our discussion of money material ami the
qualities desirable in that material had reference of course
to our primary metal money. Another form of money which
is used e),.'tensiYely in modern days is paper money, which
usually consists of written promises to pay on demand, given
by banks or by the government. People take these promises
to pay and use them as money, because they believe that the
promise will be kept; or because they think that others will
accept them without question; or because they know that
the notes, having been made legal tender, must be accepted
for debt unless otherwise expressly stipulated by contract;
or because, as is the case with most kinds of paper money,
such bills or notes arc receivable for taxes. 'Shere confi-
dence in paper money is complete, such money is often pre-
ferred to metal money, because more conyenient.
If the student will read carefully what is engraved on the
different kinds of paper money circulating in the United
States, he will readily learn its nature, and will discover that
it is of two general kinds; (1) notes of national banks and of
Federal Reserve banks, and (2) notes and certificates of the
Federal Government. The paper money that from time to
time has been issued b? the government is of several different
kinds. Gold certificates and s1'lver certllicates are simply pieces
of paper entitling the holder to demand and receive from
the treasury the number of dollars printed on the face of the
278 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
certificates, in gold and silver respectively. On the other
hand, the so-called "greenbacks," or United States Notes,
- about $347,000,000, - which grew out of the exigency
of the Civil War, and the so-called Sherman Notes, or Treas-
ury .:\otes of 1890, now largely withdrawn from circulation,
are simply government promises to pay on demand the
amounts named on the face of the notes. These are not
backed up dollar for dollar by hard money in the Treasury,
but are protected by a reserve fund which is supposed to be
sufficient to meet all demands as they are made. National
bank notes and the notes of the Federal Reserve banking
system will be explained in the next chapter.
Dangers of Irredeemable Government Notes. - It is easy
to set printing presses to work, and to issue money in un-
limited amounts. This is apparently much easier than taxa-
tion as a means of paying the expenses of government, and
the temptation to pursue such a policy has often promoted
waste and extravagant expenditure. In order to keep the
new paper in circulation it is always necessary to make it
legal tender. But as additional amounts arc put in circula-
tion, confidence in the ability and willingness of the gO\-erIl-
ment ever to redeem the paper is likely to be shaken. Once
confidence begins to waver, the paper currency can hardly
f::il to depreciate; thereafter confidence in redemption and
value of the illnncy decline together.
When the paper money comes to be worth appreciably lrss
per unit than the stancard money, debtors, who naturally
prefpr to pay their debts in the cheapest legal tender money
m-ailable, will use the depreciated paper to discharge their
obligations. All the more surely, tben, will metallic cllr-
rency, which is relatiyely appreciated, disappear from
culation. Some of it will be sent abroad to pay for imports
because the importer, the debtor, must pay the
creditor ill stancb.rd money; the balance will either go into
MONEY
279
the melting pot for use in the arts, or it will be hoarded. All
this is in accord with the well-known law laid down by
Thomas Gresham, Queen Elizabeth's finance minister, which
says that u'hen two kinds of 7/UJ7Iey of the same nominal value
per Iwit arc both legal tender, the cheaper unit always drit'es
the dearer out of circulation.
Since the depreciated money makes prices high, all kinds
of fixed incomes such as salaries, interest due on dcbts, etc"
will eyidently have less purchasing powcr or buy less goods
than formerly. This is an undesen'ed hardship and an in-
justice to the creditor class of the community; it is also a
great inconvenience in international trade, because one
nation does not recognize the legal tcnder quality of another
nation's paper money, and foreigners lose faith in a paper
money which is not kept at par with the metal money. Gov-
ernments can keep their paper m o n e ~ ' at par only by redeem-
ing it in gold wheneyer gold is demanded. In such cases
paper money is said to be redeemahle,
Inconvertible Paper Money in Europe. - In the early
stages of the World War several of the belligerent nations fell
into the easy way of issuing paper money to pay for munitions
and other war expenses. At the same time they attempted
to build up their stocks of gold as a basis for these issues.
But some gold went to pay for indispensable imports, and
some was hoarded by pl'iYate owners. As the war pro-
gressed one nation after another ceased to redeem its paper
currency on dcmand, and in consequence, these currencies
rapidly depreciated. Prices rose, expenses of making war
were greater and more paper was issued. So the vicious
circle continued; eyen after the war ended there were ad-
ditional amounts of m o n e ~ ' printed. EYer higher prices
and worthless paper curren e)' were inevitable. One example
may be cited: At the beginning of the war Russia had 1630
millions of paper roubles in circulation; in 1917 there were
280 ELEMENTARY PRn.,'CIPLES OF ECONOMICS
27,:300 millions; two years later 226,000 millions; and in
1920 the number had increased to 1,168,000 millions. 'While
her paper money increased more than 700-fold in amount,
prices in Moscow were cstimated to be more than 48,000
times as high as in 1914. Austria is in hardly better condi-
tion; and other European nations are suffering only in less
degree. As long as this situation continues, economic ac-
tivities within the country must remain hesitant and uncer-
tain, while international trade is almost impossible. Most
experts agree that the first step in the economic rebuilding
of Europe is the restoration of the gold standllrd.
Inconvertible Paper Money in United States. - While the
L'nited States escaped the evils of an increased quantity
of inconvertible paper during the World War, she has suf-
fered from this cause in the past. The student will recall
from his American history the experiences of various col-
onies, notably lYlassachusctts, with paper money issues;
he will remcmbcr also that during the War
the Continental Congress printed money that by 1779 had
depreciated so much that to this day we characterize value-
less objccts as "not worth a ContinentaL" Currency
issued by the Confederate states during the Civil vYar de-
preciated rapidly, and finally became absolutely worthless.
During the Civil War, too, the Federal Government's need
for money caused it to print $450,000,000 of " greenbacks"
or United States notes. It was expected that these would
be redeemed and retired as soon as possible aftcr the war, but
they depreciated nevertheless, being at one time worth less
than 40 cents to the dollar. After the war not quite a fourth
ofthegTeenbacks issued were retired; the advocates of "cheap
mone." " procured the enactment of a law that keeps nearly
$347,000,000 in circulation. But as a law was passed providing
for their redemption in specie after January 1, 1879, they grad-
ually came back to par value, and have been maintained there.
MONEY 281
Our national history shows us, too, that in periods of fall-
ing prices, of hard timcs and consequent discontent, the
advocates of somc form of cheap money get a more ready
hearing. Thus the hard times following the Civil War, par-
ticularly the decade of the 70's, were favorable to the prop-
aganda of the Greenback Party and to the growth of senti-
ment for "free silver." Several measures discussed in
Congress in 1922, and other proposals outside of Congress,
indicate that more money as a means of curing economic
ills still holds the faith of some of our people.
BIMETALLIs,r
Another movement which had for its object more money
and " cheaper" money was the effort to restore silver to a
parity with gold for monetary purposes. This movement
fer" bimetallism" gained headway during the long period
of falling prices after the Crisis of 1873, and reached its cli-
max in the dramatic presidential campaign of 1896.
It is probably impossible to give to young people born
since 1896 an adequate idea of the bitterness of the political
controversy of that year over the question of bimetallism.
In many respects it resembled war, and it led to frequent
and confident prediction of civil war. Especially difficult
must it be for the young person of to-day to realize that less
than a generation ago a national elcction depended upon the
fact that for the twenty years then ending prices had becn
falling.
What Is Bimetallism? - Bimetallism means the use of two
metals, usually gold and silver, for the manufacture of stand-
ard money. The system necessarily involves three things:
(1) the establishment by govcrnmental authority of an ex-
change ratio between the two metals; (2) the acceptancc
by the state of all bullion of either metal and its coinage
at the ratio agreed upon, i.e., free coinage of both metals;
282 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
(3) the giving of full legal tender to coins of both metals.
Bimetallism has been urged as a substitute for morwmeiallism,
under which one metal only, e.g., gold as in the United
States to-day, is frcely coined into standard money. Cn-
der the system of monomctallism metals other than the
standard are coined in such amounts as the gonrnment
determines into subsidiary currency, which is of limited legal
tender and is maintaincd at face value through being re-
deemable in the standard coin.
The chief adwniage claimed jor bimetallism is that it Icill
make prices more stable because the double standard itself
will be less subject to fluctuation than the singlc standard;
- we have noted elsewhere how changes in the value of the
standard affect price levels. The greatcr stability of the
double standard results from its so-called "compensatory
action." We may explain this phrase by assuming that
the legal or mint ratio has been fixed at 16 to 1. Due, we
shall suppose, to a sudden increase in supply of silver, the
market ratio temporarily becomes 18 to 1. llemembering
that under bimetallism both metals have full legal tender
power, debtors will pay their obligations in silver; they wiil
exchange their gold coins for silnr bullion in the open market
at the assumcd ratio of 18 to 1, convert the silver into coin
at the mint ratio of 16 to 1, and use the silver coin to pay
their debts with a saving of llt per cent. Such a margin, or
much less, is sufficient to increasc the monetarv usc of silver;
and, being temporarily the cheaper metal, it will at the same
timc be used in the arts in increasing amounts; so the total
demand for silver will be augmented to such an extent as will
counteract its decline in value and so will draw the market
ratio back to the mint ratio. In brief, the contention is
that any diYergence of mint and market ratios will be coun-
teracted by a " compensating" change in demand for that
one of the metals which is temporarily cheaper.
MOKEr
283
Efforts to Maintain Bimetallism.- Down to the nineteenth
century, sih'er was still tIle usual mOlH'Y of trade and reckon-
ing, though gold was also used. Governments had gcnerall;v'
in the latter part of the period coined freely the two metals
at a fixed ratio of weight. A frequent ratio was 15! to ],
which means simply that the gonrnmcnts had put 15! times
as many grains of silver into the siln'r coins of any denomina-
ti.OIl as into the corresponding gold coins. At the beginning
of our separate existence as a nation, we in the United States
chose the ratio of 15 to 1, changed it in 1834 to 16.002 to 1,
and again in 1837 to 15.988 to 1. This ratio in popular
speech was known as " 16 to 1."
The European ratio was maintained within narrow limits,
with free coinage of both metals, for about seventy
during the nineteenth century. This was done by the action,
first of France, and then of a combination of countries, called
the Latin Monetary Union, in which France, Belgium,
Switzerland, and Italy were most prominent. rnder their
system, who had gold or silnr in any form could
have it changed to at the established ratio of coinage,
and the coins of each circulated freely in all the other
countries of the rnion. In these nations, prior to the
formation of the Union in 1865 and for a few years thereafter,
we can observe the action" of the two
metals; silYer when its price fell relatively to gold was pre-
sented for coinage at the mint ratio of 15! to 1, and vice
t'ersa. But about 1870 the production of silver began to
increase rapidly. The mints of these countries were swamped
with silver bullion for coinage, and gold, in accordance with
Gresham's Law, disappeared. The nations of the Union
first limited and finally suspended entirely the making of
the standard silver coin. The increased use of silver
was inadequate to "compensate" the steadily increasing
supply.
284 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Further Limitation of the Coinage of Silver. - About 1873,
Germany decided to change from silver to gold monomet-
allism, and threw upon the markets of the world an immense
amount of silver at the same time that she increased the de-
mand for gold. In the same year, our OVV11 country dropped
the silver dollar from the list of coins to be struck at the
mint, thus putting us on the basis of gold monometallism,
although, as a matter of fact, no silver dollars had been coined
for years.
The two causes, increased production of silver and limita-
tions on its coinage in several countries, brought a bout a
rapid change in its value in relation to gold. For more than
a century the two metals had remained at a ratio of 15 or IG
to 1. By 1888, the ratio was 22 to 1, and during most of the
time for the past thirty years it has been above 30 to 1; in
1909, it took 39.7 ounces of silver to equal one ounce of gold.
Results of Monetary Changes. - These limitations on the
monetary use of sih-er raised the value of money, resulted
in lower prices, and thus virtually increased all debts, and
produced great distress. But the increase in the debts was
only a part of the mischief. South America and the Oriental
countries being on a silver basis, trade had e a s i l ~ been car-
ried on with them as long as gold and silver readily exchanged
approximately at an established ratio; but when the ratio
began to fluctuate widely, an uncertain and disturbing ele-
ment was introduced into such trade, rendering it highly
speculative, and therefore on the whole less profitable to the
world. The merchant in Liverpool who sold goods to a
merchant in India had been accustomed to accept in ex-
change a fixed sum of silver money; but now, as it was neces-
sary for the English merchant to exchange this silver for gold,
a fall in the value of silver during the progress of the trans-
action might bankrupt him. l"nder these conditions expor-
tation of manufactured goods to the Orient was impeded.
MONEY 285
These, in brief, are some of the difficulties that are believed
by many to have resulted in great measure from the general
limitation of the coinage of silver. Bimetallism was pro-
posed as a remedy. Under bimetallism the government
would coin at a fixed ratio all gold and silver that anybody
desired to have coined; in other words, the gOYernment
".,ould coin both gold and silver on private account.
National and International Bimetallism. - Bimetallic coin-
age by one country alone is called national bimetallism.
It is the general view of economists that no country is com-
mercially powerful enough to furnish by itself such a demand
for both metals as would be necessary to maintain parity
of value at any coinage ratio yet proposed. Hence national
bimetallism does not seem feasible.
"'ith international bimetallism, however, which means
bimetallism based on an agreemcnt among countries, like
that of the Latin Monetary Union before 1874, the case might
be different. Economists were at one time inclined to favor
such a monetary policy, and even to-day there are some who
believe that such international action would be feasible.
They believe that if the financially strongest nations of the
world should enter into such an agreement, their combined
demand for both metals would maintain the ratio. IGter-
national bimetallists remind us that gold and silver are used
principally for money - about three-fourths of the total is
so used - and that owners of gold and silyer would be obliged
by the international either to have themctal coined
at the government ratio, or to sell it ill the market for use in
the arts. But since the arts absorb only a small
portion of the annual product, and a very much smaller por-
tionof the total existing supply, this demand compared to the
high coinage demand would be insignificant. Bimetallists
hold that such a combination of governments would have
monopoly power and could maintain a fixed coinage ratio.
286 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
RECENT MONETARY HISTORY
International Monetary Conferences. - The strong de-
sire for international bimetallism, felt both by economic
theorists of repute and by practical statesmen in many lands,
led to repeated monetary conferences. The most noteworthy
of these were the Paris Conference of 1878 and the Brussels
Conference of 1892. But these confcrences did not result
in the restoration of bimetallism. England, as a great c r e d i ~
tor nation, led the opposition to all plans for international
action. The international Financial Conference which
met at Brussels in 1920 reaffirmed its faith in the gold stand-
ard and urged its speedy restoration in Europe.
Silver Purchase Acts of 1878 and 1890. -)J"o great state
coins both metals freely. In the Vnited States the Bland-
Allison Act of 1878, providing for the purchase and coinage
of a limited amount of silver, was followed in 1890 by the
Sherman Law, a compromise measure, which provided for
an increase in the silver purchases.
Repeal of the Sherman Act. - For two or three years
there '\'.ere heavy exportations of gold from the Vnited States,
and as a result it was commonly claimed that if the Sherman
Act were not soon repealerl, gold exportations would con-
tinue until thc l'nited States ,,"ould be driven to a silver
basis. During this same critical period, the Indian mint was
closed to free coinage of sil vel', and the price of the metal fell
within three days from 82 cents to 67 cents an ounce. Added
to this was the fact that the revenues of the United States
fell off until they were less than current expenditures, thus
creating a fiscal deficit. This combination of circumstances
led to a special session of Congress in the late summer of
1893, which, after a bitter fight, repealed the purchasing
clause of the Sherman Act.
The Currency Act of 1900.'- Between 1893 and 1900 the
1'rIONEY
287
monetary situation gradually improved, although for two
or three years the United States, in order to protect the cur-
rency, was driven to repeated i:;:;ues of bonds under very
humiliating circumstances. The defeat of :!\Ir. Bryan, the
Democratic candidate for President ill ISDG, who ran on a
platform declaring for "the free and unlimited coinage of
silver and gold at the ratio of 16 to 1, by the independent ac-
tion of the united States," paved the way for a new currency
~ c t which was passed by Congress, March 1-1, 1900.
This act expressly declares that the gold dollar shall be the
standard of value in the l-nited States, and that all other
kinds of money are to be maintained at a parity with gold.
It further requires the United States Treasurer to maintain
a special reserve fund for the redemption of United States
notes. This fund must in all cases amount to $150,000,000
in gold or in gold and redeemed notes. If the amount of gold
falls below SlOO,ODO,OOO, and the redeemed notes, which con-
stitute the remainder of the fund, cannot at the time be ex-
changed for" free" gold in the general treasury, short time
gold bonds may 1)(' issued and sold to make up the deficiency
in the reserve. As to silver coinage, the act provided for
the coinage of silver dollars from the alrcady existing stock
of silver, until the number of such dollars should equal the
amount represented by the" Treasury notes of IS90," issued
to pay for the silver. These silver dollars, or the corre-
sponding silver certificates, were paid out in redemption of
the" Sherman notes," as fast as such notes were presented
at the Treasury. When practically all the Sherman notes
had been redeemed, the remainder of the silver bullion pur-
chased by the government - representing the seigniorage
from the silver coinage - was coined into subsidiary silver.
It will be seen that, by the terms of this law, strong pro-
vision was made for securing parity of all parts of our money,
and for strengthening the position of the United States as a
288 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
country of gold monometallism. Our monetary position
has been further strengthened by the Federal Reserve Act,
which will be explained in the following chapter.
Recent History of Silver. - In 1915 silver had fallen to the
lowcst price on record - less than 52 cents an ounce; the
ratio for this year was 39.84 to 1. But silver production
fell off about 30 per cent in 1914, and remained at a low level
throughout the war. At the same time war conditions
brought an increased demand for silver as well as gold: for
silver particularly from the Orient, which was exporting g o o d ~
as never before, and had in consequence favorable trade
balances, and was willing to receive silver in the settlement
of these balances. Accordingly, in April, 1918, Congress
passed the Pittman Act, which authorized the sale as bullion
of 350,000,000 silver dollars at a price of not less than S1.00
per fine ounce; a total of about $208,000,000 was sold, chiefly
to Great Britain for use in India. The Pittman Act also
provided that the Treasury should restore its stock of silver
by purchase from time to time from American producers
at a price not above $1.00 per fine ounce.
This act, reinforced by a variety of special causes, pushed
the price of silver on the American market to $1.38 per
ounce early in 1920, the highest price recorded since the
Civil vVar. There was thus some inducement to COIlwrt
American silver dollars into bullion; but this situation ,ras
only temporary, for the price rapidly declined to the pre-
war level of about GO cents per ounce.
Gold Production Increased. - IVe have noted the down-
ward swing of prices that coincided with the contraction of the
currencies of the leading nations of the world, due to limita-
tions on the monetary use of silver and the adoption of the
gold standard. In 1890 the cyanide process for treating
low grade gold ores was developed. Shortly thereafter, also,
important new gold fields were opened. Gold production
MONEY 289
increasM steadily up to the outbreak of the war. In the
twenty-five years since 1896 the output has been about
470,000,000 ounces, considerably marc than was produced
in the preceding 400 years. During these same twenty-
fiye years money became less valuable, prices were rising,
and prosperity was gpneral.
After 1896, the movement for bimetallism declined rapidly.
But lately it has shown signs of renewed vitality due to
.( 1) the phenomenal increase in the price of sil ver in the several
years prior to 1920; (2) the huge volume of paper money
and the scarcity of specie in Europe; (3) the fall of prices
sinc-e the spring of 1920. The first and third causes, however,
haw lost much of their force; and though agitation
for more currency is by no means dead, a real revival of the
silwr question appears less probable than it did two ycars
ago.
SUMMARY
1. sery!'s as a medium of exchange, as a denominator of values,
and as a standard of deferred payments.
2. The precious metals have certain desirable qualities that have
given them first place for money u"e.
3. Govemments do not create, but they do increase the value of
money.
4. The quantity theorists hold that the value of money depends on
the quantity; that, other things being equal, increasing the
quantity of money decreases its value; and decreasing the
quantity increases its value.
5. Bimetal/ism was long advocated as a policy to secure stability, but
recent eranomic tendencies have destroyed practical interest
in the subject.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. N.ame the qualities desirable in money. Mention different things
that bave been used as money.
2. What is coinage; free coinage; gratuitous coinage; brassage;
seigaiorage?
290 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
3. What is the relation of government to money?
4. State the quantity theory of the value of money.
5. From an examination of actual paper money, name and describe
the different kinds that arc used in the United States.
6. What are the evils of irredeemable paper money?
7. What is bimetallism; international bimetallism? What was the
Latin Monetary Union?
8. What is the position of the leading nations since the World War
,,,ith reference to the gold standard?
9. lIeld the United States adopted free and unlimited coinage of sil-
ver in 1896, what would have been the effect on prices?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. How much gold has been produced since 1900? What percent-
age does it represent of [til the gold ever produced?
2. Is there anyone in your town who can recall the first check ever
used in the town?
3. Did greenbacks drive gold out of circulation in California dur-
ing the Civil War? Why?
4. In what qualities is gold preferable to silver as a money metal?
5. What is the present market price of silver bullion? What is
the relation between the bullion value and the money value
of American silver?
6. What are subsidiary coins; token coins?
7. What was the chief cause after 1914 of fluctuations in the general
price level?
8. To what extent are different kinds of United States money legal
tender? Let the student investigate the silver takings of a
local moving picture show, or of a street car company. Do
the banks refuse to allow these takings to be deposited and then
drawn on, in the form of checks to payoff large obligations?
Is the legal tender law a dead letter?
9. The Federal Rescrve Bulletin of June, 1921, states that the gold
production of 1920 is estim"tcd to be only about one-half of
that for 1915. It says: "It has been stated that production
of gold in recent years is not much in excess of the needs of in-
dustry." Does this indicate that bimetallism is still a practi-
cal issue?
10. A farmer borrowed $1000 in 1919, when prices were high, and
had to pay the loan in 1921, when prices had fallen. Show how
the farmer's debt had actually increased by 1921.
MONEY
LITERATURE
Clay, Henry: Economics for the General Reader, Ch. IX.
Dewey and Shugrue: Banking and Credit.
Ely, R. T.: Outline, of Economics, Ch. XIV.
Federal Reserve Bulletin, May, 1918 (Pittman Act).
August, 1921 (Silver),
June, 1921 (Gold Situation).
Fisher, Irving: The Purchasing POll'Cr of Money.
Holdsworth, J. I.: Money and Banking.
291
Jevons, W. S.: M o n ~ y and the Mechanism of Exchange, Ch. VIII (the
four pages on Gresham's Law).
Johnson, J. F.: Money and Currency.
Kinley, David: Money. A Study of tlu! Theory of the Medium of E.t-
change, especially Chapter V.
Laughlin, J. L.: The Principles of Money.
Marshall, L. C.: Readings in Industrial Society, 113-119.
}.Iarshall and Lyon: Ollr Economic Organization, Ch. XIX.
Scott, W. A.: Money and Banking, pp. 69-72; also Chs. XVI and
XVII.
Taussig, F. W.: Principles of Economics (3d revision), Bk. III, Chs.
17-18,20-23, and 27, 6.
'Yalker, F. A.: Money, Part I, Ch. I, pp. 1-10; also lv!oney, Trade
and Indlls/ry, and International Bimetallism.
White, Horace: Money and Banking, Part I, Ch. II, pp. 23-29.
CHAPTER XXV
CREDIT AND BANKING
What Credit Is. - 'Ye have seen the immense develop-
ment in exchange that has heen made possible the use
of money, - a development resulting in the division and
organization of labor and a revolution of the whole economic
life. Yet money alone as a medium of exchange is entirely
inadequate to explain the magnitude of present commercial
transactions. Great as is its ad vantage over barter, money
is too clumsy an instrument for many modern purposes.
While it is by no means dispensed with in our own day,
money is primarily characteristic of the economic stage pre-
ceding our own. The characteristic instrument of exchange
in our day is not money, but credit. It is estimated that
about nine-tenths of the business done in the United States
involves the use of some form of credit.
Like so many other terms borrowed by economics from
the language of everyday life, the word" credit" has many
meanings and shades of meaning. One of the commonest
of these is indicated when we say that a man's credit is good
or that he has good credit, by which we mean that he has
the reputation of paying his debts and has the ability to
do so, and that therefore other men are willing to sdl him
goods or advance him funds and wait for their pay until a
future date. Another important meaning of the word re-
fers to the character, not of the man, but of the transaction
itself. The transfer of goods or funds with the expectation
of future or return is a credit transaction. This
292
CREDIT AND BA,NKING 293
is the idea embodied in the word" credit" in the science of
economics. \Ye may therefore define the term as follows:
A credit transuclionis a transfer of goods or funds for a promise
of a futllre equimleni. First, it should be noticed that the
transaction is partly present and partly future, or, in other
words, (1) credit contains an element of time. In the second
place, it is to be remarked that (2) the transaction involves
confidence (a) in the character and resources of the bor-
TOicer and (b) in the sufficiency alld security of goods which he
rna,\" ha \'1' pledyed for the fulfillment of his promise. A third
factor present is (:3) a written evidence of indebted-
ness, given by the borrowcr to the lender, which constitutcs
the ins/rwncni of credit.
The Foundations of Credit. -What has made possible the
use in business of credit so widespread that we call ours a
credit society? The explanation is found in the develop-
ment of certain personal characteristics and social institu-
tions, which may be summarized as follows: (1) Confidence
of creditors in the character of debtors and in their ability
and willingness to meet their future obligations; (2) a legal
that ensures enforcement, if need be, of these obli-
gations; (:3) a monetary standard so reliable that creditors
are willing to accept future payment in terms of this sta nd-
ard for goods or funds advanced now; (4) the perfection of
facilities for performing credit operations.
The Mechanism of Credit. - The mechanism of credit,
or the machinery by which credit operations l;lre carried
on, consists of two parts: (I) the instruments of credit, -
the evidences of indebtedness, - such as checks, drafts,
notes, honds, etc.; and (II) the 1"nstitutions of credit, con-
sisting principally of banks and clearing-houses.
1. Instruments of Credit. - Among the instruments of
credit the simplest and most extensively used is the (1) check.
A check is an order upon a bank by an individual or company
294 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
requiring the payment of a certain sum of money to the order
of a person named or to the holder of the check. In this form
of credit the element of time plays a very small part. If
money were paid instead of a check, the person receiving
it would be likely to deposit it in a bank. Receiving a
check, he also carries it to the bank. The element of
credit here prominent is the trust or confidence that the
check will be honored by the bank upon which it is
drawn.
Banks also use checks. When one banker gilJes a check
on another, the instrument is usually called a (2) draft, and
we shall so use the word in what follows. Another form
of draft arises when a company or an individual orders the
payment of a sum of money to a bank. This form we shall
call a (3) bill of exchange. When the drawer and drawee
of a draft or bill of exchange live in the same country, the
instruments are called domestic or inland; otherwise they
are called foreign. Both these terms - drafts and bills of
exchange - are so loosely and variously used that the reader
must usually judge a writer's meaning from the context.
A fourth form of instruments of credit consists of (4) rwles,
which are usually promises to pay a certain sum of money for
value received, under conditions named, on demand or at the
expiration of a certain period. Here the time element is im-
portant, as is indicated by the fact that interest is generally
paid on such instruments. Such notes are of three general
kinds, according to the character of the maker. (a) Indi-
viduals and companies issue promissory notes for payment
on demand or within a certain time. (b) Banks in most
countries issue notes which commonly pass as money and
which have a different legal standing from that of the notes
of individuals. Such are the national bank notes and Federal
Reserve notes of the United States. (c) Go\"ernments them-
selves often issue notes such as those we have already dis-
CREDIT AND BANKING
295
cussed in treating of the subject of paper money. Bank
notes and government notE'S very rarely bear interest.
The facsimiles on this and the following page will help the
student to understand the nature of the instruments which
have just been described.
{7/
NO. __ _
/!f!. 1928
PAY TO THE cA'al/la1t ;;16
MaEROF" $100

TO BLANK NATIONAL BANK
79.52 MADISON, WiSCONSIN
BANK CHECK
Ordinary instruments of credit do not circulate freely
like money, but are intended to be used primarily in one
transaction; yet they are by no means confined to this.
Thus checks, drafts, and bills of exchange often pass through
many hands, and notes are often transferred once, twice, or
)Slank National )Sanlt M,
MADISON, ; 1922 NO. 327
TO THE ORDER OF
Nt ell/Nld 7('. $2,:) 60
c:- ..<- t'. /;0 __ __ _
_ _____________ DOLLARS
TO FEDERAL RESERVE BANK ,." }
OF CHICAGO
BANK DRAFT
CASHIER
many times. Bank notes and government notes, however,
circulate as money. These notes are (a) intended for gen-
eral use; (b) are always drawn to bearer; (c) are issued in
296
ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
fixed and contenient denominatiolls; and (d) are generally
ami "'idely accepted, i.e., the credit (if thei.,.'lUing agent is
taken as a matter of course.
o
..
0:
..


"
"



o


c.
%!
)slank N )Sank
M"0180N, WI5CON8!N
j.t>:. /;
19t1
AT fliGHT PAY TO THE OROUt OF
:;/t& BiMtI;:, 8.11'1;,
';"( 00
__ __________ ______ DOLLARS
VALUE RECEivED ...... 0 CMAItGE TO AC(,OIlNT OF WITH ElI:CM, .... OE
TO ;'1,,,,. 61 l&t..v '(.n(t ,,wl'" I!.'v, 1
.. -... -. j
BILL OF EXCHASGE
::J"'c {q :,.t ;/ / 19;)::1
:Madison, Wia., ______________
c{ayv .'
_._ _________________ __________ . after dAte, for' alu(> R{'C'eln'd.
I promise to pay The Blank Kational Bunk of Madison, or Order,
at THE NATIOX,\L of )Iodi.on, Wiscon,in,
'!. __ ___ . _ .. _ .... _. _... DoUa .. ,
with interest at the rate of per cent per annum until paid.
The makcl'"S and indorsers hereor severally waive demand and protest and c-onsent
that the time of payment may be extended without notice.
And to secure the payment or s"id amount, I hereby authorize. irrevocably, any
attorney of any Court of Record to appear for me in any Court, in term time or
vacation, at any time hereafter, and confess a judgment. without proces8, in favor
of the holder of this note, for such amount as may appear to be unpaid
whether due or not, together with C06ts, and to waive and release all errors which
may intE"rvene ir. any suc-h procE'edings. hereby r3tifyill8 and con1irming all that
my:said attorney may do by virtue hereof.
. ______
Madison, Wis,
------------------------_.
PROMISSORY K OTE
CREDIT AND BANKING
297
Credit transactions between individuals usually take one of
the two following forms: (a) usually a person buying goods
on credit pays the person from whom the goods are bought
by money, check, or draft; or, instead, (b) the seller may
" draw on " the buyer by means of a bill of exchange. Let
us suppose that A is the seller and B a buyer in a distant
place. A "Tites an order upon B to pay a bank, C, for A's
account, the amount of the debt within a stated time, say
thirty days. If B, on presentation of the order by the bank
C, acknowledges the debt and agrees to it, he "Tites
" accept" on the bill and signs his name. The instrument
thus becomes legally binding upon the acceptor and is now
called an acceptance.
Checks amI promissory notes may be transferred by indorse-
mCllt. The payee, by \VTiting his name on the back of the
instrument, orders the payment of the money to another per-
son whom he may name in writing. By thus indorsing the
instrument, he breomes responsible for its payment. The
person to whom such an instrument is indorsed, or the in-
may also in turn become an indorser, in which case
he also assumes similar responsibility.
Book credit (5) is another form which is extensively used,
especially in retail trade. \Vhen goods are sold, a record
is kept, or, as we ordinarily sa)', the goods are" charged,"
a bill for the amount heing sent at a later time. Where
two persons mutually grant book credit, as is often the case
among merchants in small places, only balances need be
paid in money on settling day.
In summary, then, the five important instruments of credit
arc checks, drafts, bills of exchange, notes, and book accounts.
II. Institutions of Cred'it: Banks and Clearing II ouses. -
Bankers have already been mentioned as middlemen in
credit transactions. They are sometimes called dealers in
credits, and indeed there is little that they do which is not
298 ELEMENTilRY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
in one way or another connected with credit. But banks
are not mere agents. They have at starting the money
which represents their capital, and as time goes on they
receive money from various sources in the regular way of
business. With these funds they are prepared to discount
and buy the notes of their customers; but to a very great
extent they buy such notes not with cash, but by writing
the name of the note seller on a page of the bank books and
crediting him thereon with the proceeds or avails of the note.
The note seller thus becomes a depositor of the bank. In
modern banking, therefore, a deposit is only exceptionally
the result of an actual depositing of money, though in early
times, as the word indicates, actual physical deposits were
the rule. To-day a deposit is usually the result merely of an
exchange of the credit of the individual, in the form of a prom-
issory note, for the credit of the bank, represented by an
entry in the bank's books. Banks are debtors of their de-
positors, and creditors of those to whom they lend money.
Their source of profit is not exclusively nor even chiefly their
own capital, but rather the exchange of credits described
aboYe. As a rule, commercial banks either pay no interest
on deposits or they pay interest at a rate considerably lower
than the rate of discount charged their customers, the dif-
ference constituting their chief source of profit.
In earlier times nearly all banks in the United States
issued notes that circulated as mOlJ('v. Indeed, such note
issues were commonly regarded as the principal business of
banks. N ow only national banks and Federal Reserve Banks
arc able profitably to issue their own notes. In nearly all
ciyilized countries, the power of banks to issue circulating
notes has been greatly restricted, and the number of banks
that find a source of profit in such issue is constantly
diminishing.
The present monetary situation in Europe is unusual and
CREDIT AND BANKING
299
not likely to continue. Due to the great costs of the war, the
general credit of most European countries was so badly
shaken up that the paper money in circulation depreciated
in value. Bank notes are issued by the great central banks
of England, Germany, France, and several other countries.
These are ordinarily the only kinds of paper money in circula-
tion, but during the period of expansion and inflation great
demands for money arose and the banks were obliged to take ex-
traordinary steps to supply the lIeed. In England the govern-
ment undertook this burden itself, and issued currency notes,
so that the Bank of England notes were not inflated. Since
all of these new notes are based on credit, and the credit of
the issuing banks varies from country to country, it will take
a considerable period of time to readjust the differenccs in
value between the several currencies.
It would take us too far afield were we to cnter upon a
complete discussion of the various kinds of banks and their
precise differences. Briefly, we may say that any institu-
tion that (a) notes or other forms of commercial
paper, and (b) receives and holds deposits, is a commercial
bunk, whether or not it issues notes, and whether or not it
is incorporated by law. The two essential functions of bank-
ing, then, are and deposit; the third common func-
tion, issue, is not essential or uniwrsaI. When the word
" bank" is used alone it always refers to an institution ex-
ercising these two essential functions. Savings banI,s are
therefore not commercial banb.
The four classes of commercial banks in thc United States,
and their numbers on .June 30, 1922, are: national banks,
8240; state banks, 18,232; private or unincorporated banks,
G73; loan and trust companies, 1550.
Loan and trust companies are incorporated institutions
which perform many of the functions of commercial banks as
well as some others, varying more or less from state to state.
300 ELEMENTARY PRll';CIPLES OF ECONOJlHCS
The Bank Statement. -The nature of banking operations
will be made clearer if the student will procure statements
of local banks and give them careful study. Following is a
typical bank statement:
RF:I'ORT OF THE CONDITIO:-( OF THE
BLANK KATIO;\""AL BANK
OHIO
DECEMBER 30, 1922
RESOURCES
Cash in Vault and
Due from Banks $1,;j04,00:3.G3
U. S. Bonds for
Circulation . .
U. S. Bonds
M unicip:11 Bonds.
Loans and Dis-
counts
Bank
Stock in F0;\oral
Resorn Bank .
Due from L. S.
Trellsurer
500,000.00
272,881.9G
1,820,851.94
4,922,460.11
350,792.00
30,000.00
2:;,000.00
$9,425,989.64
LUBILITIES
Capital Stock.. 5500,000.00
Surplus . . .. 500,000.00
Undivided Profits li7,817.97
Deposits 7,772,121.67
Circulation. .. 476,050.00
$9,425,989.\\4
Notice, in the foregoing statement, that on the liability
side the first three items are liabilities in a different sense
from the last two: for the capital stock, surplus, and un-
divided profits, the bank is liable to its stockholders; for
circulating notes and deposits, it is liable to outside persuns.
Also, notice the relation between the total amount of cash
in vault and" due from banks" and the deposits; since the
bank is a debtor of its depositors, it must hep mough
money in its vaults or on deposits in other banks to meet
the nurmal demands of these depositors; this is the resare.
The size of the reserYe is proportioned to the amount of the
deposits, the percentage varying ,,-ith different of banks.
Compare the total inyestments of the stoclJ101ders, the capi-
CREDIT AND BANKING
301
tal stock, with the amount of loans and discounts. Finally,
add municipal bonds to loans and discounts and compare
this total with deposits. The student should reason out
why the bank placed such a large portion of its funds in
municipal bonds.
The Banking System of the United States. - Pri\'ate
and state banks and loan and trust companies operate under
the laws of their respecti\'c states. These laws in recent
years have been generally improYed in the light of the world's
banking experience. Indeed, the legal provisions of some
states are perhaps as carefully framed as are those of the Fed-
eral government. But regarding the matter broadly, one
may still say that the Federal banking system is superior
to the general system of the banks of the states. Some
states now prohibit private banking altogetiwr, mainly be-
cause it is not possible to inspect and regulate it propcrly.
State laws are too numerous and various to permit of their
detailed description here, but the Federal system must be
explained, if only in its broad outlines.
The National Bank Act.-At the outbreak of the Civil
War the Federal gowrnment found itself confronted by the
serious financial problem of securing adequate revenue for
the prosecution of the war. Unusual revenues would be
required, at the same time that the revenues from import
duties, which had long constituted the main reliance of the
government, were bound to be hard hit by the war itself.
In this emergency, new customs duties and internal revenue
taxes were imposed, "greenbacks" were emitted in large
amounts, and bonds were issued. The outbreak of a war
that threatened the very existence of the government cre-
ated an extremelv unfavorable situation for marketing the
, ,
bonds. Partly to create a more favorable bond market,
and partly to secure for the people a uniform system of
bank notes to replace the state bank notes of that time, the
302 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Federal government passed the N" ationaI Bank Act, creating
a system of national banks, in 1863.
Under the act, charters for twenty years, made renewable
for like periods, were grantcd to corporations of not fewer
than fiye individuals, the requirement of capital and surplu"
varying with the population of the town or city in which
the bank was to operate. These banks were required to in-
vest a part of their funds in the purchase of the bonds of the
goyernment, against which they are permitted to issue their
notes. The notes, thus secured by bonds, were further pro-
tected by a redemption fund at \oYashington, created and
maintained through the payment by each bank of five per cent
of its awrage outstanding circulation. A ten per cent an-
nual tax was laid upon all otLer bank notes, a tax so heavy
that it promptly put an end to such notes, as was intended.
Kational banks are dividcd into thrcc classcs: (1) central
reserve city banks, those of the cities of New York, Chicago,
and St. Louis; (2) reserve city banks, comprising the in-
stitutions in about sixty other cities; (3) "country" banks,
which includes all national banks not in the first two classes.
Each hank was formcrly required to maintain in its own
vaults a "lawful money" reserve representing a fixed per-
centage of its deposit liabilities; additional reserve might
be deposited with designated banks in rcserve or central
reserve cities. These provisions were changed by the Fed-
eral Reserve Act.
On the whole the national banking system of the United
States has been successful in securing the results for which
it was designed. It certainly aided greatly in taking amI
holding a large part of the bonded debt. It has given us a
secure system of note issue. It has handled, efficiently and
the banking business of the country. But the sys-
tem before its modification in 1913 had two c1eaf
First, the note issue, while secure, {win.,.,:(,. By an
CREDIT .LVD BA.NKING
303
elastic currency we mean one that expands and contracts
according to the needs of l..'ndel' the old sys-
tem, expansion through the issue of more notes took
place only when it was profitable to the banks to buy more
government bonds; and contraction through retirement of
notes was hampered by numerous restrictions. Indeed,
the system was pen-ersely elastic, expanding in
times of business depression when bonds could be advan-
tageously purchased; and in times of the relative
unprofitabkness of more investments in government bonds
retarded further note issues_
The second and perhaps more serious ,veakness was the
scattcring of thc cOl/lltry's ban" reserves among so many banks,
which, coupled with the rigidity of the reserve requirements,
IJret'cllicd such common action in times (f financial or monc-
tary crises as might have prevented panics or at the least
have minimized the resultant industrial depression.
The Federal Reserve System. -To remedy these defects,
and to improve the banking system in other respects, the
Federal lteservc Act was passed, December, 1913, and
amended at latcr datcs. All national banks are required to
become members of the Federal ResC'rve system. State
banks, by ("omp!::ing with certain provisions, may become
members; by Junc 30, 1922, 1G48 state banks had
come 11L
For carr;--in;:: out thc purposes of the act, the country is
di,-ided into twei\"(; in each of which is established
a Federal l{eseryc Bank. At the head of the systcm stands
the Federal Rescn-c Board of eight members consisting of
the Secretary of thc Treasury, the Comptroller of thc Cur-
rency, and six others appointed for ten by the President.
These six appointed memhers are now to be chosen with" due
regard to a fair representation of the financial, agricultural,
industrial, and commercial intcrests, and geographical
304 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
divisions of the country."* The amendment to the law,
,,-hich made this provision, wa:3 passed by Congress in re-
sponse to a supposed demand from the agricultural districts
of the country for the presence of a "dirt farmer" on the
Federal Reserve Board. Previous Boards have been made
up largely of men who were familiar with the banking busi-
ness. An Advisory Council of twelve bankers chosen by the
Reserve Banks holds occasional meetings at Washington to
advise and confer with the Reserve Board.
Each district bank is managed by nine directors chosen
with a view to representing all the economic interests of the
district. One of the nine, an experienced banker, is desig-
nated as the Federal Reserve Agent for the district; he is
chairman of tIle board and devotes all his time to the busi-
ness of the bame The capital of each bank - the minimum
is S4,OOO,OOO - is provided by the member btmks; the law
requires every member bank to subscribe for stock to an
amount equal to 0 per cent of its own combined capital and
surplus, only half of which is paid in. The earnings of the
Federal Reserve Bank go first to build up a surplus equal to
its own capital; then six per cent dividends may be paid on
stock subscribed by member banks. Of the balance, 90 per
cent is paid to the Federal Treasury as a franchise tax and
the remaining 10 per cent is added to the bank's surplus.
An amendment (1917) to the F edera! Heserve Act re-
quires member banks to deposit the entire amount of their
n',erves in Reserve Banks as follows:-
-
TYPE OF BAl\TKS
0::-< DEl'If.\ND Ox TDm
DJ::POSITS DEPOSIf5
"Coillltry" Baru.;:s

7 per cent 3 per cent
Reserve City Banks.
. .

. 10 per cent 3 per cent
Central Reserve City Banks

13 per cent 3 per cent
-
*Federal Act, Se:-. 10. as June 3, 192:?
CREDIT AND BANKING 305
The purpose of this is to mobilize for effective service the
bank rt'serves which under the old system were scattered
and unavailable.
Actual cash kept in the member bank's own vault is not
a part of its legal reserH'. This cash is regarded as "till "
money only; the amount is determined by the bank itself
according to the character of its business and the habits
of its customers. The reseryes of all member banks are thus
brought together in twelye reserve" reservoirs." Further,
b ~ ' yoluntary agreement among the banks, or by cooperation
enforced by the Federal Board, these twelve funds are vir-
tually merged into one. One \Hiter* ex-presses it well when
he says that the twelve are" piped together" in such a way
that they may be thought of as the" closely connected tanks
of a single large resen'oir."
With resen"es thus effectiYely mobilized and under con-
trol, ex-pansion or contraction of money and credit according
to business needs becomes possible. This elasticity is
brought about chiefly through the requirement that the Fed-
eral Resenc Banks must rediscount approved commercial
paper for the member banks. By approved commercial
paper we mean promissory notes, bills of exchange or any
readily negotiable credit instruments which have originated
in agricultural, manufacturing, or merchandising transac-
tions. Agricultural paper may run for six months; all
other such instruments must mature in not more than 90
days. For some months in 1922, it averaged only 15 days.
A "country" bank, let us say, has discounted a quantity of
these for its patrons; this means that the patrons have sold
the paper to the bank in exchange for deposit credits, or per-
haps occasionally for actual money which the patrons have
carried away. The bank has discounted such paper until
-Kemmerer, E. W.: The ABC of the Federal Reserve System.
Princeton, 1920, p. 41.
306 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
its deposits are as large as its reserve will admit and its" cash
in vault" has reacher! a low levcl. Business is prosperous,
and customers comc in to-day wishing to discount more paper
and receive credit currency to the amount of, let us say,
$50,000. The successful banker will have foreseen this and
prepared for it by increasing his reserves in the district re-
serve bank so that he could expand his deposits. How could
he do this? By taking from his vaJ:lts commercial paper
which he had previomly bought or discounted for patrons,
and selling, or rediscounting it at his Hesef\'e Bank. The
proceeds are added to his reserves in the Reserve Bank;
he may then legally enlarge his deposits by granting atl-
ditiona! deposit currency to his patrons as desired. Or he
may prefer to replenish his supply of actual cash by receiving
the proceeds in the form of Federal Reserve l\otes.* All this
means that the Federul Reserve Bank has done for the
member bank precisely what the member bank did for its
patrons, viz., advanced credit currency and money in ex-
change for approved credit instruments.
But if our monetary system is truly elastic it must au-
tomatically contract when the force of expanding business
is no longer applied. How is contraction brought about?
Let us suppose that a promissory note discounted
by John Jones in the member bank, and by it rediscounted
in the Reserve Bank, was the basis for the issue of $1000 in
Federal Reserve Notes. J ones's promissory note now in
the possession of the Reserve Bank, when clue is
through the member bank for collection. Jones pays the
member bank in whatever way is mutually convenient and
acceptable. The member bank settles with the reserve
bank in a like manner. If the member bank's need for money
is not great, it gathers up $1000 in Federal Reserve Kates
and sends them in to meet the obligation. These notes are
These notes may also be issued in exchange for gold or gol.j certificates.
CREDIT AND BANKING
307
then retired from circulation unless there is a demand for
them elscwhere. If some of the notes found their way into
other member banks in the district. these banks under like
circumstances would send them back to the Reserve Banks.
Member banks prefer to send Federal Reserve Notes back
to the Reserve Banks to meet their obligations, because
these notes may not be used in maintaining the reserve
against deposits. If notes issued by one district Hcservc
Bank find their into another district bank, the latter
may pay them out again only under a penalty of ten per cent,
and so prefers to send them back to thc issuing bank for rc-
tirement. In these ways notcs are prcycntcd from
circulating when they are no longer needed. Federal Reserve
::\otes now form about fifty per cent of the paper circula-
tion in this country. The contraction of credit currency is
brought about mainly through the power lodged in the
Federal Heserve Board to raise the re-discount rate. If
member banks are making loans too freely, or if ominous
signs appear in the business the Reserve Banks are in-
structed by the Board to increase the rates at which ad-
vances can be made to member banks; member banks
must then raise their interest rates to patrons, and ncw
loans are discouraged.
We observed in a preceding paragraph the reserve re-
quirements as to the several classes of member banks. Each
of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks must likewise maintain
a minimum reserve of 35 per cent in gold or lawful money
against deposits by member banks, and of 40 per cent in
gold against notes in actual circulation. These resen'e
requirements may be temporarily suspended in emergen-
cies.
Besides Federal Heserve Notes, the Act also provides
for the issuance of Federal Reserve Bank Kotes based on
government bonds. The intent of this provision was to en-
308 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
courage the national banks to retire the" perversely elas-
tic" National Bank Notes through selling the bonds pledged
to secure them; and in order to avoid too sudden contrac-
tion of the currency, Federal Heserve Banks were permitted
to buy the bonds and issue Federal Reserve Bank Notes upon
them. Due to war financing and other war conditions little
progress has been made toward this goal.
The Federal Resen'e system was launched in the opening
months of the World War, and was immediatdy subjected
to the severest banking strain in the of the country.
In financing the vastly increased production of the country,
and assistance in floating bonds of our own and allied
governments, the system prowd its ability to effect a timely
and speedy expansion of credit. The operations by which
credit was contracted, beginning late in H119, have been
subjected to considerable ad\'erse criticism which we can-
not enter into here. But the nation went through the eight
trying years after 1914 without the full development of
a disastrous crisis. This is a wonderful achievement, which
,vould haw been impossible without the financial guidance
of the Federal Reserve Board, and the flexible operations of
the Federal Reserve system.
Our discussion thus far indicates that the !leserve Banks
are merely "bankers' banks, " and such is their primary
function. Space does not permit further explanation of all
operations; we may, however, summarize them in this
way: (1) To " mobilize" bank reserYes; (2) to rediscount
commercial paper; (3) to issue Federal ReserYe Notes and
Federal Heserve Bank Notes; (4) to act as a " clearing
house" for member banks. These are all fundamentally
services performed for banks. In addition, Reserve Banks
are required or permitted: (5) To receiYe deposits of
public funds from, and act as fiscal agents for, the National
Treasury; (6) to establish foreign b,anches and aid in
CREDIT AiYD BANKING 309
financing foreign commerce; (7) to engage in " open mar-
ket " transactions, i.e., to buy credit instruments directly
in addition to redisconnting those previously bought by
member banks.
Branch Banks.-A movement is on foot in the United
States at present which is designed to allow ~ a t i o n a l Banks
to establish additional offices in the local community of the
parent institution. This is one form of branch banking, but
it is entirely different from the branch banks found in Europe.
There the branches are established throughout a nation and
are under the complete control of a central bank. It is also
quite distinct in its purpose from those chains of banks now
found in some of our states. .l\Iany of these have the ap-
pearance of independent banks, but, because they are owned
by the same people who control larger city banks, they ac-
tually function in much the same way as branch banks. *
Fault has been found with branch banks of the European
type because they tend to become impersonal in their rela-
tions with their customers, and because the strength of the
central bank is such that small, independent banks are driven
out of the local communities. They have several advantages,
however, that should not be overlooked. Having larger
capital they can take care of large borrowers; they can make
uniform interest rates; they distribute risk of investment;
and, because of the well-organized central office they are in
closer touch with the business conditions of the whole country
and hence are more able to perform their own functions
efficiently.
The Federal Farm Loan Act. - The Federal Reserye Act
was designed to perfect our short -time bank credit machinerJ"
for all classes of borrowers. But for the purchase of land
* Seventeen states permit branch banking; seventeen have no speeific
provision; and fifteen prohibit bra.nch banking. (American Econumic
Review, Dec., 1922, p. 730.) (Includes District of Columbia.)
310 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONO,lIICS
and equipment, the farmer needs long-time credit. He had
procured such credit in the past for the most part through
local farm mortgage brokers or private companies, often,
however, in inadequate amounts and with undue difficulty
and needless expense. To strengthen the farmer's credit
position, and to bring him into touch with the SOUl'ces of
capital available for long-time investment, and if possible to
reduce expenses of making the loan, and more nearly to
equalize interest rates in different sections of the country,
are the objects of the Federal Farm Loan Act, which became
a law in July, 1916.
The Act is administered by the Federal Farm Loan Board
consisting of the Secretary of the Treasury and six other
members appointed by the President. The Board was recent Iy
increased from four to six appointed members under the
/lew agricultural credits legislation. Under the direction uf
this Board the country has been divided into twelve district",
in each of which is locatEd a Federal Land Bank. Within
the districts, local groups of ten or more actual farmers who
desire to become borrowers, may organize a National Farm
Loan Association. l\Iurtgagcs on real estate owned by its
members individually are indorsed by the association and
turned' over to the Federal Land Bank as security for the
desired loan. These mortgages are first mortgages, and are
limited in amount to 50 per cent of the appraised yalue of
the land and 20 per cent of the appraised value of the
buildings on which the? are based.* The bank makes the
loan not to the indh-idual but to the association, which thus
assumes secondary liability for the obligation.
But the most important point for us to understand is how
the Federal Land Bank gets funds to loan to the I'\ational
Farm Loan Association. On the basis of mortgages received
* This appraisal is made for the purpose of the loan by appraisers rep-
resenU::.g the Federal Land Bank and the .:vational Farm Loan Association.
CREDIT AND BANKIKG 311
in the way indicated in the preceding paragraph, the bank
is authorized to issue which, being well secured, are
readily salable in centers where capital is available. These
bonds are further strengthened by being made a direct obli-
gation not alone of the district bank, which issues them, but
of all the twelve Federal Land Banks jointly. The pro-
ceeds of these bond sales constitute the loanable funds of the
banks.
In brief, this system pro\-ides a means by which the in-
di\-idual farmer's credit, - his character, ability, and will-
ingness to pay, - may be certified to and indorsed by a
responsible organization of his feIloI" farmers; and it pro-
vides the means which this credit can be conveniently
brought to the market and sold to the best advantage. In
other words, the Kational Farm Loan Associations pool
the carefully selected credit resources of their members
and transmit them to the Federal Land Banks which are the
specialized selling agents; the proceeds of these sales are
sent back to the associations and by them assigned to their
members.
By these means, a nation-uide market for the farmers' credit
instrulIIenisis assured. Capital flows more from
those sections of the country where it is abundant to the
districts where it is relatively scarce. This not onlyoper-
ates to equalize interest rates which farmers pay in different
sections of the country, but has a strong tendency to lower
the general level of interest on farm mortgage loans_
Difficulties attended the inauguration of the Federal
Farm Loan system. The war was in progress and demands
for capital were very great. In order to make the securities
,
of the Federal Lalla Banks more attracth-e to investors,
they were made tax-exempt. Principally on this account,
the constitutionality of the act was contested; but in Feb-
ruary, 1921, it was upheld by the United States Supreme
31:2 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Court. While mast people who have given impartial thought
to the problems involved agree that the tax-exemption fea-
ture is a mistake, the decision of the court was received with
satisfaction, because it removed uncertainty and left Con-
gress free to act. Pending this decision, the operation of
the act was largely suspended; however, by the end of 1921
about $442,000,000 had been loaned through 4316 Na-
tional Farm Loan Associations, representing nearly 15:3,000
farmers. In June, 1922, there were 4559 National Farm
Loan Associations.
Joint-Stock Land Banks may also be organized under the
same system. These are ovmed by private investors. For
each bank there must be ten or more stockholders, and these
must subscribe a capital of at least S250,000. The purpose
of these Joint-Stock Land Banks is to allow for the invest-
ment of private capital directly into the business of dealing
in farm mortgages and bonds based on such mortgages;
whereas the stock of the Federal Land Banks is partly owned
by the United States Government. The Joint-Stock Lund
Banks are less restricted in making loans than the Federal
Land Banks, but they are supervised by the Federal Farm
Loan Board, are inspected by its examiners, and their ap-
praisals are under the control of the Board.
By December 31, 1922 the number of Joint-Stock Land
Banks chartered had reached 63. These banks have a total
paid-in capital stock of $24,570,731.67 and a surplus of
about one-tenth this amount. They have issued and sold
bonds amounting to S212,980,1 00. Since these bonds bear
interest at the rate of five per cent per annum, this new type
of bank has made available to the American farmer a huge
amount of capital on much more favorable terms than he has
hitherto been able to secure it.
All of these banks provided for by the Federal Farm Loan
Act are of the cooperative type. That is, the borrowers
themselves own the banks, or have a substantial ownership
CREDIT AI\'D BAl';KING
313
interest in them, whereas in most other banks the owners are
seldom the principal borrowers, The cooperative type of
organization for finance is growing in the "Cnited States at
present, both in the cities and in the country. In the cities
it takes the form of Building and Loan Associations and
Cooperative Labor Banks. In the country it is principally
the type referml to above, although the cooperative credit
union, which flourishes abroad, particularly in Germany,
has had some rather slol\' growth here. Fifteen states are
now planning to enact cooperative bank la,,'s, and by a recent
amendment to the Federal Farm Loan Act, Congress prc-
vided short-term credit facilities for farmers, in addition to the
long-term credits available under the original act.
Clearing Houses. - Clearing houses were originally con-
tri,'ed by the emplo.\'ees of banks with the object of saying
time and labor. Banks in a city have continual dealings
with one another. A regular customer of a bank deposits
with it all the checks that he receives, no matter on \...-lmt
bank they may haye been drawn. It therefore happens tbat
eYer.,' bank in any of our cities receives checks every day
drawn on the other banks, while the other banks recei,-e
checks drawn on it. Formerly there was continual running
back and forth among banks to balance their aceounts. Kow
the representatives of all the banks in clearing house cities
meet daily in the clearing house and exchange their obliga-
tions, only the differences between the sums due being paid.
These difi'erences are paid by the debtor banks to the clearing
house, and by the clearing house in turn to the creditor
banks.
Clearing house statistics illustrate the inadequacy of
money alone to do the business of the modern industrial
world. The total transactions of the clearing houses in
the cities of the United States for the ~ ' e a r ending December
30, 1922, amounted to $391,729,000,000. or about forty-five
314 ELEMENTL1RY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
times as much as all the money in the country including
bank notes; for the money in the country on January 1, 1923,
aggregated only 8,614,4:33,297. This was less than the
clearings for the first week in April, 1923, which amounted
to $\),094,000,000. The small proportion of actual money
transfers necessary in paying clearing house balances illus-
trates the same fact. Thus in the seventy years since the
establishment of the New York Clearing House it is re-
ported that in only two years has actual money been used
in more than 9 per cent of the claims there settled; and in
eleven of tliee years less than 4 per cent of the claims
required money payments.
The Advantages of Credit. - It remains for us to sum up
in separate paragraphs the advantages and dangers that
attend the great development of credit in modern industrial
society.
1. Credit SQ1:es time and labor by furnishing a more perfect
and convcnient means of payment in large sums and between
distant places than is furnished by the precious metals.
Thus in international trade, relatively small sums of money
have to be sent from one country to another, only balances
being paid in money, in normal times.
2. Credit saves capital by taking the place of corresponding
amounts of gold and silver. In this way society is enabled
to employ a larger portion of the precious metals for other
useful purposes, and to devote to other productive enter-
prises a great amount of labor that might otherwise be em-
ployed in still further increasing the world's stock of gold.
3. Credit renders capital more prodllctirc. - Fnder our
credit system he who owns or controls capital, but is not him-
self an efficient producer, can t r a n s f ~ r it for a compensation
to another person who can employ it productively, and thus
both debtor and creditor, as well as the public economy, are
benefited. Other things being equal, capital is lent to
CREDIT AND BANKING
315
those who will pay the most for it, and under normal con-
ditions these must be the ones who can employ it most pro-
ductively. There are evidently two sides to this advantage.
On the one hand, as we haH just said, (a) credit enables
those 1I'ho have sat'ings, butll'ho are without the disposition or
ability to use them productirely, so to place these savings that
they themselves receive benefit lehile furthering social produc-
tion. On the other hand, (b) credit enables those who have
great bllsiness qualifications, bllt leho have inadequate capital
or no capital at all, to empluy their energies and talents for
their Olen benefit in furthering the welfare of society. In
many cases credit brings together capital without directive
power and directive power without capital, and thus serves
to unite capital and labor.
4. Credit furthers the accumulation of capital by gathering
together the very smallest sums, as, for instance, in sa \'ings
banks. Such small sums, forming in the aggregate large
masses of capital, are lent by those who are responsible
for them to corporations and other productive concerns.
In this way the capital itself is concentrated while its returns
are scattered widely among the people. ::\Ioreover, credit
furthers the accumulation of capital by promoting thrift,
since it both helps and encourages mcn to pro\'ide for emer-
gencies and for old age. This is particularly thc case with
institutions that supply capital to the poorcr classes, and
with American Building and Loan Associations, which furnish
the same classes with capital for the construction of homes.
Dangers of Credit. - But we must not overlook the dark
side of credit. Without expanding unduly upon dangers
we may mention some of the more important of them as
follows: -
1. Credit frequently enf'Ollrages extra vQ,llana , which is a
fruitful source of fraud and cmbezzlement. ::\'Ien who are
granted credit often overrun reasonable bounds, and then
316 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
in their despair resort to desperate expedients in the hope
of release.
2. Credit prompts prccarim18 .ypeculation. - Those who
speculate with the savings of other people are proverbially
careless. Our entire land is strewn with the ruins of busi-
nesses \\Tecked by men who have mismanaged the wealth
which unwise credit gave into their hands. When such
management assumes unusually large proportions, credit
becomes a powerful factor in precipitating a disastrous panic.
Some '\\Titers have claimed that all productive credit-
credit used in carrying on a business - is good, and that
the evils of credit arise only in connection with credit for
consumption, that is, credit which enables one to spend money
for personal gratification, but while there is a modicum
of truth underlying this distinction, the line cannot be so
sharply drawn. Creflit for consumption does frequently
lead to extravagance, but it also enahles many a young per-
son to develop personal powers and to become a great artist
or scholar; on the other hand, productive credit, while
normally resulting in great advantages to society, sometimes
opens the way to putting business at the mercy of ignorance,
incompetence, and dishonesty.
SUMMARY
1. Money having proved inadequate to the needs of modem exchange,
credit has displaced it for ordinary large transactions.
2. Credit means the transfer of goods in the present for a promise of
an equivalent value to be repaid at a future time. Hence there
are two fundamental elements to be distinguished: time and
confidence.
3. The chief instruments of credit are checks, drafts, and bills of ex-
change, promissory notes, bank notes, government notes, and
book accounts."
4. Banks are institution, fnr ra0ilitating credit and for
crcating credits; cle:tring houses are institutions for facilitating
transfers of credit among banks.
CREDIT .riND R4NKING 317
5. The American banks have now to a very large extent been brought
within an organized Federal Reserve system.
6. The Federal Farm Loan Act is designed to make borrowing on farm
mortgages easier.
7. Creclit saves the time and labor invoked in money payments, it
saves capital, promotes the accumulation of capital, and makes
a given amount of capital more prodllctive.
8. Credit often leads to speculation and fmud ami sometimes it en-
courages extravagance and waste in public amI private consump-
tion.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. ,",'hat different mearnngs has the word "credit"? In which sense
is it most often used in economics? What are the foundations of
credit?
" In what cases is there but little time advantage in credit? Mention
cases in which the element of confidence is very slight.
3. What is a check; a bill of exchange; a bank draft? What is a
note; a bond? What is the advantage of a note?
4. Describe the national banking system; the Federal Reserve system.
5. "'lmt efTect does credit have upon the productiveness of capital?
Why? Upon the accumulation of capital? How?
6. What arc the dangers of credit? How do the evils to society com-
pare with the evils to individuals?
7. What is a bank? What functions are necessary to the idea of a
bank? What other function or functions do some banks exercise?
How do banks reap a profit?
8. What is a clearing house? About what is the extent of transactions
through the clearing houses of the country? How does this
compare with the amount of money in circulation?
9. Describe the Federal Farm Loan system. \Yhy is there criticism
of the tax-exemption feature?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Write a check. Make out a promissory note; a draft; a bill of
exchange. Examine a Inortgage; a bond.
2. Visit a clearing house and describe its procedure.
3. If you found that the loans and discounts of a bank harl decreased,
what other item would you expcct to show a decrease? Why?
4. Consult a local banker and fully explain to the class every item in
the latest annual report of his b(lllk, or in the bank report on
page 300.
318 ELE.lIESTARY I'RL'iCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
5. "A bank is a manufactory of credit." Explain.
6. What is the Federal Reserve city of your district? "'hat are the
limits of your district?
7. What similarities of purpose, of administration, and of accomplish-
ment do you see between the Federal Reserve system and the
Federal Farm Loan system?
8. Explain how, under the Federal Reserve system, elasticity of credit
is assured.
9. How does the Federal Reserve Board determine when it is desirable
to expand or to contract credit? How is this expansion or eon-
traction accomplished?
10. Explain the difference in function between (1) a commercial bank;
(2) a savings hank i (3) a trust company.
LITERATURE
See literature at close of preceding chapters. Also:
Bagehot, Walter: Lombard Street, Ch. II, pp. 21-27.
Cannon, J. G.: The Currency Pl'Oblcm and the Present Financial Situa.
tion.
Cluy, Henry: Economics for the General Reader, Ch. X.
Conant, C. A.: History of Modern Banks of Issne (4th cd.).
Dunbar, C. F.: The Theory and History of Banking (2d cd.), Ch. II.
Ely, R. T.: Outlines of Economics, Ch. XV.
The Farm Loan Primer: Circular No.5 (Revised) of the Federal Farm
Loan Board.
Magee, J. D.: Materials for the Study of Banking (N.Y., 1923).
Marshall, L. C.: Readinys in Industrial Society, 120-125, 128-132,
329.
Marshall ami Lyon: Ol<r Economic Organization, Ch. XX.
Moulton, Harold G.: The Financial Organization of Society, Chs. IX
and XII.
Scott, W. A.: Jfoney and Banking (5th ed.), Cbs. VI-X.
Taussig, F. W.: Principles of Economics (3d revision), Bk. III.
Tucker, D. S.: The Evolution of People's Banks.
White, H.: Money and Banicing (4th ed.), pp. 240-255.
Wright, I.: Bank Credit and Agriculture (1922).
CHAPTER XXVI
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
THE subject of international trade calls for somewhat ex-
tended study before we leave the di\'ision of transfers or
exchange. Nations do not live to themselves alone. More
and more with the passing years trade is overleaping narrow
local limits and is becoming world-wide in exi:ent. Inter-
national trade is always in the last analysis trade between
pairs of individuals, and is in respects precisely similar
to trade among indh'idnals in a single community or coun-
But there are certain features in which it differs so
materially from trade within a narrower area or within a
single political unit that it calls for special treatment.
In the present chapter we shall study the nature of in-
ternational trade, and in the next we will discuss the
restrictions, usually in the form of tariff duties, laid by
nations upon international commerce.
THE .l\.-I.TURE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Fundamentally Exchange of Services for Services.-
VVhenc\'cr an individual in one sells goods to an
indiddual in another country, he acquires a claim for money
payment just as he would if the purchaser were in his own
But owing to the difficulty and risk of sending
money back and forth in payment of individual claims re-
sulting from innumerable sales and purchases, great bank-
ing houses have developed a by which the greater
31!?
320 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOAIICS
part of such transactions are effected without the use of
money at all. The system of international exchange is
quite like that of the clearing house, which has already been
explained.
When an American exporter sends goods to an English
importer, there are two methods by which payment may be
made. (1) :More commonly the exporter "draws on " the
importer for the agreed amount; that is, he writes an order
upon the importer to pay ort demand, or within a specified
time, the amount named in the face of the bill. This order
or bill of exchange, attached to a bill of lading of the goods
and other documents, the exporter usually sells to a bank,
which thus purchases a right to have a certain amount of
money paid at its order in England. (2) The other method
of closing such a transaction is for the English importer to
go to an English bank and there purchase a draft drawn by
the bank upon an American bank in fayor of the American
exporter. In either case, if the transaction stood alone,
money would have to cross the ocean to pay for the goods.
But, as a matter of fact, English exporters are at the same
time shipping goods to American importers, and are thus
securing counter claims upon Americans. It is evident that
if the claims upon the one side equal the claims upon the
other, no money need be sent, provided the various claims
are brought together and canceled. It is precisely this
clearing house function that banking houses doing an inter-
national business perform. They buy bills from exporters
and sell drafts to importers.
\Ve have here assumed that only two countries are parties
to the international exchange. iVhen we consider the c a ~ e
of several nations or of all, there is no difference except in
the greater complexity. Thus it is evident that if A ill Xew
York owes a sum of money to B in London, while C in London
owes the same amount to D in Paris, and E in Paris in turn
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
321
owes the same amount to F in New York, the debts of all
may be settled without a cent of money leaving anyone of
the countries. Such settlement is not made directly be-
tween themselves by these exporters and importers, for they
are probably strangers to one another and to one another's
transactions. It is done by the agencies which are used by
them all, namely, the bankers and brokers who deal in for-
eign exchange.
Because of England's carly and continued leadership 111
international trade, and also because of her preeminence
in shipping, drafts on London, known as sterling exchange,
generally have the widest and readiest acceptance. Thus
a Hong Kong merchant is likely to pay a New Hampshire
cotton goods exporter by an order on a London banker rather
than on a Boston or New York bank. London is therefore
often spoken of as the" world\ clearing house." 'Whether
London can continue to hold this position is not certain;
the disorganization of commerce during and since the World
\Var may result in the transfer of the" world's dearing
house" to New York.
The Rate of Exchange. - Perhaps the idea of an exchange
rate m a ~ ' be understood best by thinking of it as the rate
at which a person in onc place can buy purchasing power in
another place. In our everyday experience we usually find
that we can buy ten dollars' worth of purchasing power in
a place a few miles away by paying $10 in our own town.
In other words, we can send our check for $10, which will
be cashed without discount or premium. \Ve might say in
such a case that exchange between the two places is at par.
But, if you read the financial columns of the newspapers,
you will note that inland exchange between places more re-
mote is often above or below par, 'i.e., at a premium or at
a discount. Thus a New York paper may quote Chicago
exchange IJt lJ, discount of fifteen cents, which means that
322 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS.
$999.85 in ~ e w York will then buy purchasing power III
Chicago to the extent of 81000.
The case is essentially the same in international exchange.
Exchange between N ew York and l\Iontreal offers no diffi-
culty because the United States and Canada have the same
monetary unit, the dollar. When the exchange is between
two countries having different monetary units, the rate of
exchange has the same meaning, the only difference being
that the ratio is between two different money names.
But gold is the international money, and the grain of gold
the almost universal unit of value. When we in l\ew York
use dollars equivalent to 2:3.22 grains of gold each to buy
purchasing power in l'vIontreal, we have done nothing es-
sentially different from buying purchasing power in Chicago.
When we use our dollars to buy purchasing power in London,
however, we buy it not in familiar dollars' worth, but in
terms of the English monetary unit, the pound or sovereign,
which is equivalent to 113 grains of gold. If wc buy pur-
chasing power in France we get it in units called francs,
each equivalent to 4.45 grains of gold; if in Germany, in
marks, each worth 5.53 grains. There is then nothing
mysterious about the fact that normally in New York the
English pound is worth $4.8665 of our money, the French
franc H).3 cents, and the German mark 23.8 cents*; for this
is only a statement of the value of the grains of gold in these
several monetary units, expressed in tcrms of the American
monetary unit. 'When purchasing power can be transferred
between such centers as New York and London, Paris or
Bcrlin at these normal ratios, exchange i.<; snid to be at par.
International exchange in its broadest sense includes many
kinds of transfers of goods or services, all involving money
payments. A man in New York may want purchasing power
in England to pay for British goods he has imported; to
These gold ratios take no account of the value of irredeemable paper
money.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
323
pay freight to an English shipping company which brought
the cargo over; to support his son attending an English
univcrsity; or for othcr purposes. Similarly, the Englishmen
want purchasing power in America in order to pay for various
goods or services which we are able to furnish to them.
For each good or servicc that we supply to the English we
are entitled to receive payment; hence a supply of bills of
exchange arises which are sold to New York banks. For
eaeh good or service that we buy of the English we are ob-
ligated to make payment; hence a demand for drafts is
made upon the banks b ~ ' the dcbtors. 'Vhcn in 1'\ ew York
this demand for purchasing power in England is just cqual
to the s u p p l ~ ' of bills of cxchange which represcnt rights
to receive purchasing power in England, exchange will be
at par. "'hen exchange between the two countries is at
par, $4.8665 in Xew York will extinguish a pound debt or
buy a pound of purchasing power in London; and a pound
in London will be equivalcnt to $4.8665 in New York.
Par of e.Tchange between any two countries is the raie Idzich
brings their two monetary systems to an equality.
Whenever exchange between any two countries is such that
a resident in one can extinguish a debt due in the other by a
payment representing the exact gold weight of the value of the
debt, exchange is said to be at par.
The Balance of Trade. - Assuming for the moment that
the only transactions affecting international exchange are
the exports and imports of commodities, and that only two
countries, say England and America, are involved, we can
see that if at any timc one country - America, for cxample
- is importing more goods from England than it is exporting
to England, the" balance of trade" is for the time" against"
America. In such a state of things, New York banks will
have many demands for drafts upon London and few offer-
ings of bills on London. Conversely, London banks will
324 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
ha ve many offerings of bills on New York, but few demands
for drafts upon N ew York.
But it is the purpose of banks in both places to make drafts
balance bills in order to avoid sending specie in payment.
Hence the New York banks will seek to discourage the de-
mand for drafts on London by charging a higher price for
them, and will at the same time try to encourage the offering
of bills by paying a higher price for them. London banks
will in the same way lower the price offered for bills on New
York and will sell more cheaply drafts drawn by them on
Kew York. Exchange is then said to be "against" K.ew
York and" in favor of" London. A New Yorker wishing
to meet a debt of 1 in London will be obliged to pay for the
necessary draft more than 34.8665. He will have to pay a
premium. A London debtor at the same time can with
1 extinguish a debt of more than $4.8665 in New York.
The" Gold Points." - Except under very extraordinary
conditions, - such as a great war, - neither K ew York
nor London bankers will charge such an increased rate for
drafts or pay such a reduced rate for bills as will make it
profitable for individual debtors to send the specie or bullion
instead of appealing to the banks. But there are even nar-
rower limits to fluctuations in the rate of exchange. The
bankers themselves naturally have the best facilities for
making shipments of money, and as the rate of exchange
rises or falls, a point is reached at which it will be profitable
for certain banks that specialize in the business to send the
metal. The two points, above and below par, at whieh
metal shipments are likely to be made into or out of any
country were long known as the "specie points," because
either silver or gold could thus be shipped; but in recent
years, since gold alone is now used to settle balances, the
points have come to be called the" gold points." As the
bankers' cost of shipment, including freight, insurance, pack-
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
325
ing, loss of interest, ete-., is now about two cents per English
gold pound on average shipments, the gold points in English-
American exchange stand at about $4.8465 and $4.8865.
Gold is likely to begin leaving New York for London when
exe-hange in New York rises above $4.8865, and to b<'gin
leaving London for Kew York when exchange in New York
falls below M.S465.
Again we must remind the student that for the sake (1f
simplicity "'e have assumed trade to be confined to two
countries. ''"hen the case of international trade in general
is taken into account, the subject becomes too complicated
for brief explanation. We may simply say, then, that the
rate of exchange between New York and London, London
and Paris, Paris and Berlin, etc., is affected not only by the
volume and balance of trade between the two countries,
but also by the volume and direction of trade balances in
the trade of the othcr nations.
Automatic Steadying of Exchange. - As a matter of fact,
gold shipments betwcen nations are surprisingly small, con-
sidering the magnitude and diversity of international trade.
This is because, besides the factor of the relative volume
of exports and imports between nations, there are other
factors - othl'r sorts of international dealing involving
money payments - which, taken together with the first
factor, are constantly and automatically controlling the
flow of gold.* They constitute a system of "checks and
balances" comparable to the delicate contrivances of
automatic machinery. For example, as soon as sterling
exchange rises ill Xew York above $4.8665, every prospec-
tive American purchaser of English goods or services is faced
by the prospect of paying more than $4.8665 of American
* The importance of some of these other factors is seen in the fact that
in 1921, American investors bought foreign securities worth more than
$625.000,OJO.
326 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
money for 1 worth of such goods or services. \Vhether he
is contemplating the importation of English books, or is
planning a visit to the English Lake Country, he is warned
by the rise in the rate of exchange that he must now pay more
than before. Of course few know or note the fact, but in
the immense field of possible business between the two coun-
tries, it is enough that some persons do know and realize the
change. Americans as a whole will buy fewer English goods
and services. At the same time and by the same change
every possible English purchaser of American goods of any
sort may thus learn that he can extinguish a possible in-
debtedness on better terms. Thus, if he is thinking of buy-
ing American goods listed at $486.65, he may discover that
at the new rate of exchange he could extinguish the debt
incurred in purchasing them by paying in London less than
100. lIcre again it is unnecessary to assume that all
Englishmen arc aware of the changed rate or are influenced
by the change, but Englishmen as a whole will buy more
American goods; and the rise in the rate makes it easier
for Americans to sell to England and harder for them to buy
from England than before. The resulting stimulation of
sales to England and check upon purchases from England
will increase the offering of bills on London against English
purchases and lessen the demand for drafts on London in
payment of American purchases. This in turn will tend to
bring the rate of exchange back to par.
The Safety Valve. - If, howpver, this system of auto-
matic checks and balances at any time fails to hold exchange
within the gold points, and one of these points is actually
reached, then automatically the valve" opens, i.e.,
a gold shipment is made, and "lets off the steam." Sup-
pose, for example, that sterling exchange has risen in
York to $4.89, and that considerable gold shipments are
being made by New York bankers. The London banks
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
327
finding their gold reserves increased, are encouraged to in-
crease their loans to customers in the form of greater deposits.
Xew York bankers, finding their gold reserves depleted, re-
strict their deposits by calling loans and granting new ones
more reluctantly. The whole country in each case feels the
result, - in England by an increase in the medium of
exchange, - both money and credit; in America, by a cor-
responding restriction. English prices tend to rise; Amer-
ican prices tend to fall. Hence results an even greater tend-
ency to increased English buying in America, and to lessened
American buying in England. To be sure, the ehange in
prices is so slight that it is not ordinarily noticed. It might
perhaps be said rather that Englishmen desiring to buy
American goods find it easier to get the "money" with
which to buy, while Americans are finding that money is
"tight," and hence buy less. In whichever way the situa-
tion is described, the practical result is the same, to pre-
vent the rate of exchange from rising more than a very little
above the gold point and ultimately to bring it back to par.
And of course the same explanation, with the necessary
change of names ancl terms, would apply to the opposite
case of sterling exchange in Kew York falling below par.
Actual conditions in foreign exchange are of course much
more complex. Trade is not confined to tvvo nations; inter-
national balances depend upon other things as well as upon
the transfers of goods; the currency of different nations is
not in all cases of equal stability or honesty; many nations
arc themselves great producers of gold and therefore regular
exporters of that metal. Still it remains true that, through
the operation of such natural causes as we have just described,
the various debts of one nation to the world and the debts
of the world to that nation do in the long run tend strongly
to balance; and that gold shipments from nation to nation
are relatively small.
328 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Such shipment as does tal;c IJlace serves the economic func-
tion of distributing and redistriuuting the world's stock of gold
arnong the nations according to their slowly varying monetary
needs.
Misconceptions of "Favorable Balance." - The above
explanation should make it clear to the student once for all
how ridiculous is the common idea that any nation either
does or can become rich by " selling more each year to the
rest of the world than it buys, storing up the gold paid on
balance." Even the individual man in our day does not" get
rich" in such a way. If he is paid more than he pays out
for consumable goods, he spends the extra money at onee in
buying productive or other goods. He does not store up the
money. It may be admitted, however, that an individual
could get rich by storing up money if he were foolish enough
to choose that way, and were lucky enough to find the things
or services he could sell more valuable than the things he
had to buy. But he could get rich in this way only because
his "pile of gold" would be so very small, as compared
with his country's" pile of gold" and mass of credit, that
prices of goods would not be disturbed appreciably by his
hoarding. 'Vith nations, as we have seen, the case is differ-
ent. If America could - as she cannot - go on year after
year selling much abroad, buying little from abroad, and
storing up the difference in gold, the result would simply be
that American prices would go up by leaps and bounds. As
a people we should have a great deal of money, but we could
buy no more with our gold, - we should be no richer. Some-
thing quite like this happened between 1915 and 1920, but
the situation thus created could not continue; as our prices
rose, it became impossible to keep on selling our high-priced
goods in other countries or to prevent our people from buying
their goods in the low-price markets of other countries.
War and International Exchange. - The explanation here
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
329
given of international trade and international exchange is of
course based upon the assumption of peace among the trad-
ing nations. Modifications obviously must be made in case
-of war. Thus in the opening months of the World War,
sterling exchange in New York was quoted as high as $7.00;
the costs of shipping gold and other" checks" were rapidly
changing, or becoming non-operative. A little later govern-
ments and powerful banking coalitions took control and ar-
bitrarily determined when gold should be shipped.
During that war the bclligerent nations counted it a matter
of life and death to keep as many men as possible in the
trenches. With their labor supply thus depleted, the nations
found it almost or quite impossible to produce food, clothing,
and munitions for their soldiers in addition to the goods
required by the workers and the rest of their people. Under
these circumstances, every nation tried desperately to draw
upon the productive resources of neutral peoples. But
they were obviously in no position to pay for the unusual
merchandise imports, for they could not keep up even their
usual merchandise exports and thus maintain an approxi-
mate balance between bills of exchange and drafts. They
might, to be sure, have paid for part of the excess of imports

by heavy shipments of gold; and indeed the United States
during the years 1915-17 did receive about one billion dollars
in gold. But" the balance of trade in favor" of neutral
nations was far in excess of this amount. To have attempted
to ship more than this amount, - indeed the shipment even
of such an amount, - was of almost equal danger and dis-
advantage both to the belligerents and to the United States,
as was everywhere seen and admitted by intelligent American
bankers. As the war continued, all the allied governments
forbade further gold exports.
Under these circumstances, the rate of exchange between
New York and London fell and long continued below M.7.5 ;
330 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
even in the first year of the war it went as low as $4.48. A
simple explanation would be to say that for the time being
England, which was carrying the responsibility for financing
allied imports, was unable to continue paying for them in
cash, and was therefore compelled to pay a higher price for
the goods, - on credit, - as reflected in the unfavorable
exchange rate.
'When the London rate fell below $4.60, the difficulties
of trade became so great for both countries that a half-billion
dollar Anglo-French loan was negotiated with American
bankers; and after the United States entered the war the
European allies were enabled to import billions of dollars'
worth of American goods on credit advanced largely by our
own government. These provisions for regular and national
credit, taking the place of the earlier irregular and individual
credit, stabilized, or "pegged," the exchange rate nearer to
par and thus enabled English importers to buy American
goods on more favorable terms.
After the armistice these international credit arrange-
ments were discontinued and exchange rates began to fall;
but European needs were so urgent that buying continued
until, early in 1920: sterling exchange in ~ e w York had
reached $3.19, and the rates on other countries were eveD
lower. \Ve must remember, however, that it was not the
huge unfavorable trade balances alone that brought ex-
change rates to these low levels; another important con-
tributing cause was the great volume of irredeemable paper
currency in all these nations.
Congressional Action to Aid Exports. - Before the end'
of 1919 our exports began to show signs of decline; this in
spite of the facts that we had a great exportable surplus.
and Europe's needs were immeasurably great. Inter-
national trade was all but impossible with exchange rates;
demoralized as they were.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
331
To remedy this situation Congress took some action de-
signed to aid in the financing of exports. First, in April,
1918, the 'Webb-Pomerene Act was passed, expressly ex-
empting from prosecutions under the anti-trust laws com-
binations of producers, merchants, or others formed for the
purpose of promoting export sales. In March, 1919, the
'Var Finance Corporation was authorized to make temporary
advances to bankers and exporters to aid them in making
sales abroad. In December of the same year, the so-
ealled Edge Act was passed, authorizing the Federal incor-
poration of institutions for international banking, and par-
ticularly for providing long-term credits to European buyers
of American goods. The procedure under this law is simple:
The French buyer, we will say, of American machinery
cannot pay cash, but gives his promise to pay some time in
the future, which he " secures" by a mortgage or other ac-
ceptable collateral. These credit in.'ltruments are, by the
banking corporation, made the basis for bonds which are
sold to Amcrican investors. From the proceeds of these
bond sales the Amcrican seller of the machinery is paid.
The Edge Act aims to assist the American producer to sell
his exportable surplus for cash; incidentally it enables the
European entrepreneur to buy through extending him credit
in a way quite like that by which the Federal Land Bank
can extend credit to American farmers. (See pages 309 If.)
Peculiarity of International Trade. - As we said at the
beginning of this chapter, international trade is not funda-
mentally difl'erent from other trade or commerce; but it
has certain features which are in varying degree peculiar.
Labor and capital move from place to plact' or from industry
to industry with a far greater degree of freedom within
national boundaries than across national boundaries. Differ-
ences of language, customs, and laws; ignorance, fear, prej-
udice povertv sentiment', these and a host of other influ-
J J
332 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
cnces stand in the way of migration of labor and capital
from country to country.
Capital on the whole is probably more mobile than labor.
Both move more freely from some countries than from others;
more freely to some countries than to others. Both move
more freely at some times than at others. On the other
hand, freedom of movement is of course not complete even
within a single country. A New England worker is bound
to his town, state, and section by a multitude of ties.
Capitalists, too, often hesitate long before investing their
funds in a new enterprise, or a new community. But allow-
ing for all these difficulties in the way of a hard and fast clas-
sification, it none the less remains true that labor and
capital generally, and in a peculiar degree, are nationally
confined. This broad fact has necessitated certain economic
explanations, certain economic theories, which we must now
seek to understand.
The Doctrine of Comparative Costs. - The first of the
theories to which we have just referred is known in eco-
nomics as the (( doctrine of comparative costs." vVe should
recall that the main advantages of all trade are that it en-
ables men to specialize in production and at the same time
to satisfy a wider range of wants than would otherwise be
possible.* We should also remember that international trade
is fundamentally like trade between individuals; that how-
ever complicated it may appear to be, it is after all merely two
individuals or groups of individuals, living in different nations
and with productive capacities varying in kind or in degree,
who by trade seek to increase their want-satisfying powers.
Let us then first consider the situations between indi-
viduals which may lead to exchange. A and B both want
wheat and coats. Let us suppose that A can produce wheat
but not coats and that B can produce coats but not wheat;
Cf. p. Z10.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
333
it is obvious that trade will occur and that the range within
which bargaining can take place may be quite wide. Sup-
pose now that with a given producer's cost A can produce
100 bushels of wheat or 5 coats, while B with the same effort
can turn out only 50 bushels of wheat but 10 coats; here
each producer is clearly superior in his own field and the
advantage of trade is still apparent, but the bargaining range
may be narrowed. Again, suppose that with a given out-
lay, A can produce 100 bushels of wheat or 20 coats; and
B,60 bushels of wheat or 15 coats. Under these condi-
tions will the two workers specialize in production as before,
and exchange commodities? A is absolutely superior to
B in the production of both whcat and coats; should he not
then devote himself to " diversificd production," and cease
to be "dependent" on his neighbor for either necessity?
Remembl>ring that each of these producers is seeking the
greatest possible want-satisfying powcr from his efforts in
production, suppose A to produce coats only and to try
to buy wheat from B ; the maximum price he can pay wlll
be 1 coat for 5 bushels, or -! coat per bushel. But the min-
imum price B can take is 1 coat for 4 bushels, or t coat pcr
bushel. The price, if exchange takes plat'e, must be some-
"'here between the differing ratios of ab,;olute cost to the
two individuals; but here the yp buyer's maxi-
mum price is less than the prospective "eller's minimum
price; plainly A cannot buy wheat of B. Could A, however,
afford to specialize on wheat production and buy his coats
of B? For a coat, A can pay 5 bushels or less of wheat,
while B can take anything more than 4 bushels. In terms
of bushels of wheat, coats will sell, let us say, at 4t. A,
by devoting his efforts to wheat, produces 100 bushels, which
is equivalent to 22t coats; mcanwhile B, devoting himself
to coats, produces 15, which is equivalent to bllshels of
wheat. By specialization, A in wheat growing and B in
334 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
coat making, and by exchange, each thus procures mor.e
want-satisfying power than he could have obtained directly.
This is because A, though superior in the production of both
articles, has a comparatively greater superiority in producing
wheat; and B, though inferior to A in the production of both
commodities, is comparatively less inferior in the produc-
tion of coats. This is the law of comparative costs as it
might apply to neighboring individuals; clearly it is to the
economic i,nterest of both to become specialists in produc-
tion and to trade with one another.
lVIust we change our reasoning or our conclusions if we
think of A and B not as men but as regions, - if A, for ex-
ample, means our '''estern wheat belt, and B the woolen
manufacturing district of New England; or if B means the
woolen districts of old England? To ask the question is
to answer it; whether A and B be individuals, regions,
or nations, these gains from specialized production and
trade will continue.
We may now state the law of comparative costs in inter-
national trade as applied to nations as follows: trade be-
tween any two nations is determined, not by difference in the
absolute cost of producing the goods e.rchanged, but by differ-
ence in their comparative cost. Specifically, each nation will
produce for export those goods in the production of which it
enjoys the greatest comparative advantage, or slIffers the least
comparative disadvantage. Nor does this principle apply
merely to wheat and coats; even though, in one of two
countries the absolute cost of production of every commodity
should be greater than in the other country, exchange would
nevertheless take place between them, provided the com-
parative costs of the two countries are different. And, as
already indicated, the ratio of exchange would in each case
be somewhere between the differing ratios of absolute cost
in the two countries.
INTER.YA.TIONAL TRADE
335
International Values. - vVe are now prepared to consider
the explanation of the second problem that arises from the
immobility of labor and capital as between nations. If
goods do not necessarily exchange in international trade
in the ratio of their cost of production, what does deter-
mine their ratio of exchange or value? We have just seen
that the ratio or value may be anywhere between the two
ratios of absolute costs that would obtain if each nation
produced both commodities. Let us now go a step farther.
Let us suppose that in one of two countries just beginning
to trade with each other it is found that the grcatest satis-
faction of wants results when raw cotton and manufactured
silk are produced by an expenditure of labor indicated re-
spectiyely by 15 cents a pound and .50 ccnts a yard, but
that in the second country it is just worth while to produce
the same commodities at 10 cents a pound and 75 cents a
~ ' a f ( l respectively. Assuming these to be the only two com-
modities to be exchanged and ignoring the cost of trans-
portation, we may suppose matters to proceed as follows:
Silk will be sent from the first country to the second in ex-
change for cotton. The price of the silk will be somewhere
between 50 and 75 cents; that of the cotton between 10
and 15 cents. The precise value in each case will be such
that in the long run the values of the cotton and silk ex-
changed will be equal. Suppose it were not so; imagine
such prices that $1,000,000 worth of silk would be exported
from the first country and onlv S500,000 worth of cotton
. .
imported. At first the balance might be paid in gold, but
the drain of gold from the second country would so lower
prices there as to discourage the further importation of silk,
and the influx of gold into the first country would so raise
prices as to encourage the importation of cotton into that
country. This would continue until an equilibrium was
established.
336 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
If now we take the case of many commodities instead of
two, the explanation still holds. This theory or explana-
tion, then, may be summed up as follows: r'alues in inler-
national trade will be swh as to equate reciprocal international
demand, and to equate the general level of prices in the trading
countries. This theory, clearly dewloped by John Stuart
Mill, is known as the theory of the equation of international
demand.
The Advantages of International Trade. -We have
already explained that international trade does not offer
to any nation the possibility of " getting rich" by heaping
up "treasure" secured from a so-called favorable balance
of trade. A nation cannot sell unless it buys goods in ex-
change; there must in the long run be an equivalence of
exports and imports, although the two terms may include
gold to a small extent, senices, and other intangible things,
as well as goods in the sense of material commodities. A
continuing excess of exports will defeat itself hy raising prices
in the exporting country. The real advantages of inter-
national trade are that (1) it enables every country to enjoy
goods which it does not itself produce; and (2) it enables
each country to seCllre a maximum of satisfaction and an ecoll-
omy of its efforts and resources by devoting its resources and
energies to the forms of production in which it enjoys the great-
est relative advantage, or in 1chich at 11'0TSt it suffers the least
relative disadvantage.
Summary, Questions, and Literature bearing on this chapter will be
found at the end of Chapter XXVII.
CHAPTER XXVII
RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE:
TARIFFS
Objects of the Restrictions. -Despite its clear advantages
as just discussfd, nations have always laid restrictions on
international commerce. An examination of the history of
such restrictions discloses at least four motiyes for imposing
them. (1) In the first place we may note that ancient
nations, the Greeks, the Hebrews, and others, dreaded contact
1rith foreigners, and attempted by restrictions on international
trade to reduce such contact to a minimum. (2) A second
very common cause of restriction has been the desire to make
international trade a source of government revenue. Some-
times a tax has been laid upon both exports and imports.
Until rccently England taxed imports with a sole view to
securing the greatest possible revenue. (3) In the third
place, tariffs have at times been laid with the idea of secur-
ing a supply of the preci01./8 metals, through a so-called "favor-
able balance of trade." No enlightened nation now pursues
this course. (4) Finally, many nations to-day rc!!;ulate inter-
national commerce with the object of securing revenue, and
at the samc time weakening foreign competition, in order that
home producers may be encouraged and supported. Re-
striction for this purpose takes the form of laying duties
upon imported commodities of a kind that can be produced
in the home country. Such taxes are called protective.
Collectively they form what is called a protective tariff.
337
338 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Home producers, it is said, are thus "protected" against
foreign competitors. Of course in some cases it is possible
that more than one or even all of the obj(:cts of regulation
that haye been lllt'ntioned may be sought by the coulltry
which thus regulates its commerce with othel' natiolls.
Protection. - The general subject of Pl'ot('ction is so yast
that a complete discussion of it would fill millmes. "'r
hc content here to study briefly the chief points in con-
troH'rsy between ad ,"ocates and opponents of the system,
to giyc attention to certain gencral considerations of impor-
tal1e(', and to suggest what desirablc changcs may be made
in the American tariff upon which all should unite.
Arguments for Protectionism. - Protectionists argue that
the systeIll which fayor (1) jiTOlIwtl'S nationalism, or a
strong sense of national DOIll('stic trade, they say,
should be encouraged b('cause it draws the citizens of a
country together, while international trade, being cosmo-
politan, tends rather to the separation of citizens one frolJl
another. Kationality and a strong national unity dppend
upon a sense of national strength and independence. whieh
can exist onk when the nation has widely diH'rsified indus-
, ,
trial interests; thert'fore protective duties should be leyied
to l'ncourage such a diversificatiun of illdustry. American
protectionists insist (2) that in a new country tht'n' ['xi,t
many great natural adnmtages of which the inhabitant:>
cannot avail tlH'mseh,ps unkss they are protected, at 11':l>t
temporarily, from the competition of foreign producers in
older nations. who, reason of their acquired skill and
capital, can destroy in their infancy any new pursuits that a
rival is seeking to establish. This is the prIJ/rrlillll
o
to-illjalil-i//{ill.vlrie" arg1/IIIr1Ii. Quite similar in its hu,i" i;
(:n the allli-d1l1llpillg arglllllnli, whieh holds that lIationai
indll"tril's, either i)l'eallse of illjal/{'!I or other temporary
wl'uklless. tuay hp JlI'rnHIIll'ntly injured if they arc not pro-
RESTRICTIONS ON INTERA'A.TIO.'VA.L TR.1DE 339
tected against the dumping of cheap goods produced abroad
under some exceptional conditions. Closely connected with
the preceding arguments is another (4) based on military
(1{(Jllllds. Industrial is a great aid to a nation
in times of war, because such a condition lessens the distress
due to possible disasters. IIence it is claimed that
nations at peace should prepare for war protecting, nurs-
ing, and fostering the widest possible range of domcstic
industries. That this policy can be carried through with a
high degree of success is amply demonstrated by the phe-
nomenal military strength exhibited by Germany in the
iYorid iVar.
It is also claimed that (5) the home market is superior to a
foreign market, because (a) it is less liable to interruption
by war or other international complications; (b) there is
considerable saying of transportation costs from which the
farmer particularly benefits; (c) soil fertility is maintained.
On this last point one American protectionist went so far as
to say that no nation can be permanently prosperous unless
the elements taken from the soil are returned to it in the
form of manure or other fertilizers, and that this essential
soil maintenance is possible only when agricultural products
are consumed at home. All of these fi,oe arguments ha':e
been strengthened in the minds of their adherents by the hap-
penings since 1914. Another common protectionist argu-
ment, which has been much used since the labor movement
first became prominent, is (G) that the protective tariff has
been the cause of high wages paid to American labor, and that
it will be necessary to maintain the protective tariff if we
woulO maintain the high wages.
Diflerences in the economic situation of other countries
lead in them to certain protectionist arguments that differ
from those in the United States. For example, in Germany
it has been commonly urged (7) that so long as the rieh new
340 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
lands of Canada, Argentina, and othcr parts of the world are
being wastefully exploited, agricultural products there will
be cheap, and in spite of the rapid increase of population in
the new lands, foodstuffs for a time can be exported at prices
so low that the German farmer would be forced out of busi-
ness. In the end, according to this argument, these lands
will have to give up their wasteful methods and the prices
of their exportcd food products will inevitably rise. When
this happens, the old nation, with a population perhaps be-
comc unduly large because of cheap imported food, will find
hl'rself in a precarious situation. Hence, Germany argued,
a prot .. ctive tariff ,,hich would enable th .. German farmer
to prosper now would be the best way of insuring a perma-
nently adequate national food supply.
For the past seventy-five years Great Britain has pros-
pered under a "tarztf for reunllC " policy. But the recent
trend throughout the industrial world toward protection has
had some influence in the island kingdom. There is now a
strong English party which argues (8) that if the nation
should throw overboard the reVl'llue tariff policy she could
(a) strengthen the bonds of empire by reciprocal tariff conces-
sions between herself and her several self-governing depend-
encies, and (b) procure trade favors from other nations by
playing her trade restrictions against thpirs. Also the mil-
itarJ' argument has had weight in England. And since the
close of the 'World YVar a certain numb .. r of her" key" in-
dustries have received protection chiefly because of the fear
of German" dumping."
Before examining the other sidc of the question, let us
summarize the chief arguments for protectionism. These
are that protection (1) promotes nationalism, (2) protects
infant industries, (3) prevents dumping, (4) makes a coun-
try economically self-sufficient in time of war, (5) fosters
the home markets, (6) promotes high wages; - these argu-
RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNATIOII'AL TRADE 341
ments have all been advocated in America. In addition, we
!lOted the German contention (7) that protection to agri-
culture is the soundest national policy, and (8) the Brit-
i,h argument for the strengthening of imperialism, and
of the nation's economic position generally through tariff
bargaining.
The Argument for Freedom of Trade. - The name" free
trader" is applied to the opponent of protection-
ism, but "free traders" in the strict sense of the term are
in fact hardly to be found. Practicallv all of those who are
. .
called by the name are really advocates of a policy which is
properly described as that of a for revenue only."
And many even of this group would be willing to see the
tariff schedules so chosen and framed as to allow incidentally
a certain measure of protection.
A thoroughgoing" free trader" \yould have no tariffs on
imports. His argument would run about as follows: Taxes
on imports, with very few exceptions, are borne by home
consumers. Therefore, in the last analysis, the people of
any nation must pay their own expenses; they cannot shift
them to the shoulders of foreigners. Taxing imports is there-
fore a vicious policy because it leads people to think that
others are paying the taxes. J\loreover, taxes on imports
are indirect taxes, paid by the importer, but shifted by him
in higher prices to the final consumers. Indirect taxes, it is
argued, are furtive, dishonest, undemocratic, inequitable,
bearing with relatively greater weight upon the poor. Such
taxes restrict international commerce and stand in the way
of international good feeling, friendship, and peace. If the
burning of all our customs houses would prevent a single
war, the national gain would be incalculable.
But, as we have said before, there are practically no free
traders to be found, - not so many as the real merit of their
argument would lead one to expect.
342 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Arguments against Protectionism. - The argument that
follows is not that of the" free trader." I t is rather the argu-
ment for a "tariff for revenue only." Perhaps, better yet,
it might be called the argument against protectionism.
In opposition to protection (1) it is frequently alleged that
protective tariffs are a vio/at'ion of the "natural right" of
every man to buy and sell wherever he will, untrammeled
by human laws. 'We may dismiss this "natural right"
argument at once as a "dogmatism in disguise." It is a
question-begging argument, since, in the use of the word
"natural," it assumes the very thing that must be proved
before the argument can have weight. All history and the
opinions of all modern thinkers are against such an assump-
tion. It would be well if this argument were heard less often.
(2) It has been claimed that protective tariffs in the United
States are unconstitutional. But this argument is idle and
futile. The opinions of our best jurists have always main-
tained the constitutionality of our tariff legislation, and there
is not the slightest chance that the Supreme Court will ever
pronounce a protective tariff unconstitutional.
The really cogent arguments of the ad vocates of a tariff
for revenue only are those which aim to show that, on the one
hand, the protectionist policy fails to accomplish the end
sought; and that, on the other hand, it actually works posi-
tive injury to national interests.
Opponents of protectionism (:3) claim that protection is
not necessary to the derelopment of national feding. In proof
of their claim, theJ' point to the fact that the last half century,
which has witnessed an unprecedented spread of international
trade, has also witnessed a wonderful growth of national
sentiment throughout the world. They also e1aim (4) that
protective tariffs are not necessary to prod1lce dit'crsity of in-
dustry in the case of a country like ours. It may be admitted
that a purely agricultural nation is not likely to progress
RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE 343
rapidly; but it is not easy to understand how a country so
vast as ours, of so varied a climate, of boundless natural
resources, could be anything but a country of diversified
industry, if industry itself is left unhampered by burdensome
restrictions and regulations.
The Adverse General Influence of Protective Tariffs.-
But the fundamental, inclusive, and by all means strongest
economic argument against protection is as follows: (5) when-
ever a new industry is started in any country as a result of a
protectit'e tarztf, it is started by withdrawing or withholding the
necessary capital and labor from some other industry which is by
nature more profitable, and therefore every such new industry
really means a decrease in the possible prodllctivl'ness and wealth
of the country. This argument in its affirmative form may
be stated as follows: with nations as with individuals each
lJllrty to trade will regularly secure the greatest advantage If the
trade is left unrestricted, since then and only then will the
nation's labor and capital enter into those employments that are
naturally most productive.
The foregoing argument is based on the doctrine of com-
parative costs, and it would seem in general that it must be
trne. If any proposed new industry has natural advantages
that indicate the real economy of starting it, then there can
be no reason for protecting it by a tariff wall against for-
eign competition. Hcnce the claim that the industry needs
protection is itself an admission that it is an uneconomical
industry. And if it is fundamentally uneconomic, because
the labor and capital applied to it will produce less than
they are now producing, then no tariff can make it economic.
Of course, this does not mean that those who invest in the
protected industry cannot make profits. We could probably
force the production of bananas in Maine, tea in Indiana,
and rubber in Oregon, if we prohibited importation of those
goods, and offered to possible home producers a sufficiently
344 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
high price. And the Maine banana grower might conceiv-
ably be paid so much that he would make big profits. But
his profits would clearly be at the cost of his fellows. The
nation's capital and labor as a whole would bc made less pro-
ductive. The growing of such products would be against
public economy.
By way of qualification, most economists admit that such
new industries may attract to the country some foreign cap-
ital which would otherwise bc investcd ebewhere. They
also admit that new industries are sometimes hampered,
not by lack of natural advantages, but because thcy cannot
at once acquire the specialized skill and capital which the
foreign competitor enjoys by reason of his longer experience;
and that if such " infant industries" are enabled, through
protection, rapidly to reach a condition of self-supporting
independence, the nation may be repaid for the expense in-
curred in hastening the establishment of such industries.
But economists justly protest against applying the name
" infant industries" to businesses that have received tariff
protection from the country for nearly a century. Indeed,
(6) the fact that" infant industries " have thus prolonged
the period of their infancy, and, in some cases, have clamured
for protection even when they are or should be self-supporting,
furnishes one of the strongest arguments against a policy of
protection. If such industries do not become self-supporting,
they continue to hold prices up beyond a reasonable point;
if they do become able to withstand competition, hut still
have protection, they may by combining maintain a higher
price than open competitiun would establish. American
experience has shown beyond question that protection favors
monopoly by shutting off healthful international competition.
It has usually been claimed by protectionists that the COIll-
petition of home producers would suffice to keep prices down.
However, we are confronted by the obstinate fact that
RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE 345
in the case of a number of protected industries, combination
has taken the place of competition; and home producers
compete at low prices in foreign markets, while charging
their countrymen such higher prices as protection enables
them to exact.
Does Protection Protect Labor? - And now we come to
the seventh argument against protectionism. Is it true that
a protective tariff policy benefits the laborers of a country?
For nearly two centuries before any protective tariff existed
in what is now the Fnited States, the high wages of American
workingmen had been repeatedly noted and explained. Land
in the new world could be had for the asking, and men would
not consent to work for hire unless they could receive a wage
high enough to tempt thcm away from independent pro-
prietorship. The same condition existed during the last
century. The whole question of the connection between
the tariff and wages involves a discussion of many complex
economic problems. It must be sufficient h ~ r e to sug-
gest a single important consideration bearing upon this
question.
Tariff duties are laid on commodities. (7) Labor, however,
competes not with commodities but with other labor. The
worker himself wants commodities, and the more of them he
can secure for his labor, the better. In other words, it is not
high money wages alone, but high wages in connection with
l o ~ prices, that indicate national welfare and prosperity.
If, then, labor is to be proteC'ted, a tax should be put on the
importation of labor rather than upon the product of labor.
Otherwise, the workman may find his wages lowered by the
competition of a multitude of imported workers, while he
finds the cost of living unduly raised by the protection which
has been granted to the domestic entrepreneur.
The Political Argument. - Opponents of the protective
system hold it responsible for a great part of the corruption
346 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
alleged against government in the United States. According
to this vicw, the vested interest in established protection has
been the very center of the forces of vested interests of all
sorts that have constantly beset 'Washington to seek new
and valuable privileges and to safeguard those already con-
ferred upon them. Although this may be an exaggerated
statement of the evil, it can hardly be doubted that
(8) protectionism as a system has done much to increase the
difficulty of secming just and honest government.
The Fiscal Argument. - Finally, it is contended against
protectionism tbat (9) a tariff for revenue only is to be pre-
ferred on p1trely fiscal or financial grounds. In support of
this contention, it is claimed that such a tariff, in contrast
with a protective tariff, would ta.?: feuxr commodities, would
be simpler to comprehend and to administer, and would cost
much less per dollar of revenue collected.
Summarizing the arguments of all those who oppose the
protective system we find that they claim protection (1) is
contrary to natural rights and (2) is unconstitutional; these
objections are no longer taken seriously. In addition, they
claim that (3) nationalism and (4) of industries
can be attained without protection; also that the system
(5) lessens the productiveness of labor and capital and hence
decreases the national wealth, (n) unduly prolongs the in-
fancy of "infant industries," (7) does not promote high
wages, (8) leads to corruption in government; and (9) a
tariff for revenue only is preferable as a fiscal policy.
General Considerations. - Certain general considerations
remain to be suggested. In the first place, the importance
of this whole question has been much exaggerated. England
in the past has prospered with a tariff for revenue only; the
United States has prospered under protection. How far
England's prosperity was due to her tariff system or how
far the prosperity of the United States has been in spite of
RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE 347
protection, we cannot tell. The tariff system is a factor of
importance but not a vital one. Moreover, the domestic
trade of the United States is vastly greater and more impor-
tant than her foreign trade. Indeed, the domestic trade of
the l\Iississippi valley alone is far greater than our entire
foreign commcrce. Under the federal constitution, all trade
among the states is free trade. Evidently, then, wc could
thrive "'ithout protection as we have thriven with it, since
by far the greater part of Ollr tradc is already free trade.
In the second place, statistics regarding national pros-
perity, as they are usually presented, throw little light upon
the question one way or the other. The tariff policy of
modern countries has undoubtedly been but a minor factor
in their industrial life. Inventions and discoveries, the
spread of general and technical education, the hopeful am-
bition of all classes of our people, and the growth of intelli-
gence, have been chief among the forces that have made
such astounding additions to the wealth of the world dur-
ing the past century.
In the third place, the American tariff system, bad as it
undoubtedly is in many respects, is an historical growth that
has taken deep root. It conditions directly or indirectly a
great part of our industrial life, and it cannot therefore be
suddenly eradicated without causing considerable disturb-
ance and economic loss. Yet it is impossiblc to tolerate
permanently a bad condition of things, and wc arc justified
in demanding that there shall be progress in our tariff policy.
Even selfish considerations are likely to lead to a further
demand for lowering our tariff schedules, since other powerful
nations will retaliate or threaten to retaliate for our un-
neighborly tariff treatment of them.
On the other hand, despite facts such as those just stated,
and in the face of sincere efforts made since the close of the
IVorld IV ar to bring the nations together in closer relation-
348 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
sllips and more friendly understandings, there is to-day a
more pronounced feeling of" nationalism" than was obvious
prior to the war. The militaristic argument for protective
tariffs has received a new emphasis. There are many indi-
cat!ons that this more intense nationalistic feeling will mani-
fest itself in a rcvival of protection, or in other restrictive
measures on trade among the nations.
Permanent Non-Partisan Tariff Commission. - For the
reasons above indicated and for many others, it seems
in the highest degree desirable that tariff changes in
future should be less the football of partisan politics and
more the subject of intelligent expert study. It is of course
impossible, as it is undesirable, that in a democracy so great
a question as that of the tariff should be removed from pol-
itics; but the politics should be clean politics that would
accord a large place to expert opinion and advice. In other
words, all future tariff legislation should be initiated by an
expert tariff commission, - preferably permanent, - which
should carryon its investigations under conditions of the
fullest publicity and keep the public regularly informed of
changing conditions on which changes in tariffs should be
based.
A tariff commission such as is here advocated, consisting
of six members, was established by Congress in 1916. It
has among its duties: to investigate the workings of the
present tariff laws in this and other countries, to study the
entire history of our tariff relations with other countries,
to compile a catalogue of scientifically gathered and sifted
tariff information for thc guidance of Congress in revenue
legislation; and, by the Tariff Act of 1922, the additional
duty is imposed of advising the President in the use of the
discretionary power which he possesses to modify the rates
that are to be applied to the goods from any particulal
nation.
RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE 349
SUMMARY
1. International trade, in its elements a trade among individuals for
money, is in final effect a trade among countries of services for
serVICes.
2. The balance of trade is the chief clement in determining the ratc
of exchange.
3. International trade is peculiar in that labor and capital do not flow
from country to country so readily as from section to section of
the same country.
4. International trade depends not on differences in absolute cost but
on differences in comparative costs.
5. International values arc determined by the equation of reciprocal
demand.
6. Gen"ral prices and the nation".] money supply are regulated by
trade conditions.
7. Regulation of internntional commerce, for widely varying reasons,
has been common among nations.
8. Protection is defended as nat.ionalism, diversificution
of industry and industrial independence, s<1ving costs of trans-
portation, maintaining high wages, checking unsafe increase of
population, and shielding exports against forei"n cIiscrirnination.
9. It is attacked as being unnecessary to the development of industry,
as opposNI to "natural right.s," and as being unconstitutional.
It is further claimed that a protective tariff regularly diverts
labor and capital from industries that are more productive by
nature to industries in which the employment of labor and capi-
tal is natumllv less productive.
10. Protection often fosters and prot.ects monopolies, and is a source
of political corruption. Fiso:,1 considerations strongly favor
a tariff system for revenue only.
n. Our tariff svstem, as an historical growth, mllst he modified con-
servatively "wI carefully. This is the purpose in establishing
our permanent, non-partisan Tariff Commission.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
L What arc the advantages of intern:1tional trade? Explain how it
is like domestic trade; bow unlike.
2. How is the mte of exchange determined? What is meant by
"par of exchange"? What urc the" gold points"?
350 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
3. What relation has international trade to the distribution of money
among nations j to general prices in different countries?
4. What goods does a nation export? What is the doctrine of com-
parative costs?
5. How arc values determined in international trade?
6. What is protection? Discuss the arguments offered in its support j
in opposition.
7. What is the argument of the thoroughgoing free trader?
8. Why have American wages always been high? What bearing has
this on the protection argument?
9. What is the political argument against protection; the fiscal
argument?
10. What objections are there to a sudden change in the tariff system?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. What is exchange parity between N ew York and Paris; New
York and Berlin j New York and Hoboken, N. J.?
2. How would each of the following factors affect the exchange rate of
the pound sterling at New York City:
(a) Increased exports of American goods to England; (b) Pay-
ment of matured American bonds held by the British; (e) Pre-
miums due to British insurance companies; (d) Letters of credit
issued to Americans touring England; (e) Increased American
importation of coffee from Brazil j (f) A shortage in the cotton
crop; (0) A financial panic in the United States j (il) A pro-
tracted coal miners' strike in England?
3. If one of two exchanging nations has a depreciated currency, what
bearing has this on the rate of exchange?
4. What was the effect of the European war on the rate of exchange?
Discuss the figures, from the latest monthly Survey of Cmrent
Business, showing (1) the current European, Asiatic, and South
American foreign rates of exchange, and (2) their par values.
Study in particular the British, French, and German exchange
rate fluctuations as summarized in the Survey, from 1914 to
date.
5. Discuss the figures from the latest Survey of Cnrrent Busines8
showing American exports and imports of gold - monthly aver-
ages from 1913 to date.
6. Is labor mobile within the United States; between the United States
and Canada j between the United States and Turkey?
7. What is meant by "timidity of capital"?
RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE 351
8. \\ auld it be economically desirable to-day to grow tea in the United
States? With a prohibitive tariff on tea, might it be "profitable"
to grow tea here? If tea were grown here behind the protecting
wall of a tariff, with profit to the growers, would that be a sufficient
argument against abolishing the tariff?
9. "German competition has caused a complete shutting down of
e\'ery American piant which during the war began the manufac-
ture of sueded rotton gloves. . .. Merchants throughout the
l'nited States are making excessive profits on the German prod-
uct, prices ranging from 70 cents to $1.15 a pair for gloves which
should sell for about 50 cents a pair." Is this an argument for
protectionism? Discuss it from the point of view of (1) the Amer-
ican manufacturers, (2) international trade.
10. Secure the foreign trade figures from the latest weekly Commerce
/le!,ol"l, and discuss whether or not we may look for" a reversal
in the not distant future of that current of trade which in the war
and post-war years piled up a tremendous balance in our favor."
11. Consult the United States Tariff Commission's report on Reciproc-
ily with CalladlJ. And, in the newspaper files. get the main
facts about the I':<'nerul election of December, 1921, in Canada.
Compare the main products and the population of Canada and
the united States; and discuss reasons for considering reciproc-
ity desirable between the two countries.
LITERATURE
In favor of protection: -
Carey, H. C.: 1lfanual of Social Science.
List, F, : National System of Political Economy, Introduction, and Bk.
II, Ch. XVI.
Patten, S.: Economic Basis of Protection. ,
Thompson, R. E.: Protection to Home Industry, and Social Science and
National Economy.
Against protectionism: -
Bastiat, F,: Sophisms of Protection.
Hobson, J. A.: The New Protectionism.
Perry, A. L.: of Political Economy, Ch. VI.
Sumner, 'V. G.: Protectionism.
Taussig, F. W.: Principles of Political Economy, and Some Aspects of
the Tariff Question.
Nearly all standard economic treatises on Economics arrive at a
352 ELEAIENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
conclusion generally opposed to protectionism. In England and Ger-
many some economists of repute have favored a protective policy for
their own countries. A large body of literature on tbe question has
been produced in those countries within recent years.
Other references on International Trade and Tariff :-
Clay, Henry: Economics for the General Reader, Ch. XI, pp. 204-213.
Ely, R. T.: Outlines oj Economics, Chs. XVII and XVIII.
Fetter, F. A.: Economic Principles, Vo!' II, Chs. 13, 14, 15.
Hamilton, W. H.: Current Economic Problems (Revised ed.), Part
V II, especially 135, 139, 142, 144, 159, IuD.
Marshall, Wright, and Field: klaterials for the Study of Elementary
i<:conomics, 162-166, 168-169, 171, 174-177.
Moulton, Harold G.: The Financial Organization of Society.
Lnited States Department of Commerce: Comm(J!'ce Reports, a
weekly survey of foreign trade.
Sureey of Current Business, a monthly.
Unitecl States Tariff Commission: Reciprocity with Canada, 1920.
(Washington, Government Printing Office.)
PART IV. DISTRIBUTION
CHAPTER XXVIII
INTRODUCTORY
IN Part I we studied the human wants that lead to eco-
nomic activity and the satisfactions that result from con-
sumption. In Part n 1,\'e studied the production of goods
and services by which human wants are satisfied; we ana-
lyzed the wealth-producing functions of the great factors,
land, labor, and capital; and in the chapter on Organization
of Production we recognized as a fourth important wealth-
producing service the entrepreneurship which assumes the
management and risks of business. In Part III we sought
to understand why the things produced must be evaluated
and what are the principles underlying these processes of
evaluation; also how goods and services are transferred or
exchanged among producers or between producers and COI1-
sumers; and the mechanism by which these exchanges are
facilitated.
The Meaning of the Word "Distribution." - We come
now to the study of the distribution of the income of society,
especially its distribution among the four factors that have
united in its production. These four factors are brought
into the productive organization of society only because the
individuals who own them expect their respective services
to be rewarded by a share of the total product which they
unite to create. What constitutes the share each factor
will receive depends (1) on the prevailing attitude toward
the several factors as expressed in the "fundamental insti-
353
354 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
tutions of the existing social and economic order," i.e.,
property, contract, custom, etc.; (2) on the relative valua-
tion which society places on the services rendered in produc-
tion by each of the several factors; (3) on the valuation of
the goods themselves. By the way it apportions the shares,
society in any given generation indicates the importance
to itself of each factor as compared to the other factors.
Under the heading Distribution we shall, to some slight
extent, consider also the division of the social income among
individuals; but that part of the entire subject of distribu-
tion is so vast and so complex that we cannot in such a book
as this attempt a complete treatment of it.
There is one sense in which the word "distribution" is
not used here. iNe shall not use the word in the sense of
moving goods from the placc where they are produced to
the place where they are consumed. Whcn we speak of
railways or retail stores as "distributive agencies," we are
using the word in a sense wholly different from that of the
technical term which describes one of the four main di-
visions of economic analysis.
Before passing on to study the determination of the great
shares of the annual product of industry, it will be well for
us to pause for a moment to consider certain general ideas
that underlie all the special topics that are to follow.
Social Wealth and Social Income. - All the economic
goods that society has for use at any time constitute the social
wealth. The satisfactions that flow from the social wealth
and services during any period of time constitute the social
incorne for that period. Social wealth is, therefore, a fund
or reservoir from which issues one of the great streams of
social income; - the other stream proceeds from services.
The body of social wealth in any two nations may be of the
same volume, while the stream of social satisfactions may
be of very different volume in the two cases; for the size
INTRODUCTORY 355
of the social income depends not alone upon the size of the
social wealth, but also upon the completeness with which
that social wealth is utilized and upon the services rendered.
Well-being, moreover, is increased by the satisfactions flow-
ing from the use of free goods, and is not dependent merely
on lllcome.
Private Income. - The social income is of course shared
among the members of society. That part of the social in-
come which the individual enjoys is his real private income.
The money 1chieh an individual receives during any period of
lime constitutes his lIwney income or nominal income. It is
important to keep this distinction in mind, since equality
of money incomes may coexist with great inequality of real
incomes, and vice versa. Thus it is a commonplace to-day
that city workmen regularly receive higher money wages
than the same classes of workmen in thc country; but the
differences in cost of living would go far toward making
the real incomes of the two classes equal. Again, a house
occupied by its owner yields a real income to him, though
this does not enter into his money income at all.
Private Property. - Private incomes depend upon the
institution of private property. Every change in the laws
of property is bound to change to some extent the production
and exchange of goods, and hence the amount of the social
income; but to a still greater extent and more immediately
every such change reacts upon the distribution of the social
income among those who share it. The importance of our
property laws is therefore evident. These laws have some-
times been of such a character that they have "Tought in-
justice to great classes of people, e.g., the laws making human
beings private property.
The Shares and Share Receivers. - As we have said,
the distribution on which attention will be centered in the
following pages is the distribution of the product of industry
356 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
among the great factors that have united to create it. The
factors considered in the study of production were land,
labor, and capital; and in that order we shall consider the
distribution of the product among them. The shares of these
three factors are known as rent, wages, and interest. But
the entrepreneur - he who secures and directs the organ-
ization of the factors and assumes the risks of business-
is also an important share receiver in modern indu;try, and
hence we shall study the principles governing his share of
the product, called profits. Some writers, in view of the
great part played in all production by thc State, treat sepa-
rately the share received by the State. All that for our
purposes needs to be said regarding thc State's share in the
product of industry will be presented in the final chapters
of the book, under the head of Public Finance.
Relation of Individuals to the Four Shares. - And now
just a word as to the relation which share distribution bears
to distribution among individuals. Individuals regularly
receive their incomes by virtue of their proprietary relation
to one or more of the factors of production. Thus, when we
are discussing the share of the annual produce that goes
to land, we are at the same time explaining the principles
which determine the size of the rent income of the farmer
himself. Similarly, an inquiry into the shares received by
capital, labor, and cntrcpreneurship brings us more or less
closely to the qucstion of the income of the individual cap-
italist, laborer, or cntreprencur. But it is the share of the
factor as a factor that we shall study primarily, noting onIy
incidentally the results of the distribution upon the income of
individuals. The importance of this distinction appears
when we reflect that a justification of the share of industry
that goes to land or capital i8 not a justification of the individual
landlord's or the capitalist's income, unle8s the exclusive pos-
session of land and capital has been lJreriollsly .iustified.
INTRODUCTORY 357
Explanation not Justification. - What has just bcen
written suggests a further caution, which cannot be too
strongly emphasized. This book is devoted mainly to an
attempt to analyze existing economic arrangements, and to
explain how economic forces operate in the industrial world,
as it is to-day, and based as it is on certain great social and
legal institutions, such as private property, contract, etc.
Now the mind has a vicious habit of confusing explanation
with justification. Having explained, too easily we allow
ourselves to think that we have thereby justified. But
explanation and justification are really quite different and
distinct things. Thus, in the chapters to follow, we must
never lose sight of the fact that we are merely explaining or
trying to explain rent, interest, wages, and profits. Their
justification or condemnation, while it should properly be
basrd on a correct explanation, must also be based on a
multitude of economic, ethical, political, and other con-
siderations. In this book we can afford hardly more than
a bare reference to some of the most important of such con-
sick'rations.
Size of the Social Income. - A recently published study
made by the Kational Bureau of Economic Research esti-
mates that the ayprage annual total income of the people
of the United States for the ten years 1909-1918, measured
in money, was a little less than $39,000,000,000; the average
annual per capita income * for the same period was about
$390. On the basis of purchasing power at the 1913 level
of prices these figures are reduced to about $35,000,000,000
and $357 respectively. Both the national income and the
per capita income are "much larger in the United Stat,:s
than in any other country. The per capita income in H1l4,
By ., per capita income" we mean the amount each person would reC'ciYe
if all the wealth produced in a year were lumped together and divided equally
among the population of the country.
358 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
for example, was S243 in the Gnited Kingdom, $146 in
Germany, and 8263 in Australia, as compared with $335 in
the L'"nited States."
This same study considers the distribution among the
factors of the total product of mines, factories, and land
transportation enterprises during the same ten-year period;
the products of these businesses represent approximately
one-third of our total national income. In 1909, the factor
labor received as " wa!{es and salaries" 68.7 per cent of the
year's product, while the balance of 31.8 per cent was paid
to others as rent, intercst, and profits. In 1918, the pro-
portions were 77.3 per cent and 22.7 per cent respectively;
and the average for the ten-year period was 71.2 per cent
and 28.8 per cent.
SUMMARY
1. Distribution is that part of economics which dcrrls with the di\ision
of the social illcome, especially among those representing the dif-
ferent factors of production.
2. Our modern system of distribut.ion depends directly upon our in-
stitution of private property. It is therefore along the lilles of
changes in private property that improvement of distribution is,
in part, likely to come.
3. Private income is the individual's share of the social income. Real
income consists of commodities and services which the individual
has for his consumption. lVIoney income is the money received
by an individual during any period of time.
4. Explanation of income shares is not justification of income shares.
5. Both the national income and the per capita income are much larger
in the United States than in any other country.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. What is distribution? What problems does it seek to solve?
2. What is the relation of private property to distribution? How is
this illustrated in the case of land? In the case of capital?
3. If a physician's practice is worth $10,000 a year, what is his money
income? Mention some of the things that probablY go to make
up his rcal income.
INTRODUCTORY
359
4. What other persons are likely to enjoy a part of this income?
5. Distinguish between explanation and justification of the actual
distribution.
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Analyze the total annual product of industry to show the net social
income for consumption.
2. Is all the net social income distributed?
3. How do children receive their income; paupers; semi-paupers;
prisoners; professional thieves?
4. Explain the statement" Distribution is a process of valuation."
LITERATURE
Carver, T. N.: Priru;iples of political Economy, Ch. XXX.
Clay, Henry: Economics for the General Reader, Chs. XII, XXIV.
Income in the United States, Its Amount and Distribution, 1909-1919.
National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, 1921, eh. 1.
Marshall, L. C.: Readings in Industrial Society, 262-270.
CHAPTER XXIX
RENT
As in the study of the factors or agents of production we
first discussed the factor land, so here in our study of the
distribution of the social income among the factors that con-
tribute to its production, we may logically begin with a
discussion of the return to the first factor.
Meaning of the Tenn. - As used by economists, the word
" rent" means that which is paid for the use of land or other
natural agent;;. The popular meaning of the word "rent"
is less exact. In everyday life we hear people use the word
to describe that which is paid for the use of a house or other
building. But such so-called rent contains two elements,
one of which is not economic rent at all. The amount paid
for the use of a house includes the amount paid for the use
of the land upon which the house stands, which is economic
rent; but it also includes payment for the investment of
capital in the form of a building, and this latter return is
therefore not rent, but The reason for the popular
confusion lics in the fact that both are usually paid in a
single sum to the same persoll. In some cities, hO"'ever,
separate ownership of lot and building is not uncommon.
One man may own thc building site and lease it for a long
term of years to another man who erects a building UP0l! it.
In such a case the building becomes the property of the land-
owncr at the expiration of the lease, unless the lease is re-
newed. In other cases the separation in ownership is per-
manent, the house-owner paying an annual SUIll to the land-
360
RENT 361
owner for the use of the ground. Examples are to be found
in Baltimore, where ground rents are an important feattlre
in the economic life of the city, and also in some northern
cities of England, and in Scotland, where the" feu," a form
of perpet ual ground rent, is a familiar institution.
Let us remember, then, that in economic discussions the
word " rent" mea1l8 only that which is paid for the U8e of la lid
or other natural agents. Inasmuch as land is the chief naturd
agent appropriated by man to his uses, it is common to use
the word "land" inclusively to cover all natural a g e n t ~
for which rent is paid. It is therefore necessary to cautiull
the student at this point that when the word "land" is
used in the following pages, it will almost always be pOo-
sible to substitute for it the more general term, natural
agents. The same forces which determine the rent of
land determine in the main the rent of other natural agents.
1. The Quality of the Land. - The first thing to be noted
about land is its quality. Differences of fertility of agri-
cultural land are known to every observer. They depend
upon what one of the early economists described as the
"natural and indestructible properties of the soil." In
recent years many writers have objected to this statement.
It has been said in denial that soil is not" indestructible" ;
that it may be and often is exhausted; that it can be re-
moved from the land altogether; and that on the other hand
it can be created by fertilization, etc. The disagreement
which these writers express is due in large part to their use
of the word " soil" in its narrow sense. If we use the word
" soil" only to distinguish the thin top layer of the land that
contains certain chemical elements necessary to plant life,
then some of the objections just stated are valid ones. Such
"soil" is distinguished from subsoil and the ground lying
underneath, and it is physically possible to cart it off or on
at pleasure. While, however, this is physically possible, it is,
362 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
on account of the enormous expense in vol ved, economically
impossible except in the rarest instances. But even grant-
ing that the soil may to some extent be carted off or put upon
the land, and that soil may be wasted or replenished, there
still remain certain qualities of the land that are practically or
entirely indestructible and unproducible, and which affect
the productiveness of the land so directly that we may
without impropriety speak of them as "properties of the
s;)il." Texture is a quality of the soil which is yery im-
portant in determining its value. The textural quality is
almost indestructible and cannot be produced or materially
challged. It ~ a true" natural and indestructible property
of the soil." Such a property, also, is the conformation of
the land. A steep gravelly hillside does not equal a plain ill
fertility; nor is the north side of a mountain as productive
RS th(' south side, other things being equa\. Again, climate,
although strictly speaking not a " property of the soil," is an
inseparable condition of the land, upon which, to a wry
great degree, the productiveness of the land depends. It
would be better to speak of these forces governing the quality
of the land as the inseparable conditions affecting its produc-
tiveness. Of these, extent (standing room), conformation,
alld climate are essentially natural and indestructible.
As \\"e have just seen, under the" original and indestruc-
tible qualities of the soil," or, to use the phrase suggested,
the insl'parable conditions affecting productivrness, we must
include the gcneral physical environmcnt, and this IllI'lIllS
much more than many modern critics have recognized. COil-
crete instances will aid us in appreciating the significfilH""
of this environment. In the western part of New York
State, along thr shores of Lake Erie, we find a region which
is admirably adapted to the production of table grap\'.
This is due in part to the properties of the soil itself, hut
Iilort particularly is it due to the presence of Lake Eri,,
RENT
363
which, by absorbing the heat in the springtime, delays the
appearance of vegetation, and by giving off heat in the fall,
retards the action of the frost, thus giving the grapes time to
ripen. If we go to Palisade in the western part of Colorado,
we find a region so admirably adapted to the production of
peaches that some of the land was, several years ago, valued
at $1000 per acre. This is due, not merely to the properties
of the soil, but also to the peculiar location of the region,
which is of such a character that the breezes keep off the
frost. Land thirty miles to the west, which is apparently
similar in quality, will not produce peaches and is far less
valuable. Careful consideration of actual agricultural con-
ditions leads to the conclusion that, while man can do much
to create fertility, it is a serious error not to attach great
significance to the inseparable conditions affecting the pro-
ductivity of the soil. Parallels to the American examples
quoted could be found in different districts of England which
are especially suited for the growing of particular crops or
plants, or noted for the rearing of certain breeds of sheep or
cattle. On any single farm the farmer will tell you
that some land is good and that other land is bad, no matter
what may be done to deteriorate the good land by niggardly
fertilization or unskillflll cultivation or to improve the bad
land by generous and careful treatment.
While it is true that the soil can be removed, and that fer-
tility can be increased or diminished amI consequently is
not indestructible in a physical sense, we may speak even
of fertility as economically perpetual, just as one modern
economist has called "capital value" perpetual. While
the land yields an annual return, its fertility may be main-
tained and even increased by wise husbandry. Only by
wasteful and prodigal agriculture are the original gifts of
nature in the fertility of the soil exhausted. Similarly the
value of the capital invested in a manufacturing plant is
364 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
maintained under wise management, though the concrete
capital forms are undergoing constant destruction. But
as it is easier to retain the fertility of the soil in perpetuity
and to increase it than it is to maintain and increase the
value of capital, land has in this particular a superiority.
Fertility, even when artificial, becomes essentially a part
of the land. The farmer, when he invests his capital in fer-
tilizers, makes a contribution which becomes indistinguish-
able from the soil itself. From such a case, where capital
is embodied in the land and assimilated to it. we pass by in-
sensible gradations to fences, barns, houses, etc., which more
and more retain their distinct character as capital that can
be removed and can also be reproduced.
Where, then, is the line between land and capital to be
drawn? What has just been said emphasizes again that in
the economic, as in other phases of our practical daily life,
distinctions are governed by convenience, and are good or
bad according as they are more or less useful. The distinc-
tions between land and capital are still undergoing discus-
sion and may be regarded as debatable ground in economics.
We cannot enter illto the controversy in this place or give
all the reasons why it seems to us that the differences between
land and capital are fundamental in their theoretical and
practical significance.
2. The Situation of the Land. - We have spoken about
the quality of the land j the second great fact to be noted
about land is its situation. On one side this is closely COI1-
nected with climate. Thus, the significance of situation near
a large body of water or near a mountain range has already
been pointed out. But the situation of laml with regard
to the consumers of products is of even greater significance.
Other things being equal, land a hundred miles from market
is more valuable than land a thousand miles from market.
This difference is really one of communication and trans-
RENT
365
portation, and therefore, of accessibility, which depcnds
mainly upon distance. But land may be far away, yet easy
to reach; or near, yet difficult of access. Changes in the
cost of transportation therefore affect rents profoundly.
Thus, the agricultural rents of England were revolutionized
during the last celltury by cheap ocean transportation which
brought distant lands very near to her shores.
To this fact of situation we must ascribe almost wholly
the enormous rents paid for city lots, as contrasted with the
rents paid for lots in suburban places or in small towns.
Here, too, rapid and easy transport powerfully affects rents.
Good means of rapid transit increase the value of suburban
lots and check the rise of rents for residential sites in the
cities themselves, and they also greatly increase rents in
the business districts.
And now, having noticed that all the minor economic
differences in land resolve themselves into differences of
quality or of situation, we may go one step farther and re-
duce these two diffcrcnces, for the purpose of convenience,
to one, - viz., degree of desirability. Suppose, for instance,
that a man in New York City owns two farms, one in the
state of North Dakota, and the other in his own state. If
the ~ o r t h Dakota farm produces thirty bushels of wheat
to the acre, and it costs the price of ten bushels per acre to
get the crop to market, while the New York farm raises
twenty-two bushels per acre and it costs two bushels per acre
to get the crop to market, the farms are equally productive
as far as the owner is concerned. Other conditions being the
same, the two pieces of land are, in his estimation, equally
desirable; they are equally good land. Whenever we speak
of good land, therefore, in connection with the subject of
rent, we mean land which for all reasons taken together is
desirable. It wiII be absolutely necessary to keep this in
mind in studying the following pages.
366 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
RENT OF AGRICULTURAL LL"ID
To-day in certain parts of the world there exist large areas
of land which may be had for nothing. Of this land some
is cultivated and yet pays no rl:'nt; and some is not culti-
vated at all. Why is it that, under such circumstances,
some land will bear rent? Obviously, because that land is
more desirable than the land which may be had for nothing.
Let us illustrate this by Diagram I.
A

R
b - - - - t----,b'
c - - - - - __ - \--'C"-----,01
n
d - - - - r - - - . - - - . f---'-'--....,il .
E
e - - - - - - - - - - - -. -- -
f
- - - - t--....:P:.--,f'
9 _ _ ___________________ G g'
h
DIAGRAM I. MEASURE;lENT Or' RENT FROM EXTENSIVE ?llARGlN
Suppose the above to represent all land, arranged in
groups according to quality, each small paralleiogrilill rep-
resenting 2 dollars' worth of product based on its value at
the farm. Then the first group will produce 14 dollars'
worth of product as the result of a given outlay of labor and
capital; the second, 12; the others, 10, 8, G, 4, and 2, re-
spectively. Now, if the people are few in number and need
but a small part of the land, they may cultivate only A,
or the most desirable land. As lo.ng as there is enough of
this land, if it is of equal desirability, there will be no rent,
for no man will pay rent for what he can obtain for nothing.
But the time may come, with increasing population, when
more land is needed, and cultivation is driven down to B
quality land. Land is still free there, but all the land of A
RENT
367
quality has now been appropriated. If, then, any man insists
upon cultivating land which belongs to an owner in group A,
he must pay for the privilege. How much must he pay?
Ricardo would say 2 dollars for the amount of land used to
produce the 14 dollars' worth of products, and, assuming, as
Ricardo did, the cultivators to be of equal dcgree of efficiency,
the rent would be 2 dollars, since in group A they can produce
14 dollars' worth of product with a given outlay of labor and
capital, while in group B they can produce only 12 dollars'
worth. The land in B, which is frcc land, is now situated
on what may be called the extensive margin of cultivation;
that is, the grade of land which will just par for cultivation
and nomore. Thcnormal reward of labor and capital in agri-
culture is the total return to farming on this margin. The
net product from the superior land - in other words, the
advantage which mmers of land in A have over the tillers
of the free land - is rent. And it is rent whether the owners
of the land in A work the land themselves or lease it out to
others.
If population increases still further, provided there are
no improvements in thc arts of production or of consumption,
the margin of cultivation will in time descend to land of C
quality, where the value produced by a given amount of labor
and capital is less than that produced before. Land in B
will now return a rent of 2 dollars, while land of A quality
will yield a rent of 4 dollars. If the margin of cultivation is
forced down later to E, then rents on land in B will equal
one-half, and on land in A will equal four-sevenths, of the
entire product of such land.
This is the" economic" rent, the genuine rent as defined
at the beginning of this chapter. We may call it the annual
value of the use of the land. We have assumed the same
outlay of labor and capital on several groups of land, some of
which prove to be more productive than others. We have
368 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
found that this superior productiveness enables a farmer to
pay more for the use of one piece of land than for the use of
another. Distinct from this is " contract" rent, the amount
a farmer actually pays for the use of land. Economic rent
and contract rent may be, but usually are not, the same in
amount. Imperfect competition between landlords and
tenants (due to ignorance of alternative opportunities, cus-
tom, or other factors), long time leases, and changing prices,
are some of the forees that cause the two to diverge. Due
to the helpless position of the Irish peasants in the past,
the landowners of that country were frequently able to ex-
act more than the economic rent. But only under excep-
tional circumstances and temporarily does the landlord ob-
tain even the full economic rent from the tenant; more com-
monly contract rent lags behind economic rent.
Intensive Cultivation. - So far we have considered rent
from the point of view of the extensive margin of culti\'a-
tion; we shall now eonsider it from the point of view of the
intensive margin.
With the figure in mind, let us again place ourselves at
the point where all the A land is taken up and men are begin-
ning to seek new means of increasing production. We have
assumed that they will take up new land in group B. This
is not the only possibility, however. It is probable that
land in A may be made to prod uce more than it has yielded
before, if the amount of labor and eapital expended upon it is
increased. In other words, it will be possible to cultivate
the old land more intensively at a profit. Suppose that trn
men formE'rly cultivated 100 acres of A lanel, raising 1400
dollars' worth of product, and that now eleven men put their
labor upon the 100 acres. It may be that the 100 acres will
now produce 1530 dollars, in which case it is evident that the
labor of the eleventh man has made a difference of 130 dollars.
The HOD dollars' worth of product raised by the ten men
RENT
369
meant 140 dollars per man. In accordance with the law of
diminishing returns, the eleventh man does not increase the
output proportionately, but he is still producing 10 dollars
more than he would if he were to work on the B land, where
by our assumption ten men could produce only 1200 dollars'
worth of products. The owner will give such a laborer only
what he could get elsewhere, on the B land, which would be
120 dollars. The difference between the 120 dollars and the
130 dollars the OWller of the superior land takes for himself.
Encouraged by this, the owner thinks of hiring a twelfth
man, but concludes that he would thus secure a crop of only
1640 bushels. Hencc the twclfth man would increase the
output by only 110 dollars, while he would have to be paid
120 dollars,. the amount that hc could earn by working free
land in group B. All the new laborers, therefore, in excess of
one for every ten of the earlier laborers, would find it more
profitable to put their labor upon the free land. Hence,
as the demand for agricultural produce increases relatively
to the supply, new labor and capital are expended upon land
already under eultivation as well as upon land not used
before. The rent of such land is increased by the net
product of every addition of labor and capital. In other
words, there is a change in both the intensive and extensive
margins of cultivation. 'Vith every increase in the price
of produce, and with every fall in the extensive margin of
cultivation, more labor may be employed profitably on land
already cultivated. Thus the landowner, who in the case
last supposed could not afford to employ a twelfth laborer,
may be able to employ thirteen or even more when the ex-
tensive margin of cultivation has fallen to group CorD.
We may undcrstand this better by a careful study of Dia-
gram II, which represents not merely seven grades of land,
but all grades varying from the most desirable at 0 to the
least desirable at X.
370 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOJflCS
It should be plain to the student that the figure REJIX
in Diagram II is the same as Diagram I (page 366). "'ow,
howewr, we can sec that at the same lillie that it become8 profit-
n'
Yield in
Excess of R
Expenses
'-
----
--
--
--
Extensive Rent
---
---
--
o

Expenses
:extensive ExpcnscJ
of E ---------------------------- ell
Cultivation
Intensive Expenses
,
E
II. REXT AS DETER"'NED BY BOTH THE EXTENSI\'E "'''D
INTEi'SII'E
able tn utili:e the less desirable grades of land, it leill also pay
to cultiwle the more desirable grades leilll a greater degree of
intensity. EE' j\1, called "intensive expenses," represents
additional labor and capital applied in diminishing amounts
as lands utilized become less desirable; RR'X, called" in-
tensive r('l1t," is the diminishing surplus due to the more in-
tensi ye cultivation. The most desirable land 0, cultivated at
a total expense of OE', yields a total return of E'R', of whirh
OR' is rent. Less desirable lamls can profitably absorb
proportionately less amounts of capital and labor; so the
total yield, and hence the surplus above expenses, or rent,
is less. Marginal land at X just replaces expenses and will
not make any return for more intensive cultivation. The
student will note that the line OX represents the quantity
of land of all grades now in use; the entire figure E'R'}{M
RENT
3il
is the total product; E'OXM is the total expense of the
farmers; and OR'X is the total rent.
From the foregoing illustration it is clear that the theory
of rent is based upon the law of d1:minislzing returns which has
been explained in a previous chapter. It is evident that,
barring improvements in the arts of production or comsumption,
each addition to the number of mouths which must be filled,
at least bcyond a limited number, makes the task of draw-
ing sustenance from the earth more difficult. But we knOll"
that improvements have hitherto kept pace ,,"ith incrmsing
population, or havc outstripped its growth, to use the mone
correct description.
The intensive margin is reached in the case of all land
the last application of labor and capital produces no net prod-
uct. What is called the extensive margin means land which
just pays for cultivation and yields no net beyond the re-
muneration of labor and capital. ,Vhen we treat the rent
of land from the point of view of the intensive margin, we
have one uniform method which applies to all land.
As our final statement, then, we may say that the rent of
any piece of land is measured by the difference between the
income obtained by the use 11pon it of the most advantageous
amounts of labor and capital and the cost of utilizing the land.
P"mi is the net productivity of the kl7ld.
The student should bear in mind that on the extensive
margin of cultivation the value of the product just suffi-
cient to pay the cost of utilizing the land, and that on the
better grades of land the difference between the ineome
received and the cost of utilizing the land becomes
thus accounting for the higher rents on the better land.
Furthermore, land which is marginal for one use may lIot be
so for some other uses. It may be marginal for truck farming,
but supermarginal for wheat farming. Or, if marginal for
both these purposes, it may be supermarginal for grazing.
ELEMEl"{TARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Ap;ain, land may not repay costs, - may be submarginal for
all agricultural purposes, and yet be supermarginal for resi-
dence or factory sites. The point is this: in the general
theory of rent, the land is marginal which just replaces the
capital and labor applied to it when it is utilized for a n ~ ' pur-
pose \V hatevE'r.
RENT OF URBAN LAND
The fact that situation is the factor of special importance
in detcrm ining the desirability of urban land leads to cer-
tain results of a peculiar nature that call for separate discus-
sion. We may consider, first of all, land used for residential
purposes. Cities have quarters which natural beauty, health-
fulness, convenience, and in an especial measure fashion,
have rendered particularly desirable. In proportion to de-
mand the supply is sharply limited, and this eirc:umstance
causes a keen competition. The height to which this com-
petition will carry rents will depcnd upon the number of
persons possessing large amounts of wealth, and upon their
readiness to spend their money on what they regard as de-
sirable sites for homes. In towns, fashion has perhaps more
influence on such intensity of desire than any other force.
Similar considerations will affect the height to which the rent
of business sites will rise. The higher the average of well-being
and the more willing people are to spend their money, the
greater will be such rents. Fashion enters here, too, par-
ticularly in the retail trade. If people spend money readily,
they will pay appreciably more for an article in a convenient
locality than for the same commodity in a situation slightly
less convenient. This will often enable those whose busi-
nesses are in desirable locations to secure higher prices as well
as a larger quantity of sales, or to increase still further the
llum her of sales by keeping to the price asked by competitors
situated less desirably.
RENT
373
Intensity of traffic is an important consideration in deter-
mining the rent, and consequently the value, of retail busi-
ness property. \Ye must also take into account the quality
of the people who are responsible for tl,is traffic, the rent
depending on quality as well as numbers. In some cases a
high degrec of intcnsity may counterbalance or evcn more
than counterbalance a lack of fashion; and retail business
property in a neigborhood which is not fashionablc m a ~ ' ,
in consequence of the intensity of traffic, have a higher rent
than similar property in a fashionable locality where the
traffic is comparatively small. The influence of fashion,
however, can be seen in a very marked manner iIi. a city like
, ,
Kew York, where large numbers of rich people would on no
account make purchases in an "unfashionable" street.
The result is a large surplus gain secured by business sites
favorably locatcd. Competition transfers to the land-
owners that surplus due to situation. This explains a fact
which has puzzlcd many observers, namely, the high rents in
America as contrasted with more crowded European cities.
Reflection will show that where the two elements, a high
degree of scarcity and great desirability, enter into the loca-
tion of land on the seacoast or in inland health or pleasure
resorts, similar causes will produce large rents. On the other
hand, it is commonly a matter of little or no concern where
the potatoes and beef we eat are produced, and the result is
that agricultural rents are governed less noticeably by sit-
uation, the means and cost of transport being the chief
considcration in this matter.
The Relation of Rent to Value of Product. - It is often
said that rent has no influence on the value of the product,
and that rent differs herein from wages and interest, which
are said to "determine" price. This view at first sight
seems to be paradoxical, as the tenant must pay rent to the
landowner, as well as interest to the capitalist and wages
374 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECON011HCS
to his laborers. The paradox is explained by saying that
prices are fixed by the expenses of production on the poorest
land, where wages and interest are paid, but no rent is possible,
or by the expenses of production where marginal capital is
employed on the better grades of land. Hence the rent
that is paid for the better land is the result, and not a cause,
of the price fixed in this way.
This doctrine is true in the main, but it has its limitations.
To the extent that land is " indestructible" and does not
need any treatment to maintain its services to production, it
is correct to say that rent does not enter into price. But to
the l'xtent that payments are necessary to keep up the fer.
tility of the land, the doctrine is not true.
The Relation of Rent to the Value of Land. - The value of
land, however, is determined by its rent. The value of the
product determines rent, and rent in turn determines theva/lIe
of the natural agent. If any piece of land is so much more
desirable than the poorest piece which is in cultivation that
each acre will return a rent of five dollars per year, and if at
the same time and place capital regularly commands 5 p(,r
cent interest, then the owners of the land and others will re-
gard each acre as equal in value to an amount of capital that
returns five dollars per year, or one hundred dollars. But
anticipated future changes in the yield of land are also re-
flected in the prices at which land is sold. If it is generally
expected that the yiele! of land will increase, its selling price
will be high as comparee! with its present income; if it i,
anticipated that the income of a particular piece of lane! will
fall, its selling price will be relatively low. Hence we may
say that the value of laml is its expected rent capitalized.
Definitions of Rent. - \Ye are now prepared to define
rent more exactly and completely than was possible before,
and to ~ e e that different defin t i o n ~ which may be !riven de
o
scribe it ill reality from ditrercllt points of view. Thth tIlt'
RENT 375
definition, "rent is that which is paid for the use of land or
other natural agents," conveys no idea of the power by which
it is secured nor of the way in which its amount is determined,
In order that land of a given grade should have a rent paid
for it, it must be both useful and scarce, The more useful
grades of land are scarce, while the less useful grades are in
excess of the demand for land and are no-rent lands.
According to l1icardo, the author of the generally accepted
theory of rent, the amount of rent is determined by the extent
to/chich the given natural agent or the given use of the agent
sllI"passes in productiveness the poorest natural agent of the
same sort or the least profitable 1Ise of sllch a natural agent that
society requires to meet it.s deman(l,s for the product. In all
our discussion of rent we have assumed with Ricardo that
cultivators possess and display equal efficiency; and that a
given piece of land will yield the same return per dollar's
north of labor and capital expended upon it, no matter which
one of our six and a half millions of farmers operates the
farm. But farmers vary in ability, and the tools they work
\\ith vary in quality; there are marginal, submarginal, and
supermarginal men and tools, as well as land. Such dif-
ferences in the ability and equipment of those who use the
natural agents abo contribute to differences in product.
These three variable factors make it difficult to state accu-
rately the measure of rent, but leave unmodified the general
Ricardian principle stated earlier in this chapter that rent
in its character is a differential.
SUMMARY
1. Rent is the return paid for the use of a natural agent, and is equal
to the difference between the income obtained by the use of the most
advantageous amounts of labor and (mpital upon it and the cost
of utilizing the land. Rent is the net prodUctivity of the bnd.
2. 80 long as land exists in excess of all demand, there will be no rent
376 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
on the marginal land, for there the cost of production just equals
the price obtained for its products on the market.
3. Increased demand for the products of the soil regularly results in
the cultivation of more land (extensive cultivation) and in the
application of more labor and capital to that already in cultiva-
tion (intensive cultivation).
4. In" given stage of the arts of production a point is reached in the
application of economic energy to any natural agent, beyond
which the return to further applications of energy is proportion-
ately less. (The Law of Diminishing Returns.)
5. Special importance attaches to situation in the determination of
urban rents.
6. The value of any natural agent is determined by net productivity, or
rent, capitalized at the current rate of interest on such invest-
ments. The value of any natural agent the rent of which is expected
to increase would be higher than the value of an agent the rent
of which is expected to remain constant or even decrease.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. On ,,hat. is rent based? 'Vhy would rent disappear if land were
unlimited in amollnt and all were of equal quality?
2. Discuss the differences in desirability of land.
3. How is the amount of rent determined when free lund exists?
4. W h ~ t is the extensive margin of cultivation; the intensive?
What is intensive cultivation? What considerations determine
how far intensive cultivation may profitably be carried? State
the Law of Diminishing Returns. Show how it applies to land
used for manufacturing; .for commercial buildings; for city
residences.
5. Wlw.t effect does a lowering of t.he margin of cultivation have upon
rent? Why?
6. How is rent affected by improvements in the arts of production;
of consumption; of transportation? What arc t.he forces in
society that tend to raise al':ricultural rents; urban rents?
7. Does rent determine price? If so, why? If not., why not?
8. How is the value of any natumlagcnt measured?
OUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Discuss the different kinds of rents paid by farm tenants with which
you are familiar and compare the advantages and disadvantages:
(a) to the landowners; (b) to tbe tenants; (c) to society at large.
RENT
377
2. Under what circumstances is tenancy of land good; under what
circumstances evil? If generally an evil, what would you do
about it?
3. Supposing you are married, is it better for you to own your home
or to pay rent? Would home ownership be preferable for you,
even if more costly?
4. Do high rents raise the price of agricultural products?
5. Consult Clay's Economics for the General Reader, and explain how
from the social point of vicw rent does not enter into price.
6. Do any facts within your own observation justify Ricardo's as-
sumption that all cultivators are equally efficient? Discuss a
concrete example in your o",rn community, if you can find one,
showing that it pays an ambitious capable man to cultivate su-
perior rather than inferior land.
7. Enumerate the advrtntages of private ownership of land. What
are the disadvantages? Is it possihle to increase the present so-
cial advantages, and lessen the disadvantages of landed property,
while still retaining it?
LITERATURE
Clark, J. 13.: Distribution of Wealth, Ch. XIII, pp. 188-193.
Clay, Henry: Economics for the General Reader, Ch. XIX.
Commons, J. R.: The Distribution of IV ealth, Ch. III, pp. 159-170.
Ely, R. T.: Outlines of Economics, Ch. XX.
George, Henry: Progress and Poverty, Bk. III, Ch. II (seven pages).
Hobson, J. A.: The Economics of Distribution, Ch. IV, 1 and 2.
King, W. I.: The Wealth and Income of the People of the United
States (1917 ed.), Ch. VII, pp. 154-163.
Marshall, Wright, and Field: Materials for the Study of Elementary
Economics, 178, 180-183.
Mill, J. S.: Principles of Political Economy, Bk. II, CIl. XII, 2 and 3.
Patten, S. N.: Dynamic Economics, pp. 144-147.
Taylor, H. C.: Agricultural Economics.
Walker, F. A.: Land and its Rent.
CHAPTER XXX
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM
1. How WAGES ARE DETERII1INED
WE have pointed out that of the factors of production,
land and labor are the primary and original ones. Having
discussed rent, or the portion of the product allotted to the
owners of land, we may ncxt properly consider wages, the
portion allotted to lahor. First of all, it is to be noted that
in the study of wages there are really two distinct problems
to be investigated. (1) What share of the total prodllce of
industry goes to labor? This is the problem of general1L'ages.
But having answered this question, we shall still have to ask
ourselves (2) why some classes of workmen receive greater in-
comes than others; why brick laying, for instance, is paid a
highpr rate of wages than is hod carrying, and so on. This
second problem is called the problem of relative wages. We
shall discuss thc two problems separately as we have here
stated them.
1. General Wages. - It follows from our discussion of
the determination of value that if we imagine a purely hypo-
thetical and practically impossible conrlition where wage-
earners were in cxccss of all demand for thcir labor, such labor
would have no value; wages would be nothing. On the
other hand, if workers were few and in gn.>at demand, only
the more intense wants for labor could be satisfied, and wages,
or the val ue of labor, would be very high. I t is evident,
then, that wages, the value of labor, depend upon the rela-
tion between the supply of labor and the demand for it.
378

WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM 379
But this statement is too gener;ll to be of great use. We
must therefore consider further the forces that determine
the supply and the demand.
The Number (if Wage-paTII!'rS. -lYe have already dis-
cussed the tendency of the human race to multiply. Beyond
all doubt the desire for marriage and family is one of thl'
strongest and most universal' of human desires. But over
against this desire stand many others, - desires for food,
clothing, and a multitude of other things which are of course
arrangt-d and satisfied in the order of their economic impor-
tance. Xo man intentionally satisfies weaker desires at the
expense of stronger ones. In the whole list of desires, that
for marriage must take its place according to its importance.
The rank of this desire varies with individuals and classes.
Some regard education, books, art, or even a substantial
bank account as more important than marriage in their scale
of desires.
The amollnt of necessaries, comforts, and /lI.ruries
any person or i.s to enjoy and to insist upon
hat'ing, i.s the" standard of life," or the" slandard of comfort,"
of that or elMS. This standard of life, though inca-
pable of precise definition, is a real and powerful force
in the determination of wages. 'Yhenever wages tend to
fall helD\\' the point at which the workman can maintain his
standard of life for a family, many workmen will do without
the family, and will attempt to maintain the standard of life
for thE'mselves alone. EspE'cially since women have become
indepE'ndent wage-earners, with a standard based on their
own earning power, has this force come to operate upon both
men and women to prevent or postpone marriage, and to
diminish the number of children born. The higher the stand-
ard of hfe, the greater is the persistence shown in maintainin.q
it. Those whose standard is very low are often heedless or
hopeless when that standard is threatened; while those who

380 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
have attained a high standard display marked caution in
delaying marriage until their income will justify such a course.
It is plain, then, that the standard of life constantly limits the
number of wage-earners, and hence tends to maintain or even
to increase the value of labor. Notice, however, that it is
not here claimed that the standard of life directly affects
wages. Whether or how f a ~ the standard of living or of
comfort can influence directly the wages of labor is quite a
different question.
The Economy of High Wages. - In what has just been
said we have simply noted the influence of the standard of
life upon the number of workers in the labor market. But
the result is equally striking when we come to consider the
influence of the standard upon the efficiency of labor. Even
from the point of view of employers as a class, the policy of
depressing the workers' standard of life stands condemned.
Labor, to attain its highest efficiency, must have character
and intelligence as well as mere brawn. More and more,
business men are coming to learn the "economy of high
wages," and to recognize that" cheap labor is dear labor."
American labor is in many industries the cheapest labor in
the world because it is the best paid. High wages make pos-
sible a high standard of life. The high standard of life makes
the labor intelligent, hopeful, and full of character, as well
as more efficient physically. And the increased efficiency
makes possible the higher wages. Thus by action and re-
action the standard of life is both a cause and a result of the
wages received.
The Demand for Labor. - In what has gone before, we
have considered especially some of the forces that operate
to control the supply of labor in the labor market; and we
have considered the problem of wages chiefly from this point
of view. It remains for us to see how far we can explain wages
from the point of view of demand.
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM 381
l\Ianifestly, under Oil r present industrial systern, capital
will not be sa v<.'d nor businesses conducted unless those who
save the capital and those who conduct the businesses re-
ceive a reward for their contribution to production. If work-
men in seeking higher wages enforce demands which would
rob the capitalist of the interest that is his due, or the entre-
preneur of the profits that secure his services, then shortly
the capital will cease to be saved and the unprofitable busi-
nesses will be discontinued. It is evident, therefore, that the
dpmand for labor has an upper limit in the value to society
of the product of labor. While unjust laws, or by in-
Pfjuitable conditions, the employers may be able to secure
labor for less than the workman contributes to the value of
the product, it is not easily cOIH'eivable that umler present
conditions of labor can for long get more than it
;J dually prod uces.
Summary of Theory of Gencral Wages. - Summing up now
lI'hat has been explainecl at length, we may that wages
r/"pend upon the relatioll between the supply of labor and the
demand fori!.
On thc side of supply the lower limit of wages is /i,ud to
'''me degree by the standard of life of the workers. But as this
loree operates slowly, it may in extreme cases happen that the
IOll'er limit to wages is the am01l1lt ll'hich u'ill enable the
IIwkers barel!! to lire. In earlier days some econombts seemed
til think that wages would normally and in the long run rest
at this point of bare subsistence, and the law of wages which
formulated has therefore been called, 011 account of its
rigidity and its harshness, the "iron law of wages." On
the side of demand, we can only say that there is an upper
limit, /i,ted by thevalue.of the worker's contribution to the prod-
lICt, beyond which wages cannot normalIy go, since the de-
mand for labor cannot be measured at a higher price than
the price of what it produces. Consequently the demand
382 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
for labor may result in giving to the worker in wages the whole
of the product of industry after deducting rent and such min-
imum interest and profits as are fixed by laws to be explained
later. Between the lower limit, set by the standard of sub-
sistence or by the standard of life, and the upper limit, set by
the value of the lcurker's contribution to product, wages will
fl1lctuate according to the relatire bargaining strength of the tu'o
parties to the lNlgC cOil/met.
2. Relative Wages. - Coming now to the problem of rela-
tive wages, to the question why some classes of work are paid
for at a higher rate than others, it is evident first of all that
the pay of workmen in any class of employment depends
upon the relation between the demand for such labor and
the supply of such labor, and upon the relative bargaining
strength of those in each group. Thus far the considerations
already discussed bear upon both relative wages and general
wages. But in the discussion of relative wages, there are
certain special considerations to be borne in mind. Differ-
ences in relative wages are settled in the great majority of
cases by past conditions. To understand them we must
go back to a man's father or grandfather. Occupations
where remuneration is high are usually so difficult to entcr
that few are able to surmount the difficulties. Peculiar
and rare qualities may be required, or an expensive training,
which few parents are at once able and willing to provide.
The poor are thus caught in a vicious circle. Their pov-
erty results in crowding them into a restricted group of OCClI-
pations. Their crowding into these occupations so increases
the product in those fields that the product has a low value
as compared with the product of industries less crowded.
The value of the product being thus ,educed, wages are also
kept down. And the low wages are in turn a cause of the
lack of preparation of the following generation for a wide
choice of employment. Thus poverty breeds poverty.
Jr AGES AND THE L.1BOR PROBLEM 383
'Yhilt' the various sorts of labor are almost infinite in
be-r, tllPY are nevertheless of a fairl." distinct clas-
sification. These classes have commonly been called" non-
eompeting groups." Perhaps the best naming of these is
that made by Professor Giddings as follows: autom.atic man-
ual, Tell pOllllible 71Iamwl, automatic mental, rcs]Jonllible mental.
Between any two groups very little competition is at any
given time- possible. Such competition as exists is almost a
matter of g(')Jerations, resulting largely from the action of
parents in preparing their children for entering one or the
other of the groups.
Can society do anything to hasten the upward movement?
Obviously it is agaillst the selfish class interest of the higher
groups to make easier tilt' t'lltrallct' into their groups. This,
and even mure importantly, ignorance and heedlessness,
have resulted in social hustility or indifference to proposals
for improvement. But in recent years, increased sympathy
and knowledge havl' led to various hopeful movements of
reform, such as improVl'ml'nts in the educational system,
vocational guidance, and the like. The movement is
to go much farther as the various social and economic classes
gain in knowledge, imagination, and
The Influence of Public Schouls. - A good system of public
education continually increases the amount of freedom in
the c:hoice of occupations. Education gives greater knowl-
edgt' regarding the advantages and requirements of different
at the same time it puts its possessor in a po-
sition where he can more readily realizl' the advantages and
meet the requirements. It therefore tends to lessen the com-
petition for the lowest grades of employment, thus raising
the wages there; while it tends to lower the wages in the
higher grades by making the competition for such employ-
ment more keen.
It is of course easy to exaggeratE' the influence of more
;)84 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
" schooling" in preparing individuals for the various tasks
of life. But, after all, it is very doubtful whether any other
one a g e n ( ' ~ ' of civilization has a greater influence than does
the school in fitting the young of all classes for the industrial
struggle that lies before them. This being so, it seemS likely
that society will move rapidly and far, along this line, in at-
tempting to lessen such inequalities of economic situation
among classes as are not proved to be clue to differences of
inherited natural capacity. What results might not be
achieved to-day if society were to provide for compulsory,
free, subsidized education of body and mind of all its sons
ami daughters up to the eighteenth year of their lives, such
education being limited only by the ability of instructors
and students to realize its possibilitie'3 !
Adam Smith enumerated the following five causes for dif-
ferences of wages in difl"erent employments: first, their agree-
ableness or disagreeableness; second, the ease or difficulty of
learning them; third, the reg1tiarity of employmcnt; fourth,
the need of tnlstworthiness in the workman; fifth, the prob-
ability of success. This summary of determining conditions
assumes an unreal freedom of competition among workmen to
secure the greatest net advantage from their employment.
I t nevertheless is suggestive and helpful in explaining actual
differences in relative wages. It will be a good exercise for
the student to apply to existing occupations Adam Smith's
statement of the causes of differences of wages.
ReaZlVagesin Recent Years. - Whether a worker is earn-
ing high or low wages cannot be judged without knowledge
of the prices that he has to pay for the necessaries of life. The
important question is not what money wages, but what real
wages, he is receiving; i.e., what is the purcha.sing power of
his money wages. Some studies have been made of the
trend of real wages in the United States from 1890 to the
close of the World War.
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM 385
Previous to .1917 family budgets were collected and an-
alyzed ill order to learn what the minimum prevailing
cost of Jiving. These buogets pictured the lowest stand-
ard at which the family of an American workingman could
be expected to live. During the war the principle was
generally accepted that wages should keep pace with the
of living, but the War Labor Board went farther and
adopted the principle of the" living wage." SineI' the close
of the war, labor organizations, hoth in this country and in
Great Britain, have amplified their demands to cover a
"iil'l'ng wage." this they mean It wage sufficient to pro-
vide lIot merely the minimum physical requirements for
subsistence, but a],;/l a reasonable margin for health,
recreation, education, and comfort. A new type of budge-
studies has re.' III ted , based on the needs and expendi-
tures of higher-grade, skilled workingmcn's families.*
II. LABOR
Thus far our discussion has shown wages to be largely de-
pendent upon the rt'lative bargaining strength of the workers
as compared with that of entrepreneurs and others who con-
trihute to the work of production. The same thing could be
shown to be trul' also of thc othl'r conditions of
which entl'r into the wage contract, such as working hours,
intensity of work, etc. Such being the case, it is natural
that under our modern wage system workmen have sought
to increase their hargaining strellgth by means in their
power. One of the most evident means is that of uniting
their strength in labor organizations. By such organiza-
tion labor is mabled to substitute" collective bargaining"
for the individual bargaining under which the workman is
at a manifest and great disadvantage. Labor organizations,
A hudget of this type is given on page 133; sec also the comments on
this budget. pp. 144 ff.
386 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
then, are more or less permanent combinations of workmen
funned 10 increase their power of determining the conditiolls of
em ployment.
Labor a Unique Commodity. - For many reasons it is un-
fortunate that labor must be regarded as a commodity at all.
Generalizing is at once one of the greatest economies and one
of the greatest dangers of the human mind. We could hardly
think at all if we did not generalize; but our thinking often
has very vicious practical consequences because of imperfect
generalization. The mental process by \vhich we include labor
among commodities is a notable instance in point. Ha\'ing
generalized the idea of commodities to include labor, \"e
forget the peculiarities of labor and make it the victim of
practical conclusions that arc fabe and vicious for that com-
modity, however true they may be for others.
We have previously emphasized the fad that lahor cannot
be separated from the body and spirit of the laborer; where
his work is, there must the worker be, in conditions and cir-
cumstances that may exalt or debase him. Again, labor
unsold is lost forever. It cannot be hcld for a favoring mar-
ket. Its sale is always a forced sale. The worker endures,
but to-day's work, if unsold, cannot be sold to-morrow,
It would require too great space to show all the other prac-
tical differences that mark labor off from other commodities.
The two that have been explained will suffice to prove that
we cannot use any" general principle" of "equal treatment"
to justify the same laws for labor as for other commodities.
" There is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of
unequals."
Origin of Trade-unionism. - In the Middle Ages the gilds
were organizations that controlled all the factors of produc-
tion. Employers and employed united in a single hod,\" to
regulate production, although control rested chiefly with
the masters. Modern labor organizations had their begin-
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM 387
ning in the eighteenth century; they are an outgrowth of
our capitalistic system of production, and, as a rule, include
employees alone. In England in the nineteenth century,
the trade-union movement spread to the factories and the
mines, and some of the strongest unions are made up of op-
eratives in large factories, such as the textile mills. In the
Vnited States unionism has not effectively spread to the un-
skilled and semi-skilled workers in factories. This Ipaws
great bodies of workmen who have no chance to bargain on
equal terms with their employers. If men cannot look for-
ward themselves to becoming employers, they are bound in
time to see that their interest lies in locking arms, that thereby
they may secure the strength of unity, and by collpctive
action restore some approximation to the old equality in
skill and bargaining power that marked contracts between
master and man in the simple industry of earlier centuries.
Thus the organization of labor becomes socially and eco-
nomically necessary and inevitable.
But we must not exaggerate the advantage of thc em-
ployer when faced by a conflict with his employees. The
employer has often important contracts to fulfill, and he may
lose his all as a result of a strike, while the employees lose
only wages for a short time. The extreme on this side is
given when an employer is trembling on the verge of economic
ruin, that may wipe out the savings of years, while opposed
to him stands a thoughtless, improvident wage-earner ""ho
contemplates a period of idleness with satisfaction.
Three Forms of Organization. - Labor organizations may
be divided into three classes, and as a matter of fact are so
divided to-day in the Lnited States and England. Earliest
in point of time and most important historically is (1) the
trade- or craft-union, whose ideal is that each craft should be
separately organized. The trade-unions in the United States
now allied in the American Federation of Labor, and the Hold"
388 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
trade-unions of England are chiefly of this type; however,
ill recent years the American Federation of Labor has made
considerable efforts to extend its organization to other than
the skilled workers. Another type is (2) that usually known
as labor-unionism. The Knights of Labor in the United
States, a powerful body in the 80's of the last century, is an
example of the second class. The aim of the Knights 01
Labor was to break down the barriers to common action
found in differences of occupation, and to "amalgamate"
the workers in all "branches of honorable toil" into one
body working for the interests of all. At the present time
in the United States, the Industrial Workers of the World
are most active in upholding this ideal of organization; but it
must be confessed that the ideal in present hands has lost a
large share of its "idealism." Within recent years in all
industrial nations a still "newer" unionism has developed,
on lines of industry rather than of craft or trade; to distin-
guish it from the preceding it is frequently referred to as
(3) industrial unionism. The United Mine Workers of Amer-
ica, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, and the
new industrial unions of England are notable examples of
this type. The American Federation of Labor, which is
based chiefly on craft-unionism, also includes a considerable
number of powerful industrial unions.
Growth of Labor Organizations. - We have referred to
10cHl and national labor organizations. While it is not
possible to describe the process in detail, the student should
note that whatever form of organization a particular group
of workers has adopted, they haye always sought to ex-
tend it so as to include the workers in an ever-widening ter-
ritory. The territorial grrYwth of labor organizationy has par-
alleled the territorial growth of markets. Before rapid and
cheap means of transportation were developed, the market
was chiefly local and the workers were organized into local
WAGES AND 1'HE LABOR PROBLEM 3S9
units. Later, when canals and railways were developed,
workmen found that local efforts at collective bargaining
could be defeated by the importation of goods, or workmen,
from a competing industrial center; so in self-defense local
units began to unite into national organizations. And as
the markets for many industries become international, we
observe the national organizations attempting to unitc in
international labor organizations.
Another phase of growth relates to numerical strength.
Actual membership in labor organizations in the United Statcs
varies considcrably from time to time. A pcriod of business
prosperity is usually accompanicd by a growth in numbers
and strength of organized labor, while business depression
usually means a thinning of the ranks. But each reaction
has always ended in a new advance, and thus far in the
United States each new advance has carried the labor organi-
zations farther forward than ever before. Thus the American
Federation of Labor in its 1920 conYention represented a
membership of more than 4,000,000, but in 1922 the number
had fallen to 3,180,000. Other independent organizations,
such as thc Hailway Brotherhoods, the Amalgamated Cloth-
ing "Vorkers of America, and the Industrial Workers of
the World, will probably bring the total number of organ-
ized workers in the United States at the present time
(1922) to above 4,000,000. Other industrial nations claim
proportionately more organized workers; for example,
England 0,000,000 in 1919. But in these years of rapidlr
changing conditions, statements as to absolute numhers have
littlc value.
Employers' Associations. - One of the results of the gro",1h
of labor organizations has been the growth of employers' as-
sociations. These have been formed chiefly for the purpose
of counteracting the increased bargaining power which the
working-men have acquired through their growth in numerical
390 ELEl',fENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
strength and the extension of their organization from the
local to the national or international unit. The employers'
associations, originally local, have likewise developed into
larger units, paralleling to some degree the territorial ex-
tension of the workmen's organizations. Examples of em-
ployers' associations are the National Association of Manu-
facturers, the Association of Railway Executives, the National
Coal Association, and the American Newspaper Publishers'
Association.
Methods of Labor Organizations. - We ha ve already men-
tioned that the chief purpose of organized labor is to sub
stitute collective for individual bargaining on wages, hours,
and othcr conditions of labor. This may be accomplished
peaceably, through negotiations which result in a trade agree-
ment; or it may be brought about forcibly, by the strike, the
boycott, or other more or less violent means.
1. The trade agreement is reached by a joint conference
in which both employers and employees are represented. A
single bargain defines the term>; and fixes the conditions of
employment which are applicable to all during the period for
which the agreement is made, - usually one to three years.
Such peace treaties may be entered into by the represent-
atives of management and labor in a single shop or be-
tween employers' associations and labor organizations on a
mueh wider basis, as in thc clothing and printing industries.
The failure of representatives of the coal operators and of the
mine workers to form a new trade agreement to-replace the
one which expired March 31, 1922, left the settlement of
working conditions to the alternative of force. In ('onse-
q uenee, we had the nation-wide coal strike.
2. Strikes are often essential to collective bargaining,
as they are nothing else but the refusal of employees to agree
to the terms of the employers. But, like the lockouts which
are used by the employers, they produce obvious harm, both
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM 391
in strife and loss; and therefore every effort should be made to
avoid them, if the result can be sccured by other means. It
is only as a last resort that they can be justified, or are just-
ified by the unions themselves. Yet the power of such action
as a lever of advantage is not to be despised.
based on American experience goes to show that more than
one-half of all strikes are wholly or partly successful in en-
forcing the demands of the unions. Out of a total of 36,757
strikes reported to the l'nited States Bureau of Labor from
1881 to 1905, 47.94 per cent were wholly successful, 15.28
per Cl'IJt partly successful, and 36.78 per cent failed. Even
where strikes are apparently failures, they may accomplish
much for the employees by inspiring sufficient fear of re-
currence to bring about fairer treatment from unwilling and
unjust employers.
Strikes are most likely to be successful when they are de-
dared during a period of improving business; and hence
strikes for higher wages are more often successful than those
aimed to prevent a reduction. Indeed, it has been daimed
that employers have in some cases secretly encouraged a
strike when they have desired to close their works during a
perioli of slack business, in order to drive a better bargain
with the men when the strike should have proved UIlSUC-
cessful.
3. The Boycott. - Another effective weapon in the hands
of organized workmen is the "boycott," which means
a cOllcerted refusal of workingmen of many trades, or
even many localities, to purchasc commodities produced in
a shop where a labor dispute is in progress. The boycott
is considered to be a more effective means against the em-
ployer than even the strike. But of late American trade-
unions have used it less frequently than before because of the
unfavorable attitude taken by the courts. The refusal to
patronize often, in the past, extended to business enterprises
392 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
where no labor dispute existed at the time, but which bought
from a boycotted establishment. This was called a " secon-
dary" boycott. The l'nited States Su preme Court has held,
however, in two notable decisions of 1915 and 1921, respec-
tively, that a secondary boycott may not lawfully be main-
tained by a labor union.
4. Picketing. - Both strikes and boycotts arc made more
effective by placing" pickets" near the plant of an employer
to persuade others to refrain from working where a :;trike is
being conducted, or from "patronizing" an employer who
is being boycotted. Peaceful picketing is generally legal in
the United States, though three states and many cities have
legislated against it; but where it is legal, the determination
of the meaning of the word" peaceful" leaves large discre-
tionary powers in the hands of the courts.
Methods of Employers' Organizations. - Employers as in-
dividuals, or organized into associations, if hostile to labor
organizations, will ordinarily refuse to meet labor repre-
sentatives in order peacefully to reach a trade agreement.
They, likewise, have weapons for violence which we cannot
discuss fully here. Chief among these are (1) the loc/caut
and (2) the blacklist; these are analogous to the strike and
the boycott, respectively, of the workers.
A very powerful weapon in the hands of the employer is
(3) the injunction. Thc courts in America are a greater factor
in deciding labor disputes than in any other country that has
passed into the modcrn industrial stage. By issuing" writs
of injunction" they often prohibit organized workingmen,
under the penalty of being punished for contempt of court,
from performing, collectively, acts in pursuit of a boycott or
a strike, which, if done by an individual, would not have
constituted a breach of the law. American labor is in con-
sequence bitterly hostile to the injunction. English law is
much more liberal in its attitude toward organized labor.
WMiES jLVD THE LABOR PROBLEM 393
Arbitration and Conciliation. - We cannot dismiss this
subject without a fCII' words the part that arbitra-
tion and conciliation have played and are to-day playing in
the strife of intert'sts Ivhich agreement is rendwd on the
terms of the wage contract. Conciliation 18 a term applied
to the regular efforts lIIade by representatives of employer and
em.ployed or by a third person to prevent differences from arising,
to heal sHe/r before matters reach an aClIte state, or,
in the aellt of a to secure a settlement withollt the il/-
terrention or adjudication of outsiders. Arbitration, on tlte
other hand, means an al/ell/pt to adjust matters by the judg-
ment of those outside the dispute, and usually only after acute
trouble has As is evident, conciliation is preferable,
wherever and whenever it is possible.
Both conciliation and arbitration have accomplished much
for the preservation of industrial peace wht'rt'vt'r thoroughly
and honestly triPd. Sometimes boards are appointed by
employers and t'mployed, and sometimes such boards are
appointed by public authority.
Cntil near the dose of the nineteenth century, arbitration,
even when public authorities provided boards, had always
bt'en The findings of such boards were legally
binding upon neither employers nor employees, and thcrt'-
fore gained their strength from the awakening of the public
interest and the enlightening of the public mind as to the
merits of the dispute. Indeed, it came to be a settled con-
clusion in the minds of economists and others that compul-
sory arbitration could not be successfully attempted by
government.
But for about a quarter of a century compulsory concilia-
tion and arbitration have been given a trial on a considerable
scale in Ncw Zealand and Australia. In our own country,
in 1920, a Kansas statute establ ishcd a " Court of I nd ustrial
Relations" for compulsory arbitration of disputes arising in
394 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
food, clothing, fuel, transportation, and public utility in-
dustries. Its constitutionality, attacked by organized labor,
was upheld (1921) by thc Kansas Supreme Court, but a
decision of the United States Supreme Court (1923) materially
limited the authority of the industrial court.
That compulsory arbitration may haye succeeded in one
nation by no means prows that it would be suitable for
another nation with industrial conditions differing much, or
even slightly. Experience is all too brief for final judgment;
opinions even of the most fair-minded and careful investiga-
tors vary widely; both voluntary and compulsoryarbitra-
tion are being given further trials. Thus in 1919 the British
parliament established an Industrial Court to which disputes
may be referred; for the carrying out of its awards, the court
depends on the" honour and civic sense" of the disputants.
Likewise, in the autumn of 1920, the President's Industrial
Conference rC('()1nrnended the setting up of machinery for
nation-wide voluntarv arbitration. On the other hand, the
Railway Labor Board, created b ~ ' the Transportation Act
of 1920,* was thought by many to be a step toward compul-
sory arbitration in this essential industry. But the exec-
utives of thc railways rejected the recommendations of the
Board; and then July 1,1922, the workers refused to accept
its decision and entered upon what for a time promised to be
the most critical strike in the history of American industry.
At the present time, the balance seems to be against com-
pulsory arbitration.
The Influence of the Public. - A powerful influence against
violence and needless strikes is the reccnt great growth in
public knowledge and public interest in matters that concern
labor. Public support of their cause is now an object of
frequent appeal by labor organizations. The use of "Union
Labels," placed upon goods made by union labor under con-
* Cf. Discussion of Railway Problems, pp. 257-259.
W AGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM 395
ditions satisfactory to the organizations, is becoming increas-
ingly frequent and effective.
The National Consumers' League represents a movement
ofthesame sortfrom "'ithout the ranks of labor. This league,
organized less than twenty-five years ago, is doing a quiet
but effective work by granting the use of its "Consumers'
League Label" to all manufactllrers of certain classes of
goods who satisfy the league that they are fulfilling pre-
scribed conditions in the employment and treatment of labor.
As yet the label is used only in a few classes of women's and
children's clothing, but it is the intention of the league to
carry its work much farther. The league has further accom-
plished a great work by initiating a country-wide move-
ment for "early shopping," to lessen the overburdening of
retail clerks in holiday seasons.
The National Civic Federation, an association of citizens
of national prominence, with subordinate state federations
in many states, has done much to organize public opinion
effectively for fair decisions, and hence for influence, in many
ind u strial questions.
The growing recognition by the publ ic of its influence
and responsibility in the matter of strikes and other phases
of the labor problem is shown by the work of the l:nited
States Industrial Commission, which rt'portecl to Congress
in 1900, and b:v the work of the Fcr\rral Illdustrial Relations
Commission, which reported in 1915 and 1916, Moreover,
among various proposals for social action to lessen or pre-
vent strikes, the one that meets with widest acceptance is
that, in case of strikes, the public should be furnished with
all the facts on both sides of thc controversy. Colorado has
recently enacted a law requiring publication of the facts,
and making striking illegal pending such publication by the
State Industrial Commission, in the belief that correctly
informed public opinion will compel a fair settlement.
396 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Incidental Benefits of Labor Organizations. - 1. Pro-
motion of Temperance. -Even before the coming of national
prohibition the drinking of liquor was not allowed at lin ion
meetings, and most of the unions advocated temperance,
although the majority of their journals stood against pro-
hibition. The Brotherhood of Railway Engineers, however,
and some of the unions of highly skilled workmen were in
favor of prohibition.
2. Educational Influence. - It would be hard to overesti-
mate the importance of the educational feature of labor Of-
ganizations. The debates and discussions which the unions
foster stimulate the intellect and do much to counteract the
deadening effect of a widely extended division of labor.
]\loreover, they furnish opportunities for social culture to
both men and women, and thus lessen the temptation to
coarse indulgence and develop the finer side of their nature.
3. Elevation of the Standard of Llfe. - It is often objected
that they seek by imposing hindrances on some of their
members to raise the wages of the rest. What they are really
trying to do is to raise the workman's standard of life, in
order that progress may mean for them not merely an increase
in the number of men employed, but rather a betterment of
the quality of human life concerned in the occupation. It
is objected again that the limitation of numbers in one trade
can only result in overcrowding others, and that therefore,
if all trades were successfully organized, the results in one
part of the labor field would neutralize the results elsewhere,
and nothing would be gained. But such an objection over-
looks the significant fact that the union may check the im-
prudence that leads to overpopulation, and possibly maintain
a just balance between the need of society for labor and
the need of the laborer for a complete human life.
4. Many of the trade-unions perform also the function of
a benefit society. They provide relief in case 04' death, acci-
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM 397
knt, sickness, unemployment, and in some cases even for
,Id age. As a cooperative insurancc company the trade-
illion is ablr to attain a high degree of efficiency, as the mem-
: )l'rS, bring' bound b ~ ' reciprocal ties of solidarity, forbear to
: )mctice against thr common insurance fund those small
:rauds which cOllStitute slich a grave problpm in the admin-
i,tration of indm,trial insurance eitlwr by the state or by a
private company. In Gn>at Britain, the trade-union in-
surance fund forms an important element in the system
of social insurancc enactcd in I DI 1.
Weaknesses of Labor Organizations. - Somc of the weak-
nesses of lahor organizations havc already been touched upon.
Thl'se and other weaknesses may be briefly summarized as
follows: -
1. Limitation of their Bellefits. - They have often, par-
ticularly in their early history, sought to gain benefits by a
selfish and exclusive policy toward othpr laborers. In some
eases they have been able to build up all evil labor monopoly.
It must be a<imittpd, on the other hand, that there is some-
times, even in thpse clays, valid excuse for limiting numbers.
r nscrupulous ('mployers have at times sought to increase
unduly the number in a single occupation in order to have
a reserve force of unemployed from whieh to draw in case of
need and thus to keep down wages.
2. Resirif'live Policies. - The typical labor leader believes
that if too much work is accomplished to-day, there will be
less employment for the future. Hence, organized labor has
adopted one or another of various measures calculated to
lessen this danger, such as: (a) opposition to improvements
in machinery and methods, (b) "soldiering on the job,"
(r) insistence on a shorter working day. The chief object of
all these policies is to restrict the output of to-day in order
to assure a job to-morrow. Such policies are based on a
false economic philosop:JY, but are not on that account less
398 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECOXOMICS
effective in retarding social progress as a whole; and, of
course, they often prove quite disastrous to the individual
employer's business. Members of labor organizations, along
with many other people, have failed to recognize clearly that
the satisfaction of the increasing wants of the masses requires
increased efficiency in production; and that greater output
due to bcttcr machinery or other causes is directly bene-
. .
ficial to the workers as well as others. \Ye must, however,
sympathize with the workers' objections to the introduction
of improvements of machinery and organization if this in-
troduction be made without consideration for their welfare.
Even if improwments of this kind do benefit wage-earners in
the long run, it must be remembered, that, as has been said.
the individual life is only a short run, and en'ry means should
be used to reduce to a minimum the suffering of the in-
dividual due to social progress as a whole.
That it is not impossible to strike a satisfactory balance
between the interests of the workers and industrial improve-
ment is shown by the case of the printing industry, where
the union accepted the introduction of the linotype upon the
condition that only skilled printers should be charged with
its operation.
3. Narrow alul Shortsighted Views. - It has been one of
the weaknesses IIf labor organizations in general that they
have not been slIfFiciently interested in public measures and
reforms designed to benefit society. For example, they
have given too EttIe attention to sanitary matters and too
little support to public health authorities in cfforts to benefit
the poorer classes. They have underestimated the impor-
tance of purity in politics and a highly trained civil service.
At times they have favored measures which were bound to
be ultimately injurious to them, ,imply because such meas-
ures would increase the supply of work.
4. Recent Del1eloprnents hare alienated PlIblic Suppurt.-
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM 399
The impartial observer and many "friends of the working-
man" in America han', in the past ten years, regretfully
seen other weaknesses brought into prominence, many of
which grow out of the very strength of organized labor.
\Ye can do little more than enumerate some of the more im-
portant of these; (a) "ith increasing division of labor and
specialization of occupations has come much" overlapping"
of jobs which leads to frequent "jurisdictional disputes,"
in which different trades claim the right to do certain pieces of
,,ork - family quarrels, to be sure, but meanwhile production
ceases and society suffers. (b) Labor is afflicted with perhaps
more than its share of unwise leadership; individuals seek-
ing personal ends have frequently used organized labor for
their own selfish purposes; and when, as often happens, labor
intrusts undue power to such leaders, it is courting double
disaster. (c) Strength in an organization as in an individual
may engender a "chip-on-the-shoulder-attitude." Workers
often are too ready to vote a strike. Confident that neces-
sities, at any rate, will be provided from an ample" strike
fund" in the organization treasury, they frequently" walk
out" for trivial causes, and many with the cheerful air of
going on a holiday. (d) Extravagant demands - demands
that are economically impossible are sometimes made; the
employer has the alternati\"e of seeing his business ruined
speeclily through resistance to such demands, or gradually
through compliance with them. (e) There is too much self-
ishness, too much class consciousness, and too much snob-
bishness manifest within the ranks of organized labor itself.
There is suspicion and distrust not alone of the employer,
but also of the rival organization.
Other symptoms of weakness will occur to the observant
student. While organized labor may carry an accumulating
burden of local disorders for a considerable period of time,
its undoubtedly great power for good in the future will be
400 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
seriously impaired by such a burden. Friends of the labor
movement, and socially minded citizens generally, will coop-
erate with responsible labor leaders to bring about a more
healthful condition.
III. METHODS OF WAGE PAnlE;'>IT
Labor organizations strive to secure higher wages and
better conditions of employment for workingmen than they
would obtain if unorganized, and thus to increase their share
of the product of industry. But both by private employers
and by economists other methods of wage payment have
been considered besides the usual system of time wages,
where the laborer is paid a fixed sum for each unit of time
employed. Some of these methods call for discussion.
1. Piecework Wages. - Under this system, the laborer
is paid by the unit of product, instead of by the unit of time.
The system of piece wages can only have a fair trial in in-
dustries which allow considerable division of labor among
occupations that are of a routine nature. Thus compositors
in a printing office may be paid by the thousand ems of type
set. Payment by the piece, where possible, has certain eyi-
dent advantages both for laborer and employer, and has met
with favor among certain trade-unions. But in some indus-
tries abuses of the system havc been so many and so flagrant
as to arouse active opposition. It has at times been used by
unscrupulous employers to break down regulations and eYen
laws limiting the hours of work, and more frequently still to
bring about a reduction of wages. Thus, after the workers
ha\"e attained a high rate of speed by straining every nerYe
and muscle to earn high wages, the price per piece is " nih-
bled" in such a way that the workmen can earn by their in-
creased exertion little if any more than they were earmng
before the piecework system was introduced.
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM 401
2. The Sliding Scale. - The system known as the "slid-
ing scale," by which wages are made to depend upon the price
of the product, has been adopted frequently among iron and
steel workers and coal miners in the United States and
England. In recent years complaints have been made that
employers under this system do not always truthfully declare
the price of product, or their sales; and other difficulties have
appeared which cannot well be explained here.
3. Profit Sharing. - Under a system of profit sharing the
workmen in any factory, or at least a part of them, are allowcd
to share in the profits of the concern. A staled u'age is paid,
and then, at r('gular inten'ais, a part of the profits of the bU:1iness
is di\'ided among the employees. There are many differ-
ences of detail which do not concern us here. Advocates
of the system point out that it (a) promotes economical1lSC of
material and machinery by employees, (b) generally increases
their zeal and rjficiency, and hence results in (c) a larger total
product, and a (d) larger income for the wage-receivers. Its
weakness is that it is not expedient to make the workmen
bear the losses as well as participate in the gains, while the
system without such a provision is likely to come to grief.
Profit sharing has sometimes been extended to include capital
8haring; that is, part ownership of the capital by the work-
men, with some participation in the management. In recent
years profit sharing has been taken up with renewed interest
and enthusiasm after an interval in which earlier hopes had
given way to discouragement.
4. The Task and Bonus System. - In the opinion of its
advocates "Scientific :Management " promises a conserva-
tive revolution in industry. Its claims are such as to chal-
lenge the study and fair consideration of everyone who
"loves his fellow man." l'nfortunately we cannot discuss
or even explain the system here. It must suffice to note a
few salient features. Scientific lHanagement, as its name
402 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
implies, proposes to apply to the management of industry
the method of science,-wide and minute observation,analy-
sis, classification, and organization, etc. Every industry as
a whole, and every process within every industry, is to be
analyzed into its simplest parts. Every unnecessary move-
ment or process is to be eliminated. Coordination of pro-
cesses and parts and functions is to be perfected, to secure
maximum economy of effort. The thinking and planning
are to be done entirely by specialized and expert thinkers and
planners. The workcr on any machine or hand work is to
be freed from all need of planning. For his task day by
day, determined by scientific principles, a standard wage is
to be determined, also on scientific principles. If the worker
does the work in the time assigned, he is to receive the bonus,
which raises his time rate very considerably above the usual
time rate of the industry. This" task and bonus" system
is in general regarded as a part of the system of scientific man-
agement. The entire system, including the wage feature, is
suspected or decried by leaders of the working classes, for
reasons which we cannot here discuss. But we must repeat
that the potentialities of the system, both for good and for
harm, are such that every public-minded student should
give the whole matter careful consideration.
5. Cooperation. - If industry, as ordinarily organized in
our great mercantile and manufacturing establishments, may
he likened to a form of despotism, an establishment in which
workmen arc permitted to participate in capital ownership
and management, under the chief control of one who is rec-
ognized as an industrial superior, may in the same way be
likened to a constitutional monarchy.
And finally, as opposed both to industrial despotism and
to industrial monarchy, we have the third form, industrial
democracy. Industrial democracy means self-rule, self-
contrul, by the workmen ill their efforts to
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM 403
gam a livelihood. This is achieved in pure coopera-
tion. In pure cooperation the workmen combine their own
capital, purchase their own plant, and manage their own
industrial affairs, in their o\vn w a ~ ' , at their own risk, sharing
profit or loss as the case may be. At least this is the method
of productive cooperation.
Distributive cooperation, on the other hand, is a system of
cooperation in wholesale or retail trading. Distribution is
h('re used not in the sense in which it is ordinarily used in
{'('onomics, but in the sense in which we speak of the mer-
chant's business as distributive. In distributive cooperation,
which has been more widely successful than other forms, the
consumers of finished goods combine to purchase what they
need, and thus save middlemen's profits. They form a
regular stock company, subscribe for shares, employ a man-
ager and clerks, - who often do not even share in profits, -
and start a business. Profits are sometimes divided only
on the shares, but the approved way is to pay a moderate
interest on the capital and then divide profits between both
stockholders and customers. In such cases thc customers
share in proportion to their purchases, the division being
made at stated intervals.
In England ancl Scotland c!istributivc cooperation has met
with very great success. Productive cooperation, on the
other hand, has disappointed the expectations of its earlier
advocates. France seems to have had better success than
England in productive cooperation. In the United States
S0me instances of success are recorded, and many more un-
dertakings of the sort have been partly successful; in recent
years, particularly among farmers, there has been a revival
of activity in cooperative endeavors. In England and Scot-
land Wholesale Societies have been formed for distributive
cooperation, thus furnishing also a steady market for some
productive cooperative concerns which they have organized.
404 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
The Strength and Weakness of Cooperation. - Producers'
cooperation (1) prevents strikes by completely identifying
the interests of labor and capital. It (2) stimulates energy
and (3) promotes economy and thrift, since self-interest, which
usually animates only the employer, here animates all the
cooperators. No slighting of work can be tolerated and,
eye service vanishing, (4) much labor of 8upervision is saved.
Best of all, there is (5) constant education of the cooperators
in discipline and business detail.
On the other hand, to speak of the weaknesses of the sys-
tem, (1) divided counsels oftcn render the movement of such
a business clumsy and slow. Action cannot be so quick and
decisive as when one man acts on his own responsibility.
(2) It has been hard for workmen to recognize the necessity
of securing expert talent for the work of supervision and or-
ganization. Failure has often been due (3) to moral defects
on the part of the workmen. (4) Where success has attended
the first steps of such a movement, the very prosperity has
sometimes produced dissension and disintegration. These
weaknesses, in less degree, have appeared in consumers'
cooperation. (5) Where success has been permanent, there
has been a tendency to change from cooperation to " joint stock-
. "
s m .
Labor and Factory Legislation and Inspection. - Labor
and factory legislation and inspection also need a few words
of comment in this connection, although the subject has been
more fully treated in the chapters on the Industrial Stage
in England and in the 1:nited States. Labor laws, honestly
conceived and properly enforced, have been productive of
incalculable good. Federal and uniform state legislation
should be designed to effect various purposes. It should
keep children from being deprived of educational advantages
by being put to work too early, though it should never be so
applied as to lead young people into those habits of idleness
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEM 405
which are even a greater evil than labor in childhood. It
should safeguard to the utmost women who are employed, not
because the women are a favored dass but because the wel-
fare of the race requires the special protection of its women.
It should limit the hours of employment for work people,
particularly for women, young persons, and children, to the
length of day prescribed by medical experience, and should
secure to them regular and convenient hours of leisure, such as
are afforded by It Saturday half-holiday. It should compel
employers to fence in dangerous machinery and otherwise
guard against preventable accident. By compulsory insurance
or workmen's compensation acts it should place pecuniary
responsibility for accidents on the employer, who, by shifting
the cost of this through incrcascd prices, puts the responsi-
bility where it belongs ~ that is, on society in general. It
should take all reasonable measures to minimize unemploy-
ment alld casual employment. It may possibly provide for
sickness and old age pensions if this can be managed with-
out overburdening the financial resources of the state.
Development of Social Insurance. ~ Progressive industrial
countries have provided" social" insurance against these
ordinary hazards in the worker's life to which reference has
just been made. The necessity for social insurance, and for
making it compulsory, grows out of our present organization
for economic production, and is due particularly to the de-
pendence of a large part of our population on wages alone,
and to the fact that many workers whose future need is likely
to be greatest, wiII not or cannot provide for themselves the
necessary insurance that may be offered by private agencies.
The chief forms that social insurance takes are: (1) Heallh
insurance. Some illness is inevitable, but most people
neglect to provide against its coming; and it is a major cause
in forcing families into poverty and dependency. Health
insurance should provide for a minimum of medical treatment
406 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
and care when sickness comes; but more important, it should
safeguard against its coming, for much illness is preventable.
(2) Old age, or premature invalidism, brings loss of earning
power, for which provision should bc socially made by pen-
sons and insurance. (3) The prevalence of unemployment
in 1921 revived interest in some public provision for mini-
mizing unemployment and casual employment. In at least
two states unemployment insurance was proposed; these
proposals placed the burden of responsibility on the em-
ployers. The theory was that, just as under compulsory
workmen's compensation laws employers were stimulated
to start " safety first" campaigns which reduced accidents
to a remarkable extent, so compulsory unemployment in-
surance would be successful in preventing a large part of
our unemployment.
Experience thus far indicates that social insurance, to be
most successful, should be (1) regulated and managed by
the state or other public authority; (2) compulsory upon
employers and workers alike; (3) of uniform application
within the classes covered; (4) contributed to jointly by the
state, the employer, and the worker. No country has ever
suffered in international competition by approximation to
the goal here described. Yet American lawmakers ha\'e been
hesitant and have taken only a few faltering steps forward.
If all workers had a surplus from which they might save,
and if from this surplus they would lay aside for the in-
evitable "rainy day," such measures would be necessary
in less degree; at best, they are a poor substitute for vol-
untary thrift and its associated personal virtues. But if
conditions growing out of modern economic organization
cannot be fundamentally changed, social insurance must be
rationally extended; it may supplement, but it should never
supplant, personal savings.
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEl'rI 407
SUMMARY
1. General wages are determined' by bargaining, between limits fixed
on the one side by the product of the labor, and on the other by
the cost of subsistence, as modified by the standard of living.
The precise wage is determined by t h ~ relative strength of the
two sides to the bargain.
2. Differences in relative wages are due to special conditions affecting
different employments.
3. Labor organizations, a natural development of modern industry,
have improved the status of labor.
4. Against labor-unions it is charged that they are often shortsighted
and ultra-conservative, and are forgetful of broad social inter-
ests.
5. Piecework wages, the sliding scale, profit sharing, the task and bonus
system, are various methods of wage payment that have becn
tried in recent times.
G. Arbitration and conciliation are playing an increasing part in the
settlement of labor disputes.
7. Societ:r, through legislation and otherwise, can do and should do
much more than it has yet done in improving the condition of
the" working classes."
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. In what ways does the standard of living affect general wages;
reb Live wages?
2. Kame the circumstances producing differences in relative wages.
"'hat is the" Iron Law of W"ges"?
3. ~ a m e the different" noncompeting" groups of laborers. Classify
some well-known occupations according to this grouping.
4. ,,'hat three types of labor organization ure there? Discuss the
change in the public attitude toward unions.
5. What are strikes? What arc their chances of success?
6. Discuss the different systems of wage payment; their advantages
and disadvantages, and their success.
7. Distinguish between arbitration and conciliation. What is the
present status of the question of compulsory arbitration?
8. What are some of the objects that have been promoted through
labor le:;islation? What are some that should bc promoted?
408 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Is an explanation of why ditch diggers gct low wages a justification
of the social and economic conditions that explain the low wages?
2. What would be the earnings of lawyers or physicians if all men and
women had equal opportunity to develop knowledge and skill in
those professions? Is an hour's work of a physician" naturally"
more valuable than an hour's work of a ditch digger, or is the dif-
ference in value due to the difference in the supply of the two sorts
of service? Why the difference in supply?
3. \Vhat is the economic effect of industrial education? Wil! it change
the relative supply of skilled as compared with unskilled labor?
Will it change the relation as between manual work and profes-
8ional services?
4. How did Germany's and Great Britain's social legislation increase
industrial efficiency? Is there any stronger reason for social
legislation thin the reaSon that it "pays"? What is the goal of
social economic life?
5. How many states have passed compulsory accident insurance or
workmen's compensation acts? 'Vhat is the date of the passage
of the first such act in the United States?
6. How much does the L'nited States pay annually in war pensioas?
Who receive the pensions? What would old-age pensions on
the English scale cost in this country? How far would the re
eipients be the same as those now receiving war pensions?
7. Compare the merits of compulsory investigation and compulso'1
arbitration in labor disputes.
8. What are the two forms of boycott? What is a black list; sweat
ing; parasitic industry?
9. Does an increased share in public income - parks, libraries, etc.-
make up to wage-earners for a decrease in real wages?
LITERATURE
The literature of labor in the United States is so voluminous that
any brief selection is unusually difficult find embarrassing. The at-
tempt is made here to give at least one good title for each important
topic.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers: Report on Waste in I ndmtry.
Ashley, W. J.: The Adjustment of Wages.
(Excellent reference for joint agreements, the sliding scale, and
the tendency of employcrs and employees to organize.)
WAGES AND THE LABOR PROBLEJf 409
Bloomfield, Daniel: 111 odern Industrial Movements.
Bonnett, C. E. : Employers' A"ociations.
Commons, J. R.: Trode Unionism and Labor Problems.
Commons, J. R.: [ndILstrial Government.
Commons and Andrews: Principles of Labor Legislation (1920 ed.).
Ely, R. T.: Studies in lhe "ol>,lio" of Industrial Society, Bk. II, Ch. X.
G'lntt, H. L.: Organizing for Work.
Groat, G. G.: Inlrodu.clion 10 Ihe Study of Organized Labor in America.
Le Rossignol, J. E.; State Socialism in New Zealand.
Moore, H. L.: LaU's of 1Vages.
Perlman, S. : H iswry of Trade Unionism in the United States.
Rubinow, I. 1'11.: Social Insurance.
T:lylor, F. "'.; Principles of Scientific Management.
Watkins, G. S.: Introdllcli"" 10 the StUf/y of Organized Dabar.
Trebb, Sidney and Beatrice: lii.,loryof Trade Gnion''''''
CHAPTER XXXI
INTEREST
AFTER our long excursion into the subject of labor and its
reward, it may be well for us to pause a moment and place
in the right connection what is to follow. It should be re-
called that under the general subject of distribution, or the
division of the social income among the factors that have
worked to produce it, we have now discussed the subjects of
rent, the share received by the owners of land, and ,,-ages,
the share received by labor. 'We come now in regular order
to a discussion of the share apportioned to the owners of
capital. Land and labor, in their broadest sense, are the
only original elements in production. Of course, as has been
explained, land includes not only building lots and farming
land, but also mines and rivers and fisheries, and, in short,
all natural and un produced agencies of production other
than labor. Capital, on the other hand, is not a primary or
original factor, but a secondary or derived one.
rnlike land, capital is produced; but it is produced for
the purpose of further production. In fact, we may define
capital as thc produced instruments of lJToduction.
How Interest is Determined. - Interest is the return to
capital. By what law is its amount determined? This
question has been continually discussed and still appears to
many economists an unsettled problem. The ancients in
general denied that interest rested on any justifiable founda-
tion. Aristotle thought it unjust, and Cicero classes interest
taking with murder. Throughout the Middle Ages it was
410
INTEREST
411
condemned by the Church and prohibited by statute. One
of the main reasons for this attitude is found in the fact that
until recent centuries little capital was lent for productive
purposes. Loans were usually made for personal consumption
and for thc relief of the distressed. The lender could not
have used the amount lent, and the borrower
did not desire the loan for productive uses.
De,pite public opinion and till' law, however, the taking of
intere,.;t continued customary wherever commerce was devel-
oped; and ,,-ith the industrial awakening in the modern period
of capitalism it was, of cour,e, allowed as a necessity. Being
allowed, it must needs be justified, and the explanations and
justifications havc becn numerous and various. Earlier
economists explained the laws of rent and wages, and then
cOIJ{'luded that capital had what was left. The
owner of capital was thus made the "residual claimant"
in distribution. Others have thought that capital and land
receive returns according to fi.wd laws, and that labor is the
residual claimant.
The truth seems to hr that no one of the three is a residual
claimant, but that each receives a return determined by
regular laws. What, then, shall we say is the special law by
which interest is determined? In answering this qUE'stion,
we shall try to make a statement of the case which shall
reconcile conflicting theories, at the same time that we indi-
cate brieflv what those theories are.
Fallacio'us Views regarding Interest. - To begin with, let
us clear the ground by ridding the mind of certain views as to
interest that are very widely lll'ld and that stand squarely
across the path leading to just and clear views on the subject.
First there is a very widespread opinion that the payment
of interest to individual owners of capital is necessary to any
accumulation of capital. Thi, is dearly not so. If society
were to take over and manage all industry or the greater
412 ELE11,fENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
part of industry, it could create and maintain the needed
capital out of the product of thc industry. Society as a whole
would in that case postpone possible present satisfactions
for the purpose of easier and richer satisfactions from the
resulting capitalistic produetion. It may well be that we do
better to leave the accumulation of capital to the self-interest
of individuals, but we have no right to think or to assert that
capital can be secured in no other way.
A second fallacy, perhaps as widely held, and even more
obstructive to just views of capital and interest, is the idea
that interest is fundamentally an amount of money annually
paid for the use of some larger amount of money. Of course,
on the surface this seems to be true; otherwise, the idea
would never have gained credence. But a little reflection
will show the fallacy and the harm in the fallacy. In the
first place, it is very seldom that actual money is lent, bor-
rowed, or repaid. TVhat is trangferred is control ofwealth,-
some form of purchasing power. As has been explained in
an earlier chapter, a business man goes to his bank and sells
his note, secured or unsecured, in exchange for a deposit.
Against this deposit he draws checks to purchase needed
goods, and especially eapital in various forms. The bank
pays out little gold or silver. In so far as it cannot balance
checks against checks and so avoid paymcnt, it pays out
various forms of notes which arc themselves merely credit
instruments. Thus it is clear that when men borrow, they
do not usually or really borrow money at all, but only pur-
chasing power, which is the means of obtaining capital goods,
to be used in the work of production. If it were just as con-
venient to supply himself with the capital goods in the first
instance, the business man would rather have it so. And
if capital could be so lent and borrowed, men could not have
fallen into certain of their present wrong views of interest.
Probably nine persons out of ten, perhaps ninety-nine
INTEREST
413
persons out of every hundred, believe that the rate of interest
depends upon the amount of money in circulation. We
have already given one way by which this fallacy may be
detected, but experience gives sufficient warning that further
explanation is required. And here again explanation may
perhaps best take the form of illustration.
Assume a society with a given quantity of circulation
rnedium, - and with a given quantity of capital goods. In
this society John Doe is thinking of buying a cow for his
d a i r ~ ' . At the actual level of prices he calculates how much
he must pay for "keeping" the cow, including the feed,
dairyman's wages, etc., and how much thc milk and other
products will bring in the market, at the existing price level.
If, allowing for risk, depreciation, etc., he calculates that
the products year by year will sell for $3 more than " cost
of keep," he can, on a 6 per cent basis, afford to pay $50 for
the cow. And if the current interest rate is 6 per cent, $50
will be the normal value of the cow.
Kow assume the quantity of money to bc doubled; and
in accordance with the quantity theory, prices, too, will be
doubled. What, then, will be the result? Doe will calculate
as before, but with all prices doubled he will find his surplus
also doubled; i.e., $6. Clearly, then, he can now afford to
pay $6 a year for the amount of purchasing power required
to secure his possession of the cow. But the rate of interest
will remain unchanged, both becausc he can now get $100
of purchasing power as easily as he could before get $50, and
because the price of the cow has now doubled with other
prices, and stands at $100. And $6 is 6 per cent of $100, just
as $3 is (j per cent of $50.
If now we have succeeded in banishing forever from the
mind of the student the fallacy that the interest rate varies
with the amount of money in circulation, we may go on to
explain how interest really is determined.
414 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Demand and Supply. - In the first place, it is probable
that all economists would agree that interest, which expresses
the annual value of the use of capital, is determined, as is
all value, by the relation between the demand for capital
goods and the supply of them. Where there is a strong
demand for a limited supply of such goods, the marginal
utility of the capital will be high, and the capitalist can exact
a large return in the form of interest. If the demand for capi-
tal be slight relatively to the supply, then the rate of interest
will be low. l\Ianifestly, however, this does not carry us
far upon our way. 'Ve proceed to inquire what it is that
determines the demand and supply.
The Productivity Theory. - Investigation of the demand
for capital brings us to one theory of interest which has been
widely accepted, - the "productivity theory." To the
older economists, who regarded most economic questions
from the point of view of the business manager, it seemed
sufficient to say that interest is paid because capital is pro-
ductive, and that the amount of interest is determined by
the degree of productiveness. From the side of demand we
may agree that the productivity theory does give us an
explanation of interest. When capital is very productive
there will be a great demand for it.
The Marginal Productivity Theory.-In recent years a
development of the productivity theory has been brilliantly
advocated and widely accepted; this is the theory of mar-
ginal productivity. It is essentially an application of the
marginal utility analysis to the explanation of interest.
The utility of capital, we know, is not immediate, as in the
case of consumers' goods, but intermediate; entrepreneurs
use capital not to eat or wear, but to help in making things
to eat and wear. And of capital, as of labor, it may be said
that it is subject to the law of diminishing productivity;
the more there is of it, in proportion to the other factors, the
Ill; 'I'E 1] ES T
415
less productive will any part of it be. For this there are
two reasons: (1) If the amount of capital be increased by
the entrepreneur, while the factors with which it cooperates
are left unchanged in quantity, the physical product, although
increasing, will not increase proportionately with the increase
of capital. Thus, if a thousand workmen at the same task
be supplied with increasing quantities of implements of pro-
duction, they will, it is true, continually increase output, but
not in proportion to the increase of their equipment. Sooner
or later the entrepreneur will find it unprofitable to usc any
further units of capital. (2) The increased output is sub-
ject to the law of diminishing u t i l i t ~ , . Its marginal utility is
therefore lowered and in the same degree the exchange value
of the product is lowered. Briefly, then, it may be stated as
a law of capital: other things being equal, everyincreasc vf
capital results in a lowering of its marginal value productivity.
Adherents of this theory go on to add that, in the actual
world, capital receives in interest an amount equal to the
value it produces at the margin. While the productivity
theory, and still more the marginal productivity theory,
may offer for some purposes a good way of explaining why
men can and will pay interest, it does not explain why they
must do so.
The Abstinence Theory. - To understand why interest
must be paid, we have to investigate the subject of the supply
of capital, and this brings us first to the so-called" absti-
nence theory." It has been said by some economists that
interest is sufficiently explained when it is described as the
wage or reward for abstinence. As we have seen, capital is
the result of a special production made possible by saving.
Saving or abstinence may not in any particular instance in-
volve a great degree of suffering. lVlillionaires who do
not consume at once and finally all that they have, are not
thereby made to suffer the pangs of hunger. It may be,
416 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
indeed, that they would have great difficulty in consuming
any large part of their goods. But saving does mean, none
the less, the consumption of less than one might consume.
We cannot have capital if all men consume all the goods that
they can obtain.
It may help us to understand the relation between saving
and interest if we think of actual saving as being the result
of varying degrees of self-denial. There are probably many
persons who would rather put by part of their present goods
even if they could not thus obtain interest, or even if they
had to pay a slight amount for the safe-keeping of their
savings. If very little capital were required, therefore, the
interest rate might fall to zero, since those who wished to
save would be glad to lend their goods with a simple guaran-
tee of repayment. But if capital is highly productive and in
great demand, it will not be possible to secure the desired
capital from thc savings of those whose abstinence represents
no sacrifice. It may be that when more capital is demanded,
an increase which will bring the productiveness of the capi-
tal and the abstinence necessary to its formation into equi-
librium may be effected at a rate of one per cent. Suppose
that through inventions, discovcries, etc., the productiveness
of capital is still further increased. Then those who wish
to engage in productive enterprises will be able to pay a
higher rate and will increase the demand for capital.
On the side of supply, other things being equal, those who
had saved just the needed amount of capital at one per cent
must be paid a higher price if they are to undergo the added
sacrifice necessary to the accumulation of more capital. This
explanation should make it clear that on the side of supply
the interest rate corresponds to the mnrginal estimate of the
sacrifice represented by the marginal ill vestment. The rate
thus fixed also equalizes the sacrifice of the marginal investor
with the productivity of the marginal eapital in use.
INTEREST
417
The Foregoing Theories only partially explain Interest.-
It is the general opinion of economists that thc three theories
that have been explained do not really go to the root of the
matter.
We say that capital is productive and hence bcars interest.
But why, fundamcntally, is it productive and of what is it
productive? Strictly speaking, capital is not productive at
all. To say that capital is productive is merely a short way of
saying that human labor produces more by the use of capital
than without. But granting that in this sense capital is
productive, what is it that capital produces? Generally
the things that it " produces" are quite different from itself.
Machines make shoes. Railways carry goods and persons.
How can we compare the shoes with the machines, or the
railway product with the railway equipment?
Obviously, if we are to explain interest by any productivity
theory, we must elaim that the aggregate value of the things
produced is greater than the value of the producing agents,
and that this diffcrence in value is the interest. But have
we any right to (lssume that the value of the product is
greater than the value of the agent? To be sure, we know
that the difference in value exists. But, by the same token,
we know that there is such a thing as intercst. It is admitted,
too, that the dZtference in value and interest are one and the
same thing. But the real problem for us is to explain why
there is this difference in value, which is admittedly interest.
Why docs the value of the aggregate product of capital ex-
ceed the value of the capital itself? Certain economists
explain that the marginal productivity theory is a sufficient
explanation of the interest problem from the point of view
of demand, but that it needs to be supplemented by a cor-
responding theory from the point of view of supply; other
economists hold that the real explanation of interest lies
deeper, and that a theory, rightly conceived, must f,xplain
418 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
both the supply side and the demand side of the interest
problem.
The authors of this book agree that the theories already
stated are only partial explanations. They are "true"
in so far as they help us to sum up and understand large
numbers of economic facts in a simple way, - in so far as
they are useful and usable. For many purposes, indeed,
they are probably more "usable" than the "Austrian"
theory, which we shall next explain. But the Austrian theory
includes in its scope more economic facts, and rests upon a
deeper, stronger, and more philosophical foundation.
The Austrian, or Agio Theory, of Interest. - What is it
that determines the rate which the marginal investor will
regard as just repaying him for his saving or abstinence?
And what is it that causes the value of the aggregate prod-
uct of capital to be greater than the value of the capital
itself? These qucstions both find a common answer in the
agio theory of intcrest, which is usually associated with
the name of Professor von Diihm-Dawerk, onc of the leaders
of the so-called Austrian or psychological school of econo-
mists. It is spoken of as the "agio" theory - from the
Italian "aggio," meaning discount - because it finds the
explanation of interest in the fact that future goods are dis-
counted in terms of present goods. What this means we
shall immediately explain.
Why is it t!mt men-fer instance, the marginal investor-
will not give SSO eow for SSO ten vears hencc, even thou:.;h
all risk should be amply covered by insurance? Why will
the marginal invcstor not lend his monev unless he is paid
interest, even when the loan involves' no risk? Simply
because desire, 1chich is the source of value, is stronger for things
near than for thinrlS far au'oy. And why is it that the yalue
of goods produced bv machinery is found after deduction of
.- ~ ,
amounts representing all other expenses of production, to
INTEREST
419
be greater than the value of the machinery itself? Because
these goods satisfy wants whose intensity is great enough to
induce consumers to pay such prices as yield the entrepreneur
a surplus sufficient to pay the interest on the capital he bor-
rowed and converted into the machinery.
Human experience in a thousand lines furnishes abun-
dant proof of the lure of the present. The wants of a man
are like Esau's hunger. The man would rather have - he
yalues higher - a mess of pottage now than a whole inherit-
ance in thc future. "A bird in the hand is worth two in
the bush." Distant enjoyments are vague to men's minds,
while near ones are yivid and tempting. Thus it is that a
man will rarely give present goods for future goods of like
kind and amount; hence future guods are less valuable than
present goods, - they are at a discount in terms of present
goods. Therefore, in order to secure present goods as a loan,
the borrower must pay the difference. THs difference is
interest.
On a moment's reflection it becomes apparent that there
is the greatest diversity among indi\'iduals in the compara-
tive estimates they place UPOIl the present and the future.
(1) This is in part a matter of civilization. Tra \'elers ha\"e
again and again pointed out that among primitive peoples
there is the utmost recklessness and improvidence of the
future. They will not wait until the future to enjoy satis-
factions which they can haw to-day; without waiting there
can be no saving. Hence, if amoIlg savages interest were
demanded or allowed at all, the rate would be very high.
(2) However, even among civilized men the comparative rall/a-
tion of present and f1lture enjoyments varies 1/idely. Some
are almost as reckless of the future as is the savage; some,
on the other hand, would gladly exchange a quantity of
present goods for a like quantity, or even for a smaller quan-
tity, assured to them in the future. The provident class
420 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
would, therefore, wait and save even if the rate of interest
should fall to a very low figure. But between these two
extremes are the majority of people, for whom waiting is a
sacrifice. They can be induced to save only by the pay-
ment of a premium or reward, i.e., interest. (3) Finally,
the comparative valuation of present and future enjoyments
varies widely according to the affluence or wealth of the indi-
1'/dl/al. What we must have to satisfy the pangs of hunger
i, evidently more highly valued if obtainable to-day than the
same things can be if obtainable only at a future time.
Other things being equal, the poor man will value the present
more highly than will the millionaire. The man whose
income barely suffices to satisfy his physical requirements
cannot save, no matter how high the interest rate may be.
The agio theory sums up for us hriefly a multitude of
facts bearing upon both the supply of capital and the demand
for it. Saving, or investment, and productivity are both alike
due to the differenee in value between present and future goods
of like hind and amount. The interest (or agio) is due to this
difference. And the rate of interest is determined by the mar-
ginal difference, i.e., by the estimate on the part of the marginal
saver, of the sacrifice involved in his 11.'aitil1g.
Just one other illustration. Suppose that with the interest
rate standing at a certain point, something occurs to change
the minds of the investors. Suppose them all endowed in
equal degree with increased foresight of possible future pleas-
ures and pains. At once in the minds of all there is less dif-
ference in their yaluation of present and future goods. They
value the future more highly, and by necessity, since yalue
is relatiw, t h e ~ ' value the present less highly than they did
before. To put it concretely, suppose the future which they
value more hig-hly than before is represented by a machine;
and the present which they value less highly than be-
fore is represented by the goods it produces daily. The
INTEREST
421
value of its aggregate product falls. Those who have been
saving save more, and many who have not saved before now
join the ranks of investors; this means, as we explained in
a previous chapter, that thcy spend relatively more for fu-
ture goods and less for present goods. Thereby they bid
up thc price of machines and depress the prices for the
product of machinery. From this concrete statement the
student may see how thc difference in comparative valuation
of present and future goods determines (1) the supply of
capital, (2) the demand for it, and (3) through the interac-
tion of supply and demand, the rate of interest.
Summary. - Let us now retrace the steps we have taken
and state in summary form the theory of interest which has
been developed. Interest is determined primarily by the re-
lation between the demand for capital and the supply of it.
The demand for capital is determined by its marginal produc-
tivity. The supply is determined by the marginal sacrifice
involt'ed in postponement of consumption, or waiting. The
rate of interest equals, and is determined by, the marginal saver's
estimate of the sacrifice involved in his waiting. But the com-
petition of lenders alld borrowers in the loan market makes the
rate of interest tend to coincide with the marginal productivity
of capital.
Different Loan Markets. - As we stated at the beginning
of this chapter, capital may be defined as the produced in-
struments of production. The loans that lead all others
in the modcrn world, and that exercise a controlling influ-
ence upon interest, are (1) loans for the purpose of acquiring
and maintaining capital eqU1:pment for purposes of production.
Though the loan is usually made in the form of money or
credit, it is not the supply of money that controls the market
for such loans. If the capital goods could be secured directly,
it would be even better and more economical. All that has
gone before in this chapter, therefore, is in explanation of
422 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
interest and the rate of interest on loans for the purpose of
acquiring capital cquipment.
There are, however, (2) loan markets in which money itself,
or credit, may practically be regarded as the real end and object
of the loan. In the "money streets" of great financial
cities men are regularly incurring obligations which can be
met by money or credit payment only. If one were to offer
them any form of capital equipment, the goods would be re-
fused unless they could be exchanged at once and without
loss for money or credit. In these narrow markets, it may
in truth be said that the rate of interest dcpends upon the
supply of money and credit and the demand for them in
those markets. And it must further be admitted that in
those markets, in an unusual degree, the amount of credit
depends upon the amount of moncy, largely in the form of
gold or gold certicates. As the reserves accumulate, the
banks find it necessary to lower the short time interest rate,
in order to profit by the credit that they may safely build
upon the reSCTves. And it thus happens that extreme fluc-
tuations in interest rates occur in such markets, even within
short intervals of time. Thus the" street" in New York
has seen the "call rates" fluctuate within a few months
from 1 per cent to 100 per cent. But the prime reason why
loans are in demand is that the desired amount of money or
credit may be converted into capital equipment and utilized
by a capable entrepreneur, i.e., made productive; hence it
cannot be too strongly emphasized that the student should
keep the thought of money or credit entirely out of mind
when he is considering or discussing the general problem
of interest.
The interest paid on (3) loans of wealth which is not capital
- used not for purposes of further production but for
consumption-is governed by the rate of interest paid for
capital. It is the same percentage of value. The obvious
INTEREST
423
reason is the power of the owner to sell his non-capitalistic
goods and invest the proceeds in capital goods. Thus if we
should adopt the view that houses are not capital, but simply
"consumers' goods," we should have the rate of interest
on loans for home-building governed by the forces control-
ling the rate of interest on capital.
Practical Circumstances affecting the Rate. -There is
both a real and an apparent fluctuation in the interest rate
from place to place and from time to time. The apparent
fluctuation is due to the inclusion of insurance against
risk in a single rate with the real interest. Thus loans on
good security always command a lower rate than loans on
doubtful security. This simply means that a man who takes
some risks as to getting his money back adds to the pure
interest a prcmium to cover the risk. Gross interest, then,
includes the two elements of net or pure interest, - payment
for the loan itself, - and insurance against risk of loss, or of
trouble in collection. Naturally, therefore, interest tends
to be higher in uncivilized countries and backward commu-
nities. It also follows that every suggestion of repudiation of
public obligations or proposal to repay in cheap money, raises
the rate of interest borrowers must pay. Again, loans that
run for years usually command a slightly lower rate than
loans made for months, because with such loans the lender
is saved the trouble of frequent reinvestment. Aside from
these conditions, moreover, a steady diminution of pure or
net interest occurs in most civilized countries. This last
change is due, not so much to lessened risk as to the decreased
valuation of present as compared to future goods. Present
wants, being better satisfied, are less clamorous and contrast
less vividly with future wants. Moreover, providence in-
creases with civilization. The lowering of the pure interest
rate means that the great body of people are both less needy
in the present and more thoughtful of the future.
424 ELEJIENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
The Recent Rise in the Interest Rate. - ''Ie began our
discussion of interest with the careful explanation that it is
determined fundamentally, not by the supply of money, but
by the supply of capital. Later we qualified this by explain-
ing how in the pure" money" markets of financial centers,
the rate of interest varies inversely with the volume of im-
mediately available money and credit. The student may
ha ve a moment of amazed impatience when now he is finally
told that, ?mder certain circumstances, interest varies directly
with changes in the volume of money and credit. Yet precisely
this must now be said and explained. Between 1900 and
1920 there 'YaS an almost uninterrupted rise in the rate of
interest on long-time loans represented by such securities
as bonds. Bonds paying as low as three and four per cent,
or even less, could be sold at par in the opening years of the
century. Those same bonds have recently sold at a heavy
discount, so that the purchaser at the lower price receives an
interest yield on his investment rising to six per cent or over.
And bonds of some great and successful corporations have
lately bccn offered at rates of seven per cent or more in order
to sell at par.
\Ye have already explained in another chapter the re-
I!larkable rise in the general price level that has resulted
from the great increase of money and credit in the years
from 1897 to 1920. During most of that period manufac-
turers were buying materials and labor at the price level of
cne period and selling the finished product at the price level
of a slightly later time. Broadly speaking, there was a
continually recurring gap between the two price levels, which
redounded to the advantage of the manufacturer. Under
such circumstances, b u s i n e ~ s men were more keenly competi-
tive in the urgency of their demand for the world's stock of
ca pital goods, and this sharpened demand tended constantly
to force up the price paid for the use of capital, i.e., interest.
INTEREST
425
On the other hand, as we have explained in the chapter
on Money, inflation of money and credit lessens the purchas-
ing power of money. A man who put $1000 into a savings
bank in 1900 would find when he withdrew it in any subse-
quent year that he was getting back less purchasing power
than he had originally put in. Under such conditions, long
continuing, there would be a tendency for those who saved
to avoid saving unless induced to do so by a higher rate.
And this higher rate, as we have seen, business men would
be led by keen competition to pay.
This same phenomenon may also be explained from the
point of view of the agio theory of interest. Steady and
long-continuing rise of prices results in an increase in the rel-
ative value of present as compared with future goods, thus
affecting in the same way as we have described the economic
calculations of those who usc capital and of those from whose
sa ving the capital is derived.
III conclusion, it should be emphasized again that the rise
in the interest rate was really a ehange in the rate paid for
eapital loans, due to a new equation of capital demand and
capital supply. The new equation was caused by a great
and long-continued change in the value of money.
Usury. - The word" usury," once applied to all interest,
is now applied only to interest in excess of the rate allowed
by law. The question whether laws should be framed
limiting the rate to be received and fixing penalties for vio-
lation has been mueh discussed. Economists are generally
agreed that the state should not attempt to establish a
rate, except so far as it can confine the action of the law to
loans to the needy for personal eonsumption. In cases of
this kind the experience of the world is increasingly in favor of
regulation.
One effect of usury laws is worthy of special notice.
When the law has established a fixed rate, under pen-
426 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
alties, it may happen that law-abiding people will be un-
willing to make loans at the legal rate, and that those who
are willing to violate the laws will thus have an added reason
for charging a higher rate than they otherwise would. Com-
petition among lenders is lcssened, and the risk of lending
is increased. Both these items act in the direction of exces-
sive rates. Though many countries have laws designed to
preyent the taking of excessive interest, the commercial
world, which is regulatcd in great measure by the honor of
business men, commonly proceeds in disregard of the law's
penalties. Those who borrow at excessiye rates do so will-
ingly and knowingly, and are in honor bound not to appeal
to the law to escape their just debts.
SUMMARY
1. Interest is the reward paid for the use of capital.
2. Capital differs from land in that it is produced. Social capital con-
sists of all producers' goods.
3. Speaking generally, interest is determined by the relation between
the supply of capital and the demand for it, at a point or rate
which equalizes the supply and the demand.
4. The demand for capital depends upon its marginal productiveness,
the value of its product.
5. The supply of capital depends in general upon its cost of produc-
tion, i.e., upon the sacrifice involved in postponement of consump-
tion by the marginal saver or investor.
6. The cost of postponement of consumption arises from the fact that
men regUlarly value the present more highly than the future, and
the cost is therefore measured by the extent of this higher valua-
tion.
7. The same difference in value of present and future goods explains
why capital is "productive."
8. Capital loans should be distinguished carefully from loans of money.
9. The interest rate, as ordinarily quoted, really measures the return
for risk as well as the return for capital, which is pure interest.
Both gross interest and pure interest tend to fall with advancing
civilization.
INTEREST
427
10. During periods in which an increase of money and credit results
in a Eteady rise in general prices, the rate of interest on long-
time loans rises to offset loss in the capital value of the loan.
11. Penalties on usury are effective only within a very narrow range.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. What are the differences between capital and land j the resem-
blances?
2. What is interest? How was the taking of int.erest regardcd in
early times?
3. What is the supply and demand theory of interest? What is the
marginal productivity theory? What element of truth does it
contain? What is the abstinence theory? What element of
truth does it contain? What is the Austrian theory? Are
these theories nccessarily contradictory?
4. State in summary form the complete theory of interest.
5. Is it right to say that the cost of capital is abstinence? What is
meant by marginal investment? How do relative valuations
of present and future compare in the case of children and adults j
of children and savages j of rich and poor? What relation haq
this to interest?
6. Show in detail the services rendered to production by capital.
7. What diffcrcnt loan markets are to be distinguished? How IS
the" rent" of houses determined?
8. What two elements are there in t he ordinary interest ratc? What
is pure interest? 'Vhat two reasons are there far a fall in the
interest ratc with civilization?
9. 'Vhat is usury? What arc usury laws? In what cases are usury
laws beneficial?
10. Why has the interest rate on bonds risen since 1900?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
l. The word" interest" is of Latin What is its original meaning?
2. Could t he rent of an acre of land be represented as interest?
3. What would be the effect on interest of an instantaneous doubling
of the world's capital j af increasing the efficiency of the present
stock of capital?
4. Explain the differences in rates of interest in different sections of
the United States.
428 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
5. If the present product of industry in the United States were more
evenly distributed, what would be the effect upon saving; upon
productivity of capital; upon relative values of present and
future goods?
6. What are some of the effects of war on capital and investment?
LITERATURE
See list of works cited at close of Chapters XIII and XXIV. Also:-
Biihm-Bawerk, E. von: Capital anri Interest, Translator's Preface, pp.
xix-x.x; also Positive Theory of Capital, Bk. V, eh.III, pp. 253-259.
Carver, T. N.: Principles of Political Economy, Chs. X.XXV, XXXVI.
Cbrk, J. B.: The Distribution of Wealth, Ch. XII, pp. 182-187.
Clay, Henry: Economics for the General Reader, Ch. XVIII, pp.
320-327.
Friday, David: Profits, Wages and Prices, Ch. V.
Walker, F. A.: Political Economy, Pt. IV, Ch. III, Pl'. 218-232 an:!
Pt. VI, 1.
All standard works on economics discuss these topics.
CHAPTER XXXII
PROFITS
EcmWMISTS recognize profits as a fourth regular share in
the distribution of the social income, though they havc not
agreed as to precisely how it is determined. The name
H profits" is 'commonly used to denote the total return to
the entrepreneur from the sale of his product, after the
payment of wagcs for the labor he employs and a further
payment for the land and capital he hires. These three
payments are fixed obligations which he promises, or con-
tracts, to pay. on the contrary, are not promised,
are non-contractual. The entrepreneur takes the risk of
making no profits. He may even incur a loss.
It is e\ident that the return to the cntrcpreneur is not a
simple one, but contains payments for scveral elements that
call for separate trea tment. \Ve shall therefore speak of this
return as gross profits, and inquire of what it consists, thus
leading the way to an understanding of the net return which
may be called, by contrast, pure or net profit.
t Rewards to Other Factors of Production. - 1. Interest.
- In the first place, it is e\ident that the return which the
entrepreneur receives is in part due to the factors of pro-
duction which he himself owns and uses in the business.
The return to his capital im'ested is really interest, as truly
as if it were to be paid to another person who owned the
capital instead of to the entrepreneur owner himself. In
estimating net IJrojits, therefore, careful bookkeeping will
429
430 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
deduct from gross profits interest on capital invested by the
entrepreneur.
2. Rent. - The same thing, of course, holds true of land
owned by the entrepreneur. Rent should be charged off in
the same way as to an outside owner.
3. Wages, including Wages of Superintendence. -The ele-
ment of wages and salaries of every sort must include, for
the entrepreneur himself, an amount sufficient to make him
feel that it is worth his while to continue the work he is doing.
This element should also, for scientific purposes, be separated
from gross profits in the calculation of net profits. Private
and public corporations do this regularly, and the practice
is frequent in those large non-corporate businesses in which
the entrepreneur is employed just as is any other laborer.
II. Charges of Maintenance. -1. Rcplacement Fund or
Depreciation Charge. - In the second placc, dcduction must
be made from gross profits of a Stirn suliicient to provide for
the maintenance of the capital, or its replacement, as it is
gradually used up, or as it is suddenly de:itroyed. l\lodern
business bookkeeping provides for the replace-
ment of gradual impairment by keeping a separate account
for what is called a maintenance fund. A man is facing
business ruin who takes and consumes as profits from his
plant what should be set aside for its upkeep and replace-
ment.
2. Insurance. - The same may be said of the
to provide against risk, which may be called insurance.
The amount of money which a careful business man sets
aside from the unusual gain,; of prosperous years to secure
himself against disaster from losses in lean years is not
profit. Insurance in this sense is much broader than insur-
ance against fire, hail, etc., for which a policy may be taken
out and a definite premium paid. It must be noticed that
when a separate charge is made to cover such risk, the allow-
PROFITS
431
ance for interest on the capital must leave out the part due
to risk which we have seen to be present in gross or market
interest; in other words, the interest will in such a case be
the pure i n t e r e ~ t .
Ill. Extra-personal Gains.-l. Monopoly Gains.-Evcn
with all these dcductions, the analysis is not complete. \Ye
must, in the third place, deduct extra-personal gains,-
gains which are not due to the efficicncy of the manager.
One of these sources of gain lies in the possession of a mo-
nopoly adyantage. l\Iollopoly gains are a separate item in
distribution, and if they are to be called profits, as they
frequently are, we must carefully distinguish the particular
nature of such profits.
2. Conjllnrtural Gains. - Closely resembling monopoly
gains in certain respects is a class of gains known in rcccnt
economic discussion as conjunctllral. As the name indicates,
these are extra-personal gains resulting from a favorable
conjuncture of circumstanccs, which could not liaL'c been fore-
seen. A simple instancc of such a gain is seen in the profits
made by many British merchants some years ago when the
death of King Edward VII created an unusual demand for
mourning goods. Stocks of black goods which the merchants
may have censured themselves for accumulating suddenly
became the source of considerable conjunctural gain. \Var,
and the sudden cessation of war, offer tremendous opportu-
nities for conjunctural gains or losses; a little investigation
in any community ,,:iII reveal innumerable instances of such
gains or losses during the World War - gains and losses due
to causes over which individuals had no control.
In instances like those just mentioned, the conjunctural
element can he plainly distinguished. But it often happens
that such gains are at least in part the reward of foresight
and energy, and are therefore to be classed as pure or net
profit. The man who makes a fortune by buying up subur-
432 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECO,\"OMICS
ban property in an unlikely neighborhood, because he has
had sufficient sagacity to foresee growth of population in
that direction, may claim with some reason that his gain is'
not conjunctural. Even more reasonable would his claim
be if, after buying the property, he himself directed the move-
ment of population in that direction by securing improved
rapid transit facilities and by other familiar expedients. In
real life all the otages between clever business foresight and
pure conjuncture are to be observed.
IV. Pure or Net Profits. - Our analysis, then, gives us as
our conccpt of pure or net profits all that is left after deduct-
ing the itcms mcntioned. Of course it will be understood
that not every business shows in its gross profits all these
different items. Sometimes it may even happen that there
need be no further deductions than those for wages and a
maintenance fund. But some of the other items are usually
present in the estimate of gross profits.
How Net or Pure Profit is Detennined. - Society mw:t at
any time pay for its goods a price sufficient to give even the
most inefficient manager whose services are necessary to the pro-
duction of the supply, an amount covering all necessary items
other than net profits. But no pure or net profits will accrue
to such a marginal entrepreneur. :l\10re efficient managers,
therefore, will be able to secure differentia,l profit, the
amount of the dztJerential ,in every case being determined by
the extent to which these entrepreneurs individually surpass in
efficiency the entreprenc11r of only marginal efficieney. This
differential is pure or net profit, and is a purely personal
gain - a return to superiority of management as such, inde-
pendently of monopoly advantage, favorable conjuncture,
or the mere labor of the manager as a superintendent. It is
a surplus, a residual income, and is the prize which business
men scek when they undertake entrepreneurship. It is the
great dynamic force in modern economic society; at its
PROFITS
433
best it is the reward for progress; and the entrepreneur
receives only a small portion of the total social gains.
Summary. - Let us summarize the considerations just
presented: -
Gross Profits
Reward to
other factors
of production
Charges of
maintenance
Extra-personal
gaIns
Net profit-
l Personal gains
{
Interest on entrepreneur's capital
Rent of entrepreneur's land
Wages far entrepreneur's service
{
Replacement fund
Insurance fund
{
:\1anapaly gains
Canjunctural gains
{ Differential or pure prafits
Pure Profit and Rent Compared. - This explanation of the
dptprmination of pure profit as a surplus due to the supe-
riority of a gi ven entrepreneur over the marginal or poorest
entrepreneur \\"ho can afford to stay in business at the cur-
rent price of the product, is, as the student will doubtless have
noticed, strikingly like the explanation of the determination
of rent. Thus, while wages and interest are price determining,
entering into the price of the product, rent and profits are
price determined.. they do not enter into the price of the
product. Pure profit has therefore been called, not inaptly,
personal rent, or the rent of managing ability. Again, as
with rent, it is interesting to notice the corollary: that it is
not the able managers, receiving large pure profit, any more
than the fertile land, receiving large rent, that makes the
prices of commodities high. If all land were of the highest
grade of fertility, the price of produce would be lessened;
and in the same way, if all managers were of the same order
of talent as our ablest managers, goods would be produced
at a lower marginal expense, and society would reap the bene-
fit in lower prices.
434 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
There is this marked difference, however, between the
rent of land and pure profits. The more fertile lands can
exert but little influencc in raising the quality of inferior
soils. But superior entrepreneurs are always tending to
make the knowledge and skill which are requisite for suc-
cess a matter of common property among business men.
As knowledge becomes more widely diffused throughout the
business community, as business becomes more
organized, falling more and more into routine, and as govern-
ments improve in regularity, firmness, and honesty, the
risks of entrepreneurship are correspondingly lessened. The
marginal expense of production and the resulting prices
tend to fall. Profits, consequcntly, tend to decline. But
so long as any profits are to be had, new entrepreneurs will
continue to enter the field, increasing the competition anel
the downward tendency that we have noted. In this sense
profit may be spoken of as " the lure that insurcs improve-
mcnt. "
Pure Profit and Monopoly Gains Contrasted. - In indus-
tries carried on under sharp and increasing competition,
pure profit rests upon a precarious foundation. If thc special
ability upon which the profit depends is such as cannot be
duplicated, the profit will perish with the single possessor;
if the special ability can be duplicated, rival concerns will
possess themselves of cntrepreneurs of equal cfficiency, and
the special advantage will tend to disappcar through compe-
tition. But, as we explained carlier in this chapter, certain
extra-personal advantages producing monopoly gains may
become the exclusive and permanent property of a business
organization. Their possession makes competition either
entirely impossible or possible only on terms which give to
the holder of the munopoly advantage a considerable difl't'rcn-
tial return. When such an advantage is enjoyed, the puwer
of (,Ollllwtitiull over price is removed; prices no lunger stand
PROFITS 435
at the point of cost; and a surplus over rent, wages, interest,
amI profits is a regular result. Unless there is interference
by legislation, there could be no outside influence to prevent
a monopoly from asking any price it pleased, subject only
to the action of the law of monopoly price which has been
explained in the chapter on l\Ionopolies.
Another sharp contrast between pure profit and
gains is this: Pure profit, being a surplus produced supe-
rior efficiency, is no burden to the community, and indeed, is
rather an ultimate advantage to the community; but monop-
oly profit, being a sheer surplus extorted by power and privi-
lege, is a source of actual loss to the community.
In passing judgment on big business to-day, therefore, it is
most important to discover whether the size of the business
and of its profits is due to some monopoly advantage or
advantages, or whether it is due simply to the unusual ability
of its managers.
Capital and Capitalization. - In considering monopoly
gains, it is important to understand the distinction between
capital and capitalization. Capitalization means the amount
at which a business or property is valued. The word is there-
fore used in the language of the market in two ways. It is
sometimes used (1) to describe the par value of the stock and
other securities issued by the company, as representing the
company' 8 nominal valuation of the business and its earning
power.
The word is also used (2) to denote the market or selling
value of the business or of its securities taken as a whole -
as a "going concern." Thus while a company may be
capitalized at $10,000,000 in the sense that its securities
have that par value, the market estimate of the value of the
business, as reflected in the prices paid for its securities, may
be much less or much more than $10,000,000. Capitaliza-
tion in either of these two senses may be many times the
436 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
amount of capital actually invested, since it is based, not
on investment or material cost, but upon earning power.
When we speak of current interest as being 5 per cent, we
mean that free and disposable capital can regularly command
that rate of return in competitive industry. Let us suppose
that the return on equally safe investments that are open
to all is about;) per cent, while the annual return to a great
oil company, which has actually invested S100,000,000 in
the business, is 50 per cellt. The b u s i n e ~ s may then be capi-
talized at $1,000,000,000. In this way the great earnings
on the actual investment may be made to appear as only 5
per cent on the capitalization. To those who are ignorant of
the difference between capital and capitalization, monopolies
can often, by such a plan as this, appeal successfully for
sympathy and support on the ground of insufficient earnings,
even when the return on their actual investment is many
times the market rate of interest.
As profits on new in vestments in competitive industries
fall, the capitalization of monopoly earnings may be raised
in proportion, cven without the investment of new capital.
For instance, if a monopoly has an earning power of S50,OOO
a year, the capitalization of this return at 5 per cent would
stand at $1,000,000. If, then, the current rate of interest
should faIl to 4 per cent, while the monopuly earnings suffered
no change, the capitalization of the monopoly, represented
by the market value of its securities, would rise to $1,250,000.
And yet it must be remembered that the owners of the
stock of monopolistic business oftcn include many persons
who have paid for their stock on the basis of the capitalized
value. Such persons do not therefore receive from the
monopoly any greater return than thcy would receive from
investments in competitive industry. It is only those ",ho
" get in on the ground floor," and who are thus enabled to
sell at the capitalized value stock which they have received
PROFITS
437
on the basis of actual investment, who divide among them
the capitalized monopoly earnings.
Criticisms of the Economic System based on Competitive
Profit-seeking. - 'Vc have spoken of profits as the" lure
that insures improvements." It is abo maintained that
the system of competitive profit-seeking is superior to any
possible substitute because entrepreneurs, seeking the best
means of gaining money profits, guide production into the
channels which yield the maximum satisfaction of human
wants.
On the other hand, it is easily maintained that the busi-
nesses yielding highest profits are not necessarily the busi4
nesses that prO\'ide for the greatest sum total of human
wants. To illustrate: (1) there may bc more profits in
producing a few expensiYe luxuries than in turning out ne-
cessities for the masses of the people; (2) the motive of prof-
its is influenced only by considerations of the immediate
future; it often leads to the wasteful exploitation of Ollr mines,
forests, and other resources; (:3) profits may lead to antiso-
cial forms of production, such as adulterated foods or the
liquor busincss; (-1) the profits rnoti\'e is inadequate to stimu
4
late all esscntial forms of production; organizcd social activity
mllst provide schools, parks, clean streets, and numerous other
utilities which show no prospect of immediate private profit.
1'\0 human can correct all these evils. Some
of them may he corrected and are being corrected by legis-
la tion and administration. Our pure food laws are an
illustration. Another illustration is the increasing social
control over our forests and mineral resources. But over
and above all that legislation and administration can accom-
plish is the necessity for higher standards of individual con-
duct. Without reform of the individual. the possibilities of
social reform are sharply limited. This brings us to the func-
tion of religion, which 'is beyond the scope of this treatise.
438 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
SUMMARY
1. The word "profits" as ordinarily used in business often includes
many elements of income which are not really profits. The
total surplus left in the employer's hands after the payment of
contract wages, rent, and interest shouh.! be called gross profits.
2. To obtain the net profits of a business there must be subtracted from
the gross profits; (1) a normal return for the employer's own
capital, land, and services, i.e., interest., rent, and wages of super-
intendence; (2) charges of maintenance, including f u n d ~ for
replacement and insurance; (3) extra-personal gains, including
those arising from monopoly and from chance.
3. The remainder, or the pure net profit, is a differential return due to
the superior ability of the entrepreneur, and is in many respects
similar to rent.
4. Pure profits tend to diminish, other things being equal, as education
becomes more widely diffused and as industry becomes more com-
plelely organized under regular routine.
5. Monopoly profit.s, on the other hand, have a more permanent char-
acter in the absence of government interference.
6. Under modern conditions of business, monopoly profits are often
disguised by their form of capitalization.
7. The competitive profit-seeking system has disadvantages along with
its distinct advantages.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. What are gross profits? What is the difference between gross
profits and pure profits?
2, N arne the deductions that must be made from gross profits to
arrive at net profits.
3. What is the replacement fund; insurance fund?
4. "'hat are the two classes of extra-personal gains? What is meant
by the word "conjunctural"? Mention inst.ances of conjunc-
tural gains that have fallen under your observation or that you
have met with in reading.
5. What caution must. he observed in estimating conjunctural profits?
6. Why are pure profits like rent? How do pure profits and rent rom-
pare as to their tendency to increase or decrease? 'Vhat effect
does competit.ion have in the long run on pure profits; on
monopoly profits?
7. Why is it that monopoly profits often appear to be only equal to
PROFITS 439
the normal interest rate? What bearing does this have upon
popubr opinion regarding monopolies?
II'hat is the difference between capital and capitalization? Ex-
plain the of capitalization.
What is the effect of a falling interest rale upon the capitalized
value of a monopoly privilege?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. I"hat effects upon profits are to be expected from general education;
indlL,trial education; the development of trade publications?
2. Trace t.he resemblance between profits and wages in the case of a
great singer.
3. How far is it possihle to di,co,"er the several distributive shares in
the financial statement of a railway or industrial corpomtion?
4. If industrial change and progress were to stop, would profits be
affected?
5. "'hat are some of the different ways in which the superior entre-
preneur may Jrulnifest his superiority? If an pntrepreneur who
excel. in marketing his product unites with an entrepreneur who
excels in f:letory managempnt., what results may be expected?
6. Are :there any eonspicuotL,ly profitable enterprises in your com-
munity? Di..clL'<S them under the chief heads given in this chapter.
I. As profits are a surpllL. over and above all expenses of production,
can it be said t}",t profits nrc determined by the marginal produc-
tivity attributable to entrepreneurship?
8. "Pure profit.. exist bpclllL,e competition does not work perfectly."
Di.clL,. this Btatement.
LITERATURE
See note on literature at close of preceding chapter. Also:-
Carver, T. K.: Principles of Political Ewnom!J, Gh. XXXVII.
Clay, Henry: for the General Ch. XVIII, PI'. 314- 320.
Ely, R. T.: Monopolies and Trusts, Ch. III.
Friday, David: Profits, Wage . and Prices, Chs. II-IV.
Jenks, J. ,,'.: The Trust Problem.
Marshall, Wright, and Field: Materials for the Study of Elementary
Economics, 224.
Meade, E. S.: Tru.yt Firwnce.
Report or the United States IndlL.trial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp.
724-730.
Taussig, F. W.: Principles of Political Economy (:lrd ed.).
Walker, F. A.: Principu:s of PoiitilXll Econolll/J.
CHAPTER XXXIII
SOCIALISM
The Relation of Socialism to Distribution. - In the pre-
ceding chapters we have explained how in the existing social
organization the annual produce of industry - the social
income - is distributed. As we stated at the outset, the
method of is intimately connected with the legal
structure of society, and particularly with the laws of prop-
erty. Society, as it exists ill all advanced nations, accepts
private property as its economic basis; in the great majority
of goods, privatc proprietorship or private appropriation is
not only permitted but encouraged. The result is the sys-
tem of distribution which has been described in the last five
chapters.
There are considerable differences in the laws about
property observed by different nations, and minor changes
are constantly being made; these differences and changes
result in corresponding differences and changes in distribu-
tion. It would take us too fnr afield to attempt to treat of
them in detail. But sociali5m, a plan for changing the very
foundation of our economic organization, commands to-day
so many enthusiastic advocates, that we cannot pass it by
silently in our analysis of economic theory.
Such a fundamental changc as socialists propose would
profoundly affect e\ery one of the four phases of economic
activity which we have chosen as the natural divisions of
economic analysi;;, - consumption, production, exchange,
and distribution. More pllrticularly in distribution, i.e.,
440
SOCIALISM 441
the division of the social income, has socialism been put for-
ward as a remedy for existing evils; we may, therefore, treat
the subject properly under this head. Many writers, indeed,
handlc the subject in direct connection with a particular
one of the shares in distribution, viz., wages, and with plans
for improving the status of labor. This is because of the
common assumption that the changes proposed by social-
ism ,yould especially affect labor and the wages of labor.
General Characteristics. - We have already described
some of the various changes in the relation of the laborer
to the product of his labor that have been tried or put for-
ward. It has been pointed out that one of these plans,
cooperation, may be voluntary; or it may be coercive, -
that is, ordered and controlled by the state. Now coercive
co(iperation is but another name for socialism. 'What, then,
is socialism? It is, in fact, coercive or compulsory coopera-
tion, not merely in undertakings of a monopolistic nature,
but in all important producth'e enterprises. Socialists seek
the establishment of industrial democracy through the agency
of the state, which they hold to be the only instrument for
accomplishing their end. They would expand the business
functions of government until all dominant kinds of busi-
ness are absorbed. They would have aJl such businesses
regulated by the people in their organic capacity, every man
and every woman having essentially the same rights as any
other man or woman. The Jlolitical organization based on
uni,"ersal suffrage would become also an industrial organiza-
tion.
Private property in profit-producing business and rent-
producing land would be abolished, although private property
in incomes would be in the main preserved. What is de-
sired by the socialist, then, is not, as is supposed by the unin-
formed, a division or diffusion of property, but rather an
increased concentration of a very large part of property.
442 ELElVIENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
The socialists do not complain that productive property is
concentrated too much, but they object that it is not yet
sufficiently concentrated. They therefore rejoice in the
formation of trusts and combinations, regarding them as a
development in the desired direction.
The Four Elements of Socialism. - There are four char-
acteristic features of pure socialism: first, the common
ou;nership of the means of production; second, the common
management of the means of production; third, the distribu-
tion of the product of industry by common authority; fourth,
private property in the greater part of income. Socialists make
no war on capital, strictly speaking. What socialists object
to is not capital, but the private capitalist. They desire to
socialize capital and to abolish capitalists as a distinct class
by making everybody, as a member of the community, a
capitalist; that is, a joint owncr of substantially the whole
of the capital in the country.
In support of this plan, socialists generally claim that labor
creates all wealth. :\0 rational socialist means by this to deny
that land and capital are factors or agents of production;
but, as they are only passive factors, the socialist holds that
their owners should not receive a share of the product simply
through such ownership. Man is the only active agcnt, and
all production is conducted for the sake of man. Socialists
admit that, with industry organized as it is now, the o'\\'llers
of land and capital must receive a return; and hence they
desire that these tools should become social property.
Distributive Justice. - The central aim of socialism, its
pivotal point, is distributive justice. While it seeks to in-
crease production by more efficient organization and better
methods, its leading thought is the just distribution of the
product. The ideas of socialists on the question of what
constitutes justice in distribution are not harmonious.
Some say that (1) eQuality meets the claims of justice; others
SOC! ALIS11J
443
urge (2) dUitribution in proportion to real needs, so that each
man may have the economic means for his fullest develop-
ment; while yet others say that justice demands distribu-
tion (3) in proportion to merit ur service rendered - but that
the service must be that of the individual, not of his
Socialism an Extension of Existing Institutions. - Before
the World War, civilized governments participated
in business enterprises. The English goyernment monopo-
lized the postal service, the telegraph, and the telephone;
nearly all governments, both local and central, controlled
roads; some governments owned canals and railways; many
possessed factories of various kinds, and probably all did
at least a little manufacturing; some governments culti-
vated arable land, and many of them also planted forests.
Also goyernments were in well-established touch with the
business world in other ways, such as: (1) the protection of
person and property; (2) the creation and guarantee of
certain special privileges; (3) the regulation of the terms of
contract and of competition; (4) participation in private en-
terprises by favorable tariffs, bounties, subsidies, ete.;
(5) the carrying on of certain ind ustrial processes, e.(I., the
construction and maintenance of roads, parks, lighthouses,
telegraphs, coinage systems, etc.
It was, however, during the recent life and death struggle
of nations that we witnessed an unprecedented invasion by
government of all the departments of economic life, and that
of production in particular. Under government regulation,
if not actual government management, society cultivated
the land, manufactured munitions and all other commodities
which \yere essential for" winning the war," operated ships,
railways and airplanes; in short, prosecuted as a unit all
the great industries. Only so much private industry was per-
mitted WI did not threaten the dominating power of society in
carrymg un
444 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOi'vllCS
I t must be admitted that most of these war time ventures
into socialized production were not wholly successful, from
the point of view of either production or distribution. But
we must bear in mind that these were emergency experiments
which it would be unfair to regard as real examples of how
socialism might be expected to function if deliberately in-
stalled by those who have faith in it. We may get a fairer
picture of how sociali"m might operate if we go back in our
minds to the normal years preceding the war, and imagine the
public activities then existing to be extended to the point
where society through its government would prosecute the
major part of those productive enterprises essential for satisfy-
ing normal peace time wants. Rational modern socialists
admit that many enterprises, such as the cultivation of small
areas of land, or the management of other small businesses,
would remain in private hands. To paraphrase a sentence
already used, we may say that only so much private industry
would be permitted as would not threaten the dominating power
of society in production and distribution.
Not All Public Business is Socialistic. - It must be ob-
served that not every public activity in relation to industry
is socialistic. Properly speaking, that only can be considered
socialistic which tends to render government dominant through-
out production. Does any proposed measure tend to the
suppression of production by individuals or by voluntary
cooperation, and to its absorption by the government?
Then it is socialistic; otherwise it is not. This is the only
way to distinguish between socialistic and nonsocialistic,
or even antisocialistic measures. It furnishes us with a
rational ground for judgment.
Are compulsory education and free schools socialistic?
By our test they are decidcdly antisocialistic; by developing
capacity for self-help they enable those who grow up under
their influence to make the best of existing institutions;
SOCIALISM 445
they are, indeed, a conservative force. Is municipal owner-
ship of gas works, electric-lighting \Yorks, or other natural
monopolies, socialistic? Not necessarily; for it may have as
its aim simplJ' the separation of the proper industrial func-
tions of private persons from the proper industrial func-
tions of the organized community. Was the War Finance
Corporation carrying on a socialistic in 1921? Its
large ad"ances of public funds to facilitate foreign marketing
of agricultural products were purdy for the purpose of putting
private producers in the agricultural industry on their feet.
Huge sums of public money haw been advanced to the rail-
ways under the Transportation Act, 1920. Is this social-
i,tic?
There is a sound principle - not socialistic - underlying
the modern tendency. The conviction is gradually being
forced both by theury and by experience that many indus-
tries which are natural monopolies will in the end he owned
and operated by guvernments, and that outside the field of
natural monopoly there is a sharply defined territory in which
business can flourish only in the atmosphere of private en-
terprise and competition. If we separate thus frankly and
rationally the private from the public- industrial. sphere, we
lay firmly the strongest possihle foundation for the existing
industrial order, instead of allowing men to drift haphazard
into socialism or chaos.
Economic Changes in a Socialist State. - Socialism makes
perhaps its most powerful claim ,\hcII it pleads, first, for a
scientific organizatiun of the productive forces uf 80ciety, and
second, for a just distribution of the social income from pro-
duction.
1. The Relation of Soc-lalls1/! to Prod1lction. - When the
opponent of socialism objects to that on the ground
that an equal division of the social income would result
in portions pitifully small for each individual, the socialist
446 ELE:I<,IENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
replies: "There is little to divide now, naturally enough.
Competition is wasteful. Two railways run where one would
be enough. Three times as many milk wagons, horses, and
drivers are required to serve the people with milk as would
amply suffice if the business were organizcd on the plan of
the distribution of letters and parcels. Look at the shops,
wholesale and retail, and note the waste of human force.
Millions of dollars are expended annually in advertising, and
this sum would be saved in the socialistic state. Without
competition, it is urged, the whole dry goods and grocery
business could be conducted with a third of the present
expenditure of economic energy. Reflect, too, on all the idle
classes in society, both the idle rich and the idle poor.
Socialism would find a place for every man, and would
put all into their proper place, and by making each de-
pendent on his own exertions for success, would stimulate
. "
our energies.
The socialistic argument continued in this strain is c o m ~ n c
ing to many people, but it does not bear complete analysis.
For example, money spent in advertising is not all sheer
waste; much of it brings returns of an educational.charac-
ter, and some of it undoubtedly rcsults in improvements in
production. Furthermore, such argument does not prove
its point unless we grant three assumptions: first, that pres-
entwaste a lid ,idleness cannot be suppressed a/together or dimin-
ished greatly without departing from the fundamental princi-
ples of our existing order; second, that in the advantages of
competition there are not social gains which more than outweigh
the social losses just described; and third, that socialism i8
practieable.
2. The Relation of Socialism to Dl11tl'ibution. - Distribu-
tive justice ad vances also a strong plea for the adoption of the
program of socialism. It cannot be claimed for a moment
that every man's income is now adjusted to his social service.
SOCIALISM
447
.An income proportioned to desert appeals to a sense of right
and fitness; but cannot we approach more closely to that
ideal than at present through social reform, without going
to the extreme of social reorganization? No doubt the idle
mall is morally a thief. He receives, but in return he gives
no personal cffort. Any man who has not earned the right
of repose by his O\VI1. past services, with fruitful physical or
mental toil, is a shameless eumbcrer of the ea:th, unless, in-
deed, he is incapacitated for useful employment.
We may derive hope from the fact that men everywhere
are coming now to recognize the social obligations resting on
the individual. Dr. James Fraser, late Bishop of Manchester,
expressed the idea in words the essential thought of which
is this: "lVlost of us are compelled by our necessities to
rell(ler service to our fellows. Some of us, however, have in-
herited or received money in some way without a return on
our part. vVe are placed by God on our honour. It becomes
a matter, not of physical compulsion, but of honour for us
to serve our fellows." What is here said would apply also
to those who become wealthy through the accidental discovery
of valuable treasures, such as oil, natural gas, or gold on or
under the soil which they own, or through unanticipated in-
creases in the value of city land. 'Yere YOU to receive an ac-
o
cession of wealth in such a way, the wealth would be yours in
the eyes of the law, but morally it would be simply a new op-
portunity for helping the progress of humanity. It is the clear
realization of this idea that has led not a few men of wealth,
especially in America, to endow uniyersities ano other insti-
tutions for the public welfare. This idea is eontaincd in the
epigram, now famous, of one of our richest manufacturers,
"To die rich is to die disgraced."
3 and 4. The Relation of Socialism to Exchange and Con-
sumption. - 'Ve cannot find the space necessary to discuss
all the economic changes that would appear in a socialistic
448 BLE1HENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
state. It must suffice merely to note that exchange and
cunsumption, as well as production and di"tribution, would
be revulutionized. A credit economy might supersede en-
tirely our present mixed money and credit economy; and
socialism, to be consistent, would have to make exchange
values accurately proportionate to costs in human labor and
in other sacrifice. Moreover, equitable distribution of a
largely increased product, if such increase could be achieved,
would be reflected in the amount and character of the goods
consumed. Particularly, it may be supposed that inclusive,
as contrasted with exclusive, enjoyment of wealth - that
is, enjoyment in cornmon - would, in the life of a people
socialistically organized, fill a much greater place than it
does with us.
The Weaknesses of Socialism. - In considering socialism
as a scheme for social reconstruction, a number of difficulties
are suggested. Prominent among these is (1) the probable
numbing effect of the system upon individual initiative and
energy. What motive to activity can take the place of the
desire for individual and family advancement through the
accumulation of private property? Another vcry gra,'e
difficulty lies in (2) the introduction of the requisite unity in
the organization and management of industry. In some in-
dustries where the work is of a routine nature, the problem
of organization may not be impossible of solution. Rut
in agriculture, which hitherto has resisted all efforts at cen-
tralization, and similar industries, large concessions must be
made to individual private management.
In the third place, (3) the socialist state would have the
herculean task of apportioning work of all conceivable de-
grees of difficulty and disagreeableness among the workers.
How could this be accomplished without engendering a
universal discontent that would be fatal to the 'plan at its
first inception?
SOCIALISM 449
Again (4) the danger to personal freedom under the pro-
posed system seems very real. Up to a certain point, it is
true, government seems to improve as its functions increase
in number and importance; but we have recently seen the
administratin machinery of the government well nigh break
down under the tasks imposed upon it. "'e may grant, for
argument's sake, that under socialism, as our very livelihood
would depend on the efficiency of government, all the force
and energy that are now expended in private service would
be diverted into public channels. But what would happen
if, in spite of all precautions, some unscrupulous combina-
tion should secure control of the state? ","ould there remain,
inside or outsidc of the gOYernment, standing ground for
eifecti\-e, yet pacific, opposition? It is to be feared that
there ,yould not. Dissatisfaction would exist, for human
nature is such that man cannot be thoroughly satisfied with
his surroundings. The danger is that, without proper meum;
for its expression, this dissatisfaction would grow and spread
beneath the surface of society, until, ha\-ing no other vent,
it would at last issue in revolution.
Finally, we may lay down thc general rule that (.5) the
domination of a single industrial principle is dangerous to
civilization. Many writers have pointed out that it was the
dominance of a single social principle that led to the down-
fall of the old civilizations. What is needed is a coordina-
tion of the two principles, - the principles of prinltc and of
public business. It is desirable that some should serve the
public in an official capacity, for some men are specially
adapted for that work; hut it is equally desirable that an
ample field should be left for those who prefer priyate initia-
tiYe and activity. Our present system, much as it may necd
reform, offers opportunity for coordination of these two prin-
ciples; socialism would not.
But it is as difficult to predict the ways in which socialism
450 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
would fail as it is for the socialists to say definitely how it
would work, and this suggests their real weakness: they
venture to forecast the course of economic evolution too far
in advance. Certainly we must have ideals and look forward
to the future, but we are unable to say very long before-
hand what will be the best means of attaining these ideals.
The hope that a juster distribution of wealth will prevail,
and that income will represent more and more fully social
service, is cherished by many who do not call themselves
socialists; such persons prefer to concentrate their efforts
on practical social reform rather than to dissipate their
encrgies on more or less futile schemes for social reorganiza-
tion.
Our Debt to Socialists. - Socialists have rendercd society
a real service by calling attention to pressing social problems;
by forcing us to reflect upon the condition of the less fortu-
nate classes; by quickening our consciences; by helping us
. to form the habit, not yet generally acquired, of looking at
all questions from the standpoint of public welfare and not
merely from that of indiyidual gain; and finally, by calling
our attention to the industrial functions of government.
Under their leadership wc are learning to make a rational
separation of the sphere of private industry from that of
public business.
Socialism not Anarchism. - Socialism has been described
as industrial democracy established and controlled by govern-
ment. It is evident, therefore, that the socialist would give
to government the greatest possible authority. At the op-
posite extreme stands a proposed system, anarchism, which
is strangely enough often confused by the ignorant with so-
cialism. Anarchism 1could do away with government entirely,
leaving all activity to individuals acting voluntarily; socialism,
on the contrary, would lessen the sphere of individual initiative,
leaving the greater part of industrial activity in the hands of
SOCLtLISM
451
government. In the main, therefore, anarchism and social-
ism are antithetical. Yet there are some anarchists who be-
lieve that, were goycrnments abolished, individuals would
freely of their own accord form cooperative groups which,
having federated, would manage all production. Anarchy
is, in the minds of most thinking people, inconceivable.
Communism, Socialism, and Collectivism. These three
terms are used with such a variety of meanings and so inter-
changeably that it is extremely difficuit to separate the ideals
for which they stand. In general, it m a ~ ' be said that social-
ism is the more conservative term and that communism is
the more radical tcrm. Socialism is a term that would gen-
erally be employed to describe their ideas by those ",ho
favor retaining private property in income or consumption
goods and who would be willing to allow a certain minimum
of private property even in production goods. Communism
is employed sometimes to designate the scheme of those who
would be less inclined to allow private property in income.
Some writers have used communism to designate schemes
of radical social reforms that employ violence, as distin-
guishcd from the more peaceful and conservath'e plans
of reconstruction contemplated by socialism. We cannot
in this place enter further into the distinction between thesc
various terms. Should we trace out historically the meanings
that have been attributed to them with all of the small shades
of distinction, it would double the length of the present
chapter and be out of place in an elementary treatise. There
is a constant shift in the w a ~ ' that these terms are used, and
what would hokl to-day might not hold to-morrow.
Russian socialism furnishes an illustration of sudden
chancres in the terms used bv radical reformers. Socialism has
b
been coupled with democracy and has in the past been \'ery
generally supposed to mean democracy carried into industry.
In Russia, however, socialism has rejected democracy and has
452 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
become the dictatorship of a class, and has received in so
doing, to an astonishing degree, the approval of radicals in
other countries.
Collectivism is a name which many socialists of recent years
have favored as a designation of their program. Sometimes
they have chosen the term in order to escape the odium which
in past years has been attached to the word socialism. The
term, however, seems to be passing out of use.
Divisions among Socialists. - Socialism is not only a
theory of society, but also a practical program. Socialists
are far from being of one mind, however, as to what ought
to be done to bring about socialism.
(1) Very early in the history of the movement there were
socialists with proposals so vague and impracticable that we
now speak of these socialists as utopians. (2) A small
minority of socialists believe that the advocacy of socialism
through the medium of the written and spoken word is suf-
ficient. To that group belong many of the Christian so-
cialists, who base their argument and their hope upon the
Christian Gospel. (3) There are some moderate socialists
who believe in working for an extension of the economic func-
tions of the government without altering present economic
relations. This is called state socialism. (4) In the last
quarter of a century a group of socialists in England have
developed the idea of guild socialism. By this they mean
that control and management of each of the various indus-
tries shall be turned over to the particular- workers of that
industry; all the workers, manual and clerical, superintend-
ents and others, are to be organized in a corporation similar
to the medieval guild. The Plumb plan for the operation
of the railways was an American adaptation of this variety
of socialism.* (5) Another minority group" seeks to ' per-
The" Plumb plan," so called from the fact that Glenn E. Plumh was
largely instrumental in its formulation, proposed that the control of tht>
saCULISM
453
meate ' with socialist principles existing political and other
organizations"; this group lwlieYes that socialists should be
active in politics, and favors action through any progressive
party, especially if it is a labor party. Such are the Fabian
socialists in England, who have adopted as their rule of ac-
tion, " Make haste slowly." (6) The preponderant majority
of socialists believe that socialists should not only take polit-
ical action, but should form a distinctive political party of
their own with a clear-cut socialist program. Yet even among
the political socialists there has arisen, during the past fifteen
years, a strong divergence of opinion. (a) The more radical
of them minimize the importance of immediate betterment
of the condition of the wage-earner, and look to the enact-
ment of the full socialist program as being by far the most
important aim worth striving for, even though it might not
be achieved for lllany rs to come. These socialists des-
ignate themselves as Marxists, or sC'ientijic socialists, and
are morc or less literal followers of Karl :Marx, who in his
large work, Capital, tried to show that socialislll is destined
to arrive in its timc through the evolution of the great under-
lying forces in industrial society: namely, the conccntrab;n
raihvays, as a war hy the national government. should
be continued \vith t.hc follnwing chief modifications. 0) that the gnH'rn-
mcnt acquire the roads outright by purchase, the needed fund:-3 to be derived
!rom the sale of government bonds; (2) that operation be intrusted to a
National Railways Operating Corporation composed of nIl offidal and all
classified employees of the roads; (3) that actual operation be in the hands
of a board of fifteen directors, chosen five by the oftlcial employees, nvc by
the classified employees, and five by the President of the United States;
(4) that this corporation lease the roads from the government, paying an an-
nual rental of five pcr cent of the valuation of the properties; (5) that rates
be fixed by the corporation subject to the approval of the Illterstate Com-
merce Commission j (6) that wages be determined by the board of directors;
(7) that disputes between officers and employees be adjusted by a jJint board
selected bv and from these two groups, wit.h the right of appeal, in case of
to the hoard of directors; (8) that the surplus, after pa.ying
operating ex;cnses and rental to the government, be divided equally between
the government and the employees; but, if instead of a surplus from the
year's operation, a deficit should result, that this deficit be assumed by
the government.
454 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECON01IHCS
of capital in a few hands and the growing misery of the work-
ing class under the capitalist system. (b) The moderate
faction of the political socialists, formerly known, particu-
larly in Germany, as the revisionists, questioned the cor-
rectness of the Marxian forecast and preferred to work for
legislation immediately beneficial to the working classes.
These factions, which, notwithstanding their differences, for-
merly cooperated in the Social Democratic Party, were
broken apart during thc war. The present majority party of
Germany, which has controlled the government since the
Revolution of 1918, appears to include most of the former re-
visionists; while the more radical group, the Marxists
proper, secm in the main to have joined the ranks of the
Independent Socialist party or evcn the Communist party.
In opposition to the political socialists and especially the
revisionists \ye find (7) the French syndicalists, who main-
tain that no political p a r t ~ is capable of keeping out conup-
tion from its midst. They believe in the "war of the
classes" and the "general strike," and would commit the
Dwnership and control of all industries to the workingmen
organized in syndicates or trade-unions, and loosely bound
together in the C.G.T. (the "Confederation Generale ell!
Travail "). Syndicalism has within recent years spread
rapidly to other countries. In the L"nited States it is repre-
sented by the so-called" I.W.W.," i.e., Industrial Workers
of the World.
Present Status of the Socialist Political Movement.
Socialism as a general political movement has been making
rapid strides in Europe within the last twenty years. It is
impossiblc to form an accurate estimate of the aggregate
number of political socialists at the present time, but certain
facts and figures are available which indicate the quick
growth and present status of the party. In Germany prior
to the outbreak of the Wod,l War, the Social Democratic
SOCL1LlSM
455
party polled nearly fOllr and a half millions of votes; since the
Armistice, in November, 1918, the majority socialists have
controlled the government wholly or in part. In Italy the
socialists returned in the election of 1919 about one hundred
and f i f t ~ , representatives to Parliament. In 1923, however,
the socialist and communist mo,'ements were practically
suppressed by the l\ationalists, or the Fascisti. In France
the socialist party polled nearly tll"O million ,"otes in 1919-
forty per cent more than at the last pre-war elcction. In
Belgium the socialists were the Illost numerous party in 1919,
and constituted a part of the coalition government; while in
S,,"itzerland they more than doubled their representation in
the l\ ational Council. The central socialist body for Great
Britain is the Labor party, which in 1920 reporter! a mem-
bership of three and one-half millions; some obsen'ers pre-
dict that the Labor party will come into control of the
gO\'ernment in the not distant future.
In tbe United States the 1var split the socialists into sev-
eral factions. The total party vote in 1920 was about
9,50,000; this does not inel ude the votes of smaller socialistic
parties such as the Socialist-Labor and the Farmer-Labor
parties. But the party membership in the united States is
much less than the number of socialist votes cast; it was es-
timated in 1920 that the combined membership of the Social-
ist, Communist, ancl Communist Labor parties was not
more than 100,000. At the present time it is difficult to
estimate the total socialist votc of the world.; it is safe to
say, however, that it is much greater than the estimated total
of 10,000,000 in 1916. But we shoulcl not overlook the fact
that, particularly in the United States ancl to a less degree
in other countries, many ,,ho vote for socialist candidates
clo so, not because the;-' are socialists, but because they de-
sire to express in a most telling way their discontent with
existing govcrnments. Prior to 1914 the socialists of all
456 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
countries were united into what was called the "Second
International," organized in 1889. As the war progressed,
however, many causes of dissension arose, which led to the
formation of rival organizations, notably the "Third Iu-
ternationul "; this body, with headquarters in Mosco\\',
incl udes the socialist groups of various countries which
indorse the soviet form of government.
Bolshevism. - vVe have already called attention to the
fact that there are many varieties of socialism. N aturallv
. .
the question arises: Is Bolshevism a form of sociali:;m?
One eminent authority has called Bolshevism "l\Iarxian
s02iali:;m in action," Undoubtedly its conspicuous leaders in
Ilussia are l\Iarxian socialists; they have brought that nation
to economic chaos, and complete demoralization. Land-
owners and other propertied classes have been ruthlessly
despoiled and in many cases exiled or slain; production
of the necessaries of life has been reduced to a minimum.
Terror, destruction, famine, and pestilence have succeeded the
socialist's dream of peace and plenty for all. Food is to be
had only under forced requisitions; the currency of the coun-
try is worthless; profiteering and class favoritism such as the
world never saw before is rife. Not property alone, but
other institutions of family and religious life, sacred in the
eyes of civilized peoples, have been flouted. If this is social-
ism, what an awakening must come to thousands of deluded
people in every land!
Unquestionably we are looking on the manifestations of
one form of socialism; and even though it be a hideous cari-
cature of the doctrine as held bv socialists elsewhere, this
philosophy as a whole cannot e\'ade a part of the responsi-
bility for the ghastly failure. Upon all those who support
any form of socialism, tbis tragedy imposes the dut? of ('on-
sidering their proposals as neyer before in the clear light of
unimpassioned reason. ,;Vhat the future holds in store for
SOCIALISM 457
socialism is extremely uncertain. The increasing number
of votes cast by socialistic parties does not mean necessarily
that the increase is to continue ill the future. A sudden
change in the program of socialism is seen in R.ussia and
may be accompanied by other surprises of a different sort.
There is some e\'idence of a conservative reaction. The
most conspicuous of these is seen in the movement in Italy
headed by Mussolini, the political leader of that country.
This movement is called Fascism, and those who adhere to
it are called the Fascisti. This is a strong reaction from
socialism to capitalism and has carried ",ith it many former
socialists, notably Mussolini himself. It is too early to say
how general this reaction will become, but it gives a caution
against over-hasty generalizations and rash predictions. Our
economic system has grown out of the experience of many
generations; but it is neither perfect nor immutable. Im-
provements are possible, and, in fact, are beillg realized year
by year. We must continue to build for the future on the
solid foundation of those institutions which experience has
shown to be good. This, and this only, is the way of all real
progress; we cannot break absolutely away from the past.
The true hope for a better economic order lies not in destroy-
ing, but in improving the present order.
SUMMARY
1. Socialism is coercive cooperation in produetion.
2. Socialists would permit private property in income, but not in
means of production.
3. Socialists claim that labor produces all wealth, and they aim at a
distribution bascd on justice.
4. Socialism is but an extension of existing institutions.
5. The strength of socialism lies in its suggested saving of waste, in its
proposal for a juster distribution, and in its demand for the recog-
nition of the social obligations of wealth.
6. Its weakness lies in its requirement of impossible human virtues.
7. Anarchism is really the opposite of socialism.
458 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
8. There are many differences of view among socialists, these dif-
ferences giving rise to distinct names for the different groups.
9. The political socialists of Europe have increased rapidly in number
and in power during recent years. But since 1914 they have
split into a number of factions.
10. There are evidences of a reaction against socialism, of which the
most conspicuous is the rise and pres('nt ascendencyof the
Fascisti in Italy.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. Define socialism; anarchism. What is Christian socialism; evo-
lutionary socialism; Fabian socialism; guild socialism; syndi-
calism?
2. How far does socialism abolish private property?
3. What effect would socialism, if successful, have on production;
on distribution; on exchange; on consumption?
4. What difficulties stand in the way of realization of socialism?
5. Why is it not right to say of every public interference in industry
that it is socialistic? When maya measure be called socialistic?
6. What is the origin of wealth according to socialists? Discuss this
claim.
7. Why is anarchism not feasible?
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Consider carefully possible answers to the question, commonly
directed against socialism: Who would do the "dirty work"?
2. Discuss the argument for and against the use of diamonds.
3. Discuss the possible bearings of socialism on the growth of popula-
tion.
4. Would universal education to the twentieth year of age be social-
ism? Would it bring about equality of income?
5. Would abolition of the right of inheritance be socialism?
6. Can society work toward equality of income without" taking from
those who have"?
7. Is it socially and politically desirable that there should be a closer
approach to equality of income than is the case to-day? Would
there be an economic gain?
8. What constitutional changes would be required for the introduction
of socialism in the l:"nited States?
45!)
9. Study conditions in yom own neighborhood and consider whether
or not, as to and others, they correspond to the
allegations of the ooeiaiists.
10. Name prominent poets and novelists and politicians who belong
to one or another of the socialist schools.
11. How much financial aid has been gi\'en the railways by the Lnited
States government under the Transportation Aet. of 1920? Look
up the total auvances of public money made by the War Finanre
Corporation, since and including 1921, to facilitate the foreign
marketing of agricultural products. Discuss the question whether
these activities have been socialistic.
12. Has the vast system of cooperative societies in Russia been a form
of socialism or a combination of small capitalists?
LITERATURE
Bloomfield, Daniel: Modern Industrial Movements.
Brooks, J. G.: The Social Unrest, Ch. VIII.
Carver, T. N.: Principles of Political Economy, Chs. XLV-XLVIII.
Cole, G.lD. H.: Guild Socialism, a Plan for Economic Democracy.
Ely, R. T.: Property and Contract in their Relations to the Distribution
of TV calth, especially Vo!' II, Appendix III, pp. 823-852, "Production,
Present and Future," by Dr. W. I. King; and also Socialism alld
Social Reform.
Enson, E. C. K.: JIf odern Socialism.
Hamilton, W. H.: Current Economic Problems (Revised ed.), 3i2-381.
Kirkup, E.: Inquiry into Socialism, and History of Socialism.
Laidler, H. W.: Socialism in Thought and Action.
Marshall, L. C.: Readings in Industrial Society, 13, 244 .... 245, 35.3.
Marx, I(urI: Capital.
Mill, J. S.: Prineiples of Political Economy, Bk. II, Ch. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Morley, H. (Editor): Ideal Commonwealths.
Rae, J.: Contemporary Socialism.
Skelton, O. D.: Socialism: a Critical Analysis.
Spargo, John: Karl Marx, his L'fe and Work; also numerous other
books and pamphlets.
Spargo and Arner: Elements of Socialism.
Walling, William English; Socialism as It Is; Progrcsl!'i . i..<m and .If,
and also Socz"li"", of To-day,
Webb, Sidney and Beatrice; The Consumers' Coiiperatiz'e JIOloeme1<'
Arguments against socialism are found in nearly all standard eeon .. ,
treatises, e.g., those by ::'hrshall, Taussig, Seager, Seligman.
BOOK IV
PUBLIC FINANCE
CHAPTER XXXIV
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE
Definition of Public Finance. - Public finance is the
SC1:ence or the branch of economics which deals with the revenues
and expendiiurcs of government and with their administration.
The name must be carefully distinguished from private
finance which deals with the revenues and expenditures of
an individual or a private business, and from corporation fi-
nance which deals with the revenues and expenditures of
private corporations The student is also cautioned against
referring the word, as is often mistakenly done, to the sub-
jects of money and banking, which belong to another part
of economics.
Early treatises in English economics usually had no special
part devoted to public finance, but included some observa-
tions on taxation in the treatment of other general topics.
It is true that the difficulty of saying anything satisfactory
about a subject so vast, within the scope of a few pages, is a
serious one; yet it does not seem scientifically satisfactory
to pass over one of the most important economic topics,
even in an elementary treatise. vVe shall therefore attempt
to give some impression as to the nature and scope of public
finance, while reminding the student that later and more
careful study of the subject should be carried on with the
help of some regular textbook entirely devoted to it.
460
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE 461
The Magnitude and Influence of Public Business. - Gov-
ernment business is the largest single business in every great
nation. So vast and so permeating is it that it affeets
vitally all other businesses. If our government should have
a large surplus every year, and should keep it out of eireu-
lation, we should shortly have a stringency in the money
market that would result in a terrible panic. Still another
feature of government business has an important bearing
on all private business: government to-day is the largest
single employer of labor, and henee profoundly influences
the conditions of employment elsewhere. The functions
of gOYernment are continuously expanding; hence questions
of public finance should command a larger share of attention
in the future than t h e ~ have done in the past.
The Magnitude of Public Expenditure. - The importancc
of public finance becomes more apparent when we consider
the magnitude of government expenditures in modern times.
The fact has often been cited that England's expenditure
iIlcreased fortyfold between 1685 and 18H, while her popu-
lation was increasing only threefold; but this is only one of
many equally significant facts. The annual national ex-
penditure of Great Britain, after a slight decrease following
the Napoleonic Wars, has increased quite regularly since,
rising from about $235,000,000 in 1833 to nearly::J;l,OOO,OOO,-
000 just before the outbreak of the World War, and close
to S2,OOO,000.OOO even as long after the war as 1921.
The Freneh Budget showed expenditures of a thousand
million franes, or about $200,000,000, in 1821 for the first
time, and the result was widespread alarm; yet no French
budget since that time has called for smaller expenditure,
and in 1913 the total annual expenditure of France and
her minor governmental divisions amounted to more than
five times the figure of 1821, while by 1919 it was swollen, as
a result of the war, to forty-nine times that figure.
462 ELElffENTA.RY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Growth of Expenditure in the United States.-The follow-
ing table shows a similar increase in the Federal expenditures
of the Vnited States.
FEDERAL EXPENDITURES OF THE UNITED STATES
(Exdnsive of "premiums," postal service, Panama Canal, and prin-
cipal of public debt)
EXPEN- INTEREST ON TOTAL ORDINARY
EXPENDI-
YE.-\.R
DITURES PTJBLIC DEPT EXPENDITURES
TURE8 PER
CAPITA
--
1793
S
5,896,000
8>
2,373,000 $ 8,269,000
$ 2.00
1800 7,411,000 3,402,000 10,813,000 2.04
1820 13,134,000 5,151,000 18,28.5,000 1.90
1840 24,139,000 174,000 24,314,000 1.51
1860 60,056,000 3,154,000 63,201,000
2.01
1870 164,422,000 129,2:35,000 293,657,000 7.61
1880 169,090,000 95,757,000 264,848,000 5.28
1890 261,637,000 36,OD9,000 29?,736,000 4.75
1900 447,553,000 40,160,000 487,714,000 6.39
1DlD 638,450,000 21,342,000 659,705,000 7.15
1914 677,390,000 22,8(j4,000 700,254,000 7.07
1916 701,593,000 22,900,000 724,493,000 7.08
1917 1,123,157,000 24,742,000 1,147,899,000 11.06
1918 8,769,005,000 197,527,000 8,966,532,000 85.38
1919 14,749,495,000 615,857,000 15,365,363,000 144.77
1920 5,117,721,000 1,024,024,000
I
6,141,745,000 57.72
1921
I
3,472,037,000 996,677 ,000 4,468,713,000 41.34
i
The diagram on page 463 shmn graphically the year by
year fluctuations of our national expenditures. The
amounts for the years 1918 to 1921 are so ehormous that
cannot be shown on the graph.
Causes of Growth. - It must not be thought that this
great increase in public expenditures is due to recklessness
or to dishonesty. On the whole, government has probably
improved during the last century; and it is significant that
where guvernment is most undoubtedly honest, there have
EXPE.VDITURE AND REVENUE 463
been larger increases than in many other quarters. The ex-
planation of the increase is not difficult. In the first place,
we must remember that population has been increasing more
rapidly than ewr hefore, and that mcrease 111
.,- . I I 'i, I '.:i'
..: I I i '--,.-,-+--+:::.q:=J-.-
:: ".1 -. -, -t-
1
'j"j
. . U 1919 15,365,363.000
1200. ; j 1920 6,141.715.0UO-
I' 1921
1125 . -T , __ _
1050
975
f 900

:s 825
Q
... 750
o
675
GOO
525
450
375
300
225
150
75
..
-'
,

1:-..1..---'-_ _ ____ _
r
I
I
i

h
J'
1840 '45 '50 '55 '00 'li,J '70 '75 '00 '05 "!JO U1.'O '05 '10 '15 '20
GrClph Showing Total Ordinary Expenflitures of tIl(> United States
Government, 1840-1921
expenditure does not mean a proportionnte increase in the
burden borne by individuals. Other causes are the drift
toward the city, the greater dmsity of population, the gen-
464 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
eral increase of wealth, higher standards of living, and higher
price levels. The increase of govcrnment expenditure is
less startling when compared with the growth of national
wealth per capita. Besides this, we must conclude that
governmcnt activity, while wiser than before, is also more
extensivc and important. Public schools, provision for
public health, public parks, public baths, public libraries,
all show the greatly increased range of state activity in mod-
ern times. 'With some unfortunate exceptions, these increased
expenditures are a sign of health, and do not indicate a n ~ '
tendency on the part of government to absorb an undue pro-
portion of the industrial life of the nation.
This can hardly be said, however, of the great increase
in expenditure for pensions and for military and naval equip-
ment. Whether these expenditures have been wisely or un-
wisely made, it is at least regrettable that considerably more
than 70 per cent of the regular Federal expenditures have
been due to past wars and to the preparation for war. Since
1917 the proportion of war expenditures has increased rap-
idly, as may be inferred from the preceding table and
graph. The following analysis of Federal appropriations
for 1920 shows the samc large proportion of war costs: *
1. Past Wars
$3,855,482,686
68%
2. Future \Vars
1,424,138.677
250/0
3. Civil Department .
181,087,225
3%
4. Public Works
H18,203,557
3%
5. Education and Science
57,093,G61
1 e,
0'
Total
$5,686,005,706
100%
The diagram inserted on page 465 pictures these figures in
a strikIng way.
Further, it is estimated that during the four year period
Adapted from analySis b)' Dr, E. B. Rosa. of the United States Bure""
of Standards. in Annals of Ihe American Academy of Political and Sociol
Sci.nee, May, 1921. p. 47.
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE 465
from 1917 to 1920, the average yearly per capita e)""Pense to
the American people of their army ana navy was $32.58, or
more than $160 a year for each family of five. Only twenty
years earlier, a Congress which
for all purposes appropriated Education 1% ... --.
. . Public \Vorks 3 %
approxImately $.500,000,000 m Civil Expenses 3%
each of the two years of its
existence had been cited as an
example of extrayagance, and F W 25%
uture ars
was referred to disapprovingly
as the .. billion dollar " Con-
gress. But few Congresses
since that time, and none in
recent years, have succeeded in
meeting all demands for funds
with a smaller sum; people
became accustomed to the
larger figures, and protests were
rarely heard.
The National Budget. - For Past Wars 68%
a number of years, however, a
few people have been giving
careful attention to the in-
creasing costs of our national
government. Lack of system
in making appropriations was
singled out as one of the vital
Diagmm Showing Purposes for '
which 1020 Federal Appropria-
tions were made
causes of the rapid rise of
Federal expenditures. In addi-
tion, enormous war and post
war expenses, rising taxes, and
private business depression, all combined in recent years to
focus public attention on the question. For some time t h e ~ e
had becn agitation for a national budget system; a budget IS
'1066 ELEMENTARY PRLVCIPLES OF ECONO.11J(S
merely a statement prepared in advanc(', showing the esti-
mated amount and sources of the public income and the pur-
poses for which it will be expended. In 1921 Congress
enacted the necessary legislation creating a Bureau of the
Budget to be administered a Director appointed by the
President. The Director consults with the heads of the
several departments as to their financial needs, and makes
recommendations to the. President. In December, 1921,
the President submitted to Congress the first American
budget including, as the law requires, detailed and summary
,tatements of receipts and expenditures of the l"ational
GO\'ernment during the last completed fiscal year, and esti-
mates thereof for the fiscal year ill progress, and for the next
ell suing fiscal year. Following is the second Budget Sum-
mary, for 1924:
H124
I
1923 ID22
ESTI!r.I.\TLD E .... ACTt' .... L
Totul Receipts $3,361,812,359
$3,429,862.9,:;9 $4,lOfI.104.150.94
I
,
Total Expenditures
Including Reduc-
tion of the Public
Debt :3,180,843,234 3,703,801,671 3,795.302,499.84
Excess of Expcndi-
27:3,938,712
tures
. . .
Excess of Receipts
I
$180.%9,125 31:3,801,651.10
The President's statement must includc numerous other
facts designed to give Congress a complete view of the COll-
dition of the national finances, and also recommendations for
increasing or reducing the revenues, as occasion may require.
The permanent aims of the Budget may be summarized uS
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE
467
follows: (1) to make every dollar expended produce full
value; (2) to estimate in advance of each year the revenue of
that year and whence it is to come; (3) to keep taxation
adjusted to needs, so that both surpluses and deficits
may be avoided; (4) to prevent officers or departments
from getting more money than needed for effectively doing
the precise tasks set them Congress; (5) to insure that
whatever money is not needed is not spent.
Classification of Public Expenditures. - So numerous are
the objects of governmental expenditure that it is manifestly
impossible to treat the subject exhaustively within the limits
of our space. 'VI' must content ourselves here with a con-
sidl'ration of some of the more important classes into which
such expenditures fall.
1. Expenditure8 for Fulfilling the Protective Function.s of
the State. - Of the general class of expenditures incurred
in fulfilling the protective functions of the state, the first to
be mention('(l are those (a.) for 8ecurity from foe8 without the
state. l'nder this head falls the cost of thc army and navy.
Thedirect cost of national defense includes the pay and equip-
ment of troops, and the cost of ships, airplanes, cannon,
ammunition, etc. The indirect cost is represented by the
pension list, as wcll as by the great waste of resources and
opportunities for labor ill times of war. (b) Internal secu-
rity. Under expenditures for internal security are included
the cost of our police system in all its branches, - including
constables, sheriffs, etc., - and that of our judiciary system,
since both of these are occupied almost wholly in securing
persons and property from
2. Expenditures for Fulfilling the Commercial Functions. -
A second general class of expenditures consists of those which
are incurred in fulfilling the commercial functions of the
state. Among these are expenditures (a) for the construction
and maintenance of 81(ch facilities WI roads, bridges, canals, im-
468 ELEMENTARY PRll\'CI PLES OF ECONOMICS
proved riverways, improved harbors, lighthouses, etc. (b) The
post office and telegraph and railway lines are also commercial
as well as educational in their purpose, but they are generally
managed as self-sustaining or rrmunerative investments, even
when they are unnrT the ownership and management of the
statc. Similar expenditures for commerce are those (c) for
maintaining a currency system and systeTrI..'J of weights and
mea.yurcs; and (d) for supporting the consular service. Re-
cently, rxpenditures have been made (e) for disseminating
informatinn rclatire to domcstic and foreign liuainess and
trade. The diplomatic service may also be said to serve a
commereial purpose, though its object is perhaps primarily
the maintenance of international peace.
3. Expenditures for Fulfilling the DCl'elopmenJal Functions.
- The third general class of expcnditures consists of those
incurred in fulfilling the developmental functions of the state.
Most important among these is (a) the expenditure for edu-
cation. Of all classes of expenditure that for education has
grown most constantly and rapidly in the modern state.
Under the head of education fall not o n l ~ ' the education of
the schools, but also that which is to be gained from art
galleries and museums and other agencies for the promotion
of culture. Other expenditures falling in the same general
class are those for (b) public reereation, (e) investigation,
(d) maintaining equitable conditions for pTiwte business,
(e) agricultural development, (f) public health sen'ice, (g) the
care of the handicapped and the 1lnfortunate. Every ciYilized
goyernment recognizes an obligation to provide the deaf and
the blind with an education adequate to equip them to take
their places in industrial society; likewise it recognizes an
obligation to give scientific treatment and humane care to
thosc whose physical or mental defects are such that they
cannot be equipped to hold their ovm in the economic
struggle.
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE 469
4. Expenditures for the Maintenance of Government.-
The expenditures we have been considering are, of course,
expenditures by government: we have now to mention a
fourth general class, - the expenditures for government;
that is, expenditures for governmental functions too general
and fundamental to be ranged under any of the heads that
we have before mentioned, corresponding to the so-called
" overhead" costs of a private business. Such are the ex-
penditures for (a) legislation and administration, and for
(b) tax col/eetin/l.
Objects of Public Expenditure in the United States.-
It is not customary for governments to classify their expendi-
tures as we have here classified them, or in any such way as
will show accurately just what the government pays for the
objects which we have discussed. But a careful study of
Federal, state, and local expenditures will show that the
greater part of the Federal expenditure is for the protective
and commercial functions, while the greater part of the ex-
pense of the developmental functions rests upon the state
and local governments. Considering the aggregate expen-
ditures of all the divisions of government, an estimate
made some years ago roughly divided them as follows; for
the protective functions, about 45 per cent; for the develop-
mental functions, about 30 per cent; for the commercial
functions, about 15 per cent; and for the expenses of govern-
ment itself, about 10 per cent. This would not hold to-day,
however, because of the immense increase in our federal
expenditures for the protective functions during and since
the World War.
It is also interesting to note the relative growth of expendi-
ture in the different political divisions of the government.
In the L nited States, until the last few years, the expendi-
tures of the state governments, as a rule, diminished in im-
portance relatively both to Federal and local expenditures,
470 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
and this fact was generally held to indicate growing national-
ization as well as growing governmental activity; but within
recent years the state expenditures have grown rapidly,
showing that the social and economic significance of the states
IS Increasing. But the burdcn of peace time governmental
costs has grown more rapidly in municipalities than in any
other political unit. As a rule, the larger the city, the larger
the per capita cost of the city government. Economical and
efficicnt municipal administration is of direct consequence
to more than half of our total population. Counties, on the
other hand, have as a rule absorbed a much smaller pro-
portion of the public funds. Recently however, the impor-
tance of the county as an administrative unit has increased,
due to the promotion of education, public hcalth, road im-
provement, and other works by the counties.
Classification of Public Revenues. - Differing classifica-
tions of public revenue have been almost as numerous as
the "'Titers who have made them. Without entering into a
discussion of the reasons for such differences, we may pre-
sent at once a classification which is in general harmony with
the usual treatment of the subject.
A. Permanent Revenues.
1. Regular revenues.
1. Derived directly from government ownership.
a. Revenues from public domains.
b. Revenues from public industries.
2. Derived from the incomes of private persons and
corporations.
a. Fees.
b. Special assessments.
c. Taxes.
II. Irregular and miscellaneous. Fines, forfeits, escheats,
gifts, indemnities, etc.
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE 471
B. Temporary Revenues. (To be repaid.)
I. Public loans by the sale of bonds.
II. Public loans by the issue of treasury notes.
The subject of public revenue is a complicated one and
\!an only be briefly outlined here. Of the above forms of
revenue, only public loans, fees, special assessments, and
taxes will be discussed.
Public Loans. ~ Great national dcbts are comparatively
new in the world's history. Indeed, 'their origin is as re-
cent as the reign of William and l\Iary ill England. During
the nineteenth century they grew with threatening rapidity
in nearly all the countries of the ci\'ilizcd world. Even be-
fore the 'World 'War, grave doubts were entertained as to
the ability of some of the European peoples to carry the bur-
den of their debt. ily the close of war the aggregate debt
of the nine chief belligerents had reached the incompre-
hensible total of 23G billion dollars. The public debt of
the United States during this samc period rose from less
than 1 t billions to more than 2G billions.
Fees and Special Assessments. ~ Fees and special assess-
ments closely resemble taxes, but they are of much lesg
significance in the fiscal system. A fee is a " payment made
to the state on the occasion of some specific service rendered by
the state to the citizen, ~ the service, however, being non-com-
mercial in character." The payment demanded for recording
a deed or mortgage is a fec; so, also, is any court charge, or
a charge for a teacher's certificate, a marriage liccnse, ctc.
A special assessment, which is even more like a regular
"ax, may be defined as "a compulsory contribution, levied
-in proportion to the special benefits derived, to defray the cost
of a specific improvement to property, undertaken in the public
interest." Thus American cities often provide for thc paving
of particular streets by laying part of the cost upon the
472 ELEMENTARl" PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
entire municipality in the form of a tax, and placing the re-
mainder of the burden, in the form of a special assessment,
upon the owners of "abutting" properties in proportion to the
value of such properties. In this way the entire city helps
pay for the bencfit conferred upon the city, while the people
owning property on the street pay for the special benefit
which the improvement has conferred upon them. The cus-
tom of municipal improvement by special assessment has been
developed much farther in the United States than in Europe.
Taxes. - The most important and most regular source of
public revenues is taxation. Taxes are compulsory transfers of
valuable things, exacted by public authority, chiefly from citi:rns
but also from other persons within its reach, according to some
generctl rule, in order to meet public expenses and to accomplish
other public ends. Taxes differ from fees and special as-
sessments, therefore, chiefly in that there is no attempt to
proportion the tax to the benefit conferred upon the individ-
ual. The justification of taxation lies simply in the neces-
sity of maintaining the state. If the people are to have a
state they must pay for it, and no better means than taxa-
tion has yet been rliscovered.
What is a Just Tax? - No question regarding taxation
has been more earnestly discussed than the question of what
constitutes justice in taxation. One answer that is com-
monly heard is that taxes should be proportioned (1) to
benefits deri-eed. But it is utterly impracticable to attempt
to say what proportion of the general benefits of government
accrue to particular indivirluals. And evcn if this were
practicable, it would probably be found in many cases that
the greatest relative benefits are enjoyed by the weak and
the poor, who are least able to bear the tax burden.
The Faculty Theory. - A theory more generally accepted
by economists to-day is that taxation should be propor-
tioned (2) to "faculty," ur ability to pay. But even when
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE 473
this rule has been accepted, there remains the difficult ques-
tion, How is faculty to be measured? One answer has been
that we may measure ability to pay by (a) consumption; but
it is evident that thc consumption of the poor is out of all
proportion to their ability to bear the burdens of the state.
Another suggested basis of measurement is (b) property; but
property differs widely in its productiveness, and, moreover,
many persons with little property have large incomes, and
therefore great ability to bear taxation. Perhaps the least
objectionable measure of ability is afforded by (c) income,
though cwn hpre we must note that incomes differ in per-
manence and security, and that equal incomes are called
upon to support very unequal numbers of persons. It is
not possible to reach a single perfectly or even approxi-
mately just basis of apportionment of the tax burden; and
it is on this and other accounts that we must combine
various kinds of taxes into a system as explained later.
In considering taxes on income, another question at once
presents itself for solution. Shall taxes be laid in direct pro-
portion fa income, or shall the rate be increased as the amount
of income increases? The first method is called (a) propor-
tional taxation; the second, (b) progressive or graduated.
Sometimes taxes are neither proportional nor progressive, but
(c) regressive; that is, the rate diminishes as the taxed property
or income becomes larger. Regressive taxes everyone admits
to be unjust, though many such taxes are levied. The
opinion of studcnts everywhere seems OIl the whole tending
to favor progressive rates.
Direct and Indirect Taxes. - In concluding our discussion
there remains to be noted a distinction, frequently seen in
economic writings, between direct and indirect taxation.
The meaninO' attributed to these terms at different times and
o .
by different writers has varied widely, but a common defim-
tion is that (hrect ta.res are ta.res laid by the state upon those
474 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
who are expected to bear the burden of them, while indirect
taxes are expected to be shifted to other persons.
Poll taxes, property taxes, income and inheritance taxes
are usually called direct, while customs taxes and excise
taxes are called indirect. The importer of goods subject
to duty pays the tax, but recoups himself from the enhanced
price which he is ablc to charge the consumer of the goods.
As taxation is the most important single subject in the
domain of public finance, we shall prcscnt a more detailed
treatmcnt in the following chapter, in connection with the
. "R . I IT' d C' "
tOpiC evenues III t le mte ,..,tates.
The Single Tax. -Many intclligent citizens of England,
the United States, and other countries are adhcrents and
devoted advocates of a scheme for entirely abolishing taxa-
tion, as that word is ordinarily understood. Mr. Henry
George, author of Progress and Poverty, a man of earnest
human sympathies, gave the lattcr part of his life to the ad-
vocacy of the plan, which he himself did most to formulate
and popularize in modern times. We can do no better, there-
fore, than to explain the proposed system in Mr. George's
own words, as printed in his paper, the Standard:-
"The Standard advocates thc abolition of all taxes upon
industry and thc products of industry, and the taking, by
taxation upon land values, irrespective of improvements, of
the annual rental value of all those various forms of natural
opportunities embraced under the general term, Land.
"We hold that to tax labor or its products is to discourage
industry. We hold that to tax land values to their full
amount will render it impossible for any man to exact from
others a price for the privilege of using those bounties of
nature in which all living men have an equal right of use j
that it will compel every individual controlling natural
opportunities to utilize them by employment of labor or
abandon them to others; that it will thus provide opportu-
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE 475
nities of work for all men, and secure to each the full reward
of his labor; and that as a result involuntary poverty will
be abolished, and the greed, intemperance, and that
spring from poverty and the dread of poverty will be swept
."
The proposition is here definitely made that the state
should take all of the pure or economic rent of land. The
chief arguments advanced in support of this policy are:
(1) Rent is a socially created product, hence it should go to
society and not to individual rent receivers who have done
nothing to deserve it. (2) A tax on economic rent cannot be
shifted and would in time become a burdenless tax. (3) It
would prevent speculation in land; it would bring idle land
into use. (4) In addition, it is claimed that the single tax
would solve the labor problem, inerease wages, and abolish
poverty - in short that it is a panacea for all economic and
social ills.
Those who criticise the claims of the single taxers point
out: (1) that the proposal would be unsatisfactory as a rev-
enue producer. For a generation in England agricultural
rents have steadily fallen; the same thing is true in many
American communities. At the same time, governmental ex-
penditures, as we have already noted, have steadily mounted.
r nder such conditions deficits would be inevitable. Other
communities enjoying a "boom" may have rapidly in-
creasing rents; here the single tax might be productive be-
yond the needs of the community, and a surplus, just as
bad as a deficit, would arise. Other fiscal difficulties grow
out of this inelasticity of the single tax; e.g., how could a
world war, or any other emergency be financed? Another
leading objection to the single tax is what is called (2) the
ethical objection. Taking the economic rent, the annual
use value of the land, is in effect (a) confiscation of the entire
I value of the land; it is (b) discrimination against the owner
476 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
of land and in favor of the owners of other productive agen-
cies; it (c) does not propose to compensate an individual for
an unearned decrement. Such a proposal does not appeal to
the conscience of the American public as a just thing to do.
No abstract reasoning, based on "natural rights," will per-
suade a modern nation to so radical a step. Many thought-
ful students question also (3) whether it is economically
desirable" to force idle land into use," as advocates of the
single tax would do. While these critics admit that there
may be exceptional cases, they maintain that, in the main,
"idle land" remains idle because it cannot be economically
used in the present stage of development. For the time
being, it is " sub-marginal land"; and forcing it into use
by the single tax would result not only in a further waste
of our natural resources, but in the inefficient employment
of the capital and labor required for its development. In
brief, this argument holds that the single tax would operate
contrary to the policy of true conservation. Passing over
numerous other economic or political objections, we must
notice (4) the administrative difficulties; how is economic
rent to be separated from the income due to improvements
on the land? These difficulties would be less with urban
lands than with farm lands, but insolvable practical prob-
lems would continually arise.
The Increment Tax. - Some advocates of the higher
taxation of land values, recognizing the unwisdom or in-
justice of appropriating all rents now existing, propose in-
stead that the state shall take, under the form of taxation,
all jut1lre increments in land value which increasing popu-
lation may create. Such measures are not, strictly speaking,
single tax measures; their advocates arc in favor of numer-
ous other taxes at the same time, and regard their proposals
as supplemental to existing taxes.
One argument in favor of the special tax on urban land is
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE 477
that in cities it is comparatively easy to separate eco-
nomic rent from the earnings of such improvements as
buildings. Even here, however, it is well to proceed very
cautiously. Confiscation, at any rate, should not be toler-
ated. If great and expensive changes along this line should
commend themselves to the people, the burden of the changes
should not fall exelusiwly on the owners of land but should
be widely diffused throughout the community by means
of inheritance and other taxes. Finally, we may note that
probably in no countQ ill the world is 11 greater proportion
of increment in land values taken for public purposes than
in those statcs of the American U !lion where land is taxed
according to selling value, and where also the land owners
pay for improvements, either wholly or in large part. It
frequently happens in American cities that taxes and special
assessments take far more than the increment in values
and leitve the owner with the unearned decrements.
The Need for New Sources of Revenue. - We have cited
the growing expenditures of a II political units - national,
state, and local. 'Ve should obserye further that the people
generally are demanding that their several governing agencies
render more and more services for the public good. At
the same time we must admit that it is the exceptional
individual who pays his full share of taxes voluntarily and
without protest. While it is true that benefits cannot always
be even approximately proportionate to the amount of taxes
paid, it is probably true that, on the whole, no equal sums of
money that people expend bring in a richer real return than
do their taxes. This is particularly true of taxes paid into
the treasuries of local and state governing units. We need
to revise our manner of thinking in these respects, and in-
stead of regarding taxes in the same category as death - a
necessary evil, to be postponed and made as painless as pos-
sible - we should look upon them as a necessary good.
478 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Taxes should be thought of in the same light as expenditures
for bread, clothing, and similar ncccssities. No self-respect-
ing family asserts that it cannot afford these necessaries;
nor does it ask that they be supplied at the expense of some-
one else; so likewise no self-respecting family should feel
that it cannot afford to pay taxes, nor should it attempt to
shift the burden of paying for tax-bought necessaries to
someone else.
Growing public expenditures suggest another considera-
tion: namely, the necessity of finding new sources of public
revenues. Just as public funds should not all be collected
from a relatively few indhiduals but should be as broadly
diffused as possible, so likewise they should not all be col-
lected from one taxable source. Anyone of several types of
single tax might theoretically producc the needed revenues if
the rates were placed high enough. But the hardships of
any particular tax are increased more than in proportion to
the increase in rates. Successful tax policy will consist in
taxing many things at a low rate rather than a few things
at a high rate. This means that we must find new things
to tax - new sources of taxation.
Among the new sources of revenuc most widcly debated in
recent years is the sales tax. ,Ye cannot here enter into a
detailed discussion of this form of taxation; we should ob-
serve, however, that a sales tax law could be so framed as to
attain that wide diffusion of taxation over many individuals
and over many commodities, which is so desirable in a tax
measure; but there are many other possible measures which
could be devised so as to place part of the increasing hur-
dens of public expenditures on consumption and diffuse
them widely. We cannot enter into this complex subject
in an elementary treatise, but wish to emphasize the fact
that direct taxes on property and income become an evil
when the rates are very high. Experience shows that
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE 479
when a certain point is reached, the revenues decline, while
at the same time thrift is discouraged and industry is ham-
pered, lessening employment and opportunity.
That additional forms of moderate taxation can readily
be borne by the masses of the people admits of little doubt.
Even if we regard taxes not in the light of payments for neces-
sities, but as an obligation that can be met only after neces-
sities are provided - if we regard them as payments that
must be made out of surplus income - there remains abun-
dant eyidence of unutilized tax-paying ca pacity among people
in general. One need only cite the immense sums spent in
the typical American community for luxuries or non-essen-
tials to be convinced of this fact. A survey made in 192;)
in a small \Viseonsin city rcyealed the fact that high school
students were spending an anrage of forty-six dollars a
year each for confections and non-essential entertain-
ments. One of our American commonwealths, in its
campaign for better support to the public school system, dis-
closed the startling information that its citizens in the year
1921 had expended nearly twice as much for cosmetics, and
almost fiye times as much for tobacco, as they had devoted
to their public school system in the same length of time.
". e are not to conclude from this that people in moderate or
eYen less than moderate circumstanees should deny themselves
all non-essentials and luxuries; but rather that since people
are able to spend profusely for such articles, they are also
able to buy at least the essentials of a well ordered and
healthful community life. We rna;)' further conclude that
as benefits from the expenditure of public funds become
greater in amount, and as thcse benefits become more
widely diffused, the masses of the people should expect,
and should bear cheerfully, a larger but more widely dis-
tributed tax burden.
480 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
SUMMARY
1. Public finance treats of the revenues and expenditures of govern-
ment.
2. Government business is everywhere the largest single business,
and profoundly influences all private business.
3. Public expenditure in civilized states has been rapidly increasing,
owing both to the rapid increase in population and to the widened
scope of government activity.
4. Public expenditures are for fulfilling the protective, the commer-
cial, the developmental, and the self-sustaining functions of
government.
5. Cities are relatively the most expensive of our civil units.
6. Public revenues arc derived from public domains and industries,
from fees, special assessments, and taxes, from fines, gifts,
etc., and from public loans.
7. Taxes, the chief source of revenue, are compulsory payments for
governInent expenses.
8. A just tax is one which conforms to the ability of the taxpayer to
bear the burden.
9. Direct taxes are intended to be borne by those paying them; lU-
direct taxes are designed to be shifted.
10. The proposed plan of taking all the economic rent of land for
the support of the state, is impracticable, and, unless compen-
sation is provided for, is morally indefensible.
11. Increasing public expenditures make new sources of revenue essen-
tial.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. What is public finance? From what is it to be distinguished?
2. What is the bearing of public finance upon the labor problem?
3. Why have public expenditures so uniformly increased during the
last century?
4. Classify public expenditures, and name particular expenditures
falling under each group.
5. What classes of expenditure have shown the most rapid increase
in the last century?
6. What are fees; special assessments; taxes? What are the differ-
ences among them?
7. How do revenues from loans differ from other revenues?
EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE 481
8. What is the justification of tal(ation? What are the theories re-
garding just taxation?
9. What are some of the different proposals made by Single Taxers?
What is the difference between them? Discuss the justice and
practicability of these proposals.
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Study the financial report of your own town or city, and of your
own state. What are their sources of revenue; their objects of
expenditure?
2. Why are poll taxes regressive?
3. How far do the debts of the world represent reproductive invest-
ment?
4. Name some proportional, progressive, and regressive taxes in the
United States to-day.
5. Study carefully the claims of the proponents and opponents of the
single tax.
6. In your state is land taxed on the basis of full selling value? Have
you a State Tn,x Commission?
LITERATURE
Adams, H. C.; The Science of Finance, paragraphs 10, 18, n,nd 49; and
Public Debts.
Bastable, C. F.; Public Finance.
Carver, T. N.; Principles of Political Economy, Chapters XLIII, XLIV,
n,nd XLVIII.
Ely, It. T.; Property and Contract. (For a discussion of the single tttl(,
consult references in thc index.)
Fillebrown, C. B.; The ABC of Taxation. (A presentation of the
single tax theory.)
Friday, David: Profits, Wages and Prices.
George, H.; Progress and Poverty.
Hunter, M. H.; Outlines of Public Fwance.
National Bureau of Economic Research; Income in the United States,
its Amount and Distribution, 1909-1919.
Marshall, Wright, and Field; Materials for the Study of Elementary
Economics, Sections 255-57.
Plehn, C. C.; Introduction to Public Finance (1920 edition).
Seligman, E. R. A.; Essays in Taxation (9th edition rev., 1921).
Taussig, F. W.; Principles of Economics (3rd rev.), Volume II, Book
VIII, Chapters 68-71.
CHAPTER XXXV
REVENUES IN THE UNITED STATES
1. FEDERAL REVENUES
THE following stacement adapted from the first National
Budget, shows the estimated Federal revenues, classified by
sources. for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1923.
SOURC.J'} OF REVENUE
Internal Revenue
Income and Profits Tax
Miscellaneous
Customs Receipts. . .
Miscellaneous Receipts
Interest, Premium and Discount
Sale of Government Property .
Public Domain Receipts. . .
Net Earnings, Federal Reserve Banks (franchise tax)
Profits on Coinagc, Bullion Deposits, etc.
Fees, Fines, Penalties, Forfeitures . . . .
Repayment of Investments ..... .
Trust Fund Receipts . . . . . . . . .
Other Miscellaneous and Unclassified Receipts
Total ordinary receipts (exclusive of postal revenues)
AMOUNT
$1,715,000,000
896,000,000
330,000,000
54,625,379
106,872,970
14,139,370
30,000,000
12,498,000
36,957,035
32,850,000
60,028,440
49,211.556
$3,338,182,750
Note that nearly nine-tenths of the Federal revenue is de-
rived from taxes.
Customs Taxes. - In earlier days, and particularly before
the Civil War, customs duties - which are taxes laid upon
imported commodities - constituted nearly the whole of
the Federal revenues. But now, as is shown by the fore-
going table, the government looks to customs receipts for
only about a tenth of its whole revenue. Even so, the
.amount is very large.
48:1
REVENUES IN THE UNITED STATES 483
Cm;toms duties are either specific or " ad valorrm. " Spe-
cific duties are duties laid in proportion to weight or number,
without regard to value, while "ad valorem" duties are
leriedin proportion to the value of the commodif1:es imported.
Ad valorem. duties are open to the objection that they offer
a greater temptation to fraudulent valuations, and hence
make more difficult the work of the customs officers. Spe-
eific duties, Oil the other hand, while they can be more easily
administered, are open to the serious objection that they
impose a relatively heavier burden upon less valuable goods
of any class. In recent tariff discussion the question has
arisen whether ad valorem duties should be levied on goods
on the basis of their value in the country where purchased,
or on the basis of the value of similar goods in our own coun-
try. The latter - American valuation - is advocated by
strict protectionists.
Although long use and practical convenience have given
the customs duties a large and apparently secure place in
our financial system, there are certain evident objections to
such taxation which must be borne in mind by the student
in considering the general question of tax reform. These
objections call for explanation.
Objections to Customs Duties. - 1. Their Regressive C har-
acter. - Fir:;t of all, it is an objection against such taxes
that they are regressive in character. Customs duties, to
yield a large revenue, must be levied upon goods of very
general consumption, and, moreover, fiscal reasons lead to
the imposition of high rates upon such commodities. But
it is for precisely such commodities that people of only mod-
erate incomes spend a greater proportion of their income
than do the rich. Therefore the tax is regressive; it lays a
disproportionate burden upon the poor people and people
of moderate means.
2. Effect upon Industry. - In the second place, such
484 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
taxes, if they are "protective" in character, seem to inter-
fere with what may be regarded as the" natural" disposition
of the nation's labor and capital. Moreover, it regularly
happens that such a tariff takes much more from consumers
than ever finds its way into the Federal treasury, since
only imported goods yield a revenue, while all goods of the
kind taxed, imported and domestic, are sold at a higher price
to the consumer. If the tax be not protective, then, to meet
the requirements of the revenue, goods must be brought in at
certain ports, so that customs officials can inspect them and
see that the state is not defrauded; and, even with the
system of bonding, - where commodities are placed in
bonded warehouses, from which they are removed and pay
the tax only when they are about to be sold, - some inter-
val must elapse between the payment and its recovery in
the price charged to the consumer, and some interest must
be lost on the capital locked up for that period.
3. Inelasticity. - The two objections just explained are
based chiefly upon social and industrial considerations. A
third objection is directly financial in its nature. One mark
of a good tax is its elasticity. Now few taxes are more in-
elastic than customs duties. Frequent changes of tariff
rates are fatal to that stability of industrial conditions with-
out which business cannot prosper. Unusual demands upon
the Federal purse cannot adequately be met by changes in
tariff schedules.
4. Uncertainty. - Hence results still a fourth objec-
tion, abo financial in character. It is a serious defect of
such taxes that they are likely to yield least when govern-
ment need is greatest. A war, calling for unusual expendi-
tures, is certain to curtail international trade and hence
revenues from customs duties. Moreover, recurrent in-
dustrial depressions affect most seriously the government's
receipts from this wurce.
REVENUES IN THE UNITED STATES 485
Miscellaneous Internal Revenue Taxes. - Lnder this
head are grouped various taxes which, in the first Budget,
were expected to bring in an aggregate revenue of 896 mil-
lion dollars. These include: 1. Taxes, - those taxes
levied directly on certain of goods produced within the
country. The furm of excise most familiar to the American
public is that on tobltcco; for collecting this tax the govcrn-
ment has adopted the simple ami effective method of requir-
ing the manufacturer to purchase revenue stamps and affix
them in such a way that they must be destroyed when the
packages are opened. Rccent revenue legislation has im-
posed exciscs upon innumerable other articles: e.g., auto-
mobiles and accessories, photographic supplies, candy, etc. ;
on these the tax is a fi.xed percentage of the sale price.
Another group of commodities is subject to what is called
an "excess-pricc tax": i.e., a tax on that part of the price of
carpets, rugs, trunks, etc., which is above a specified minimum.
Excise taxes are regularly e1assed with customs duties
as indirect taxes, because, while they are laid directly upon
producers, it is supposed that they will be shifted to consum-
ers in the ell haneed price of the commodity; like customs
duties, too, they are regressive in character.
It must be remembered, however, that these taxes are
only two features in modern systems of taxation. It is
quite possible that taxes of these kinds may be balanced by
income and property taxes resting more heavily upon the rich
than upon the poor, so that the inequality of one kind will
be offset by the inequality of a different kind. We have to
-consider in the United States not only the Federal taxes,
but state and local taxes, before we can tell whether the
taxes are just or unjust in the way they affect different e1asscs
in the community. Excise taxes have proved very produc-
tive, and they off"er relatively little difficulty in collection.
Moreover, they form a more reliable source of revenue than
486 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
do customs duties, in that they fluctuate less in times of war
and periods of industrial depression.
2. Taxes on Transactions. - In times of urgent need, as
in the War of 1812, thc Civil War, the war with Spain, and
during the World War, the Federal govcrnment has imposed
taxcs on various sorts of transactions. The Revenue act
of 1921 lays a stamp tax on bonds, promissory notes, stock
certificates, board of tradc transactions, insurance policies,
etc. Though such taxes may be made the source of large
and easily collected revenue, they are not likely to be re-
sorted to except in times of emergency, since their general
cffect is grcatly to impcdc business; and a check on busi-
ness activity soon lessens the revenue from other sources.
Inmost cases taxes on transactions are borne by the consumer
or purchaser, though in some cases, if the tax be a small one,
the producer or seller will" pockct the loss."
3. .Miscellaneous internal revenues are also derived from
taxes on telephone and telegraph messages, on admissions to
place of amusement, on club membership dues, and various
other special taxes.
The Federal Income Tax. - The United States now dcrives
morc than half of thc Federal revenues from income taxa-
tion. This was made possible by the amendment to the
Federal constitution adoptcd in 1913. Bcforc that time,
according to the interpretation of the constitution by the
Supreme Court, an incomc tax that included a tax upon
income derived from land, must, bcing a direct tax, be
apportioned among the statcs according to their population.
But a tax so apportioncd was too manifcstly unjust to be
considered. The constitutional amendment which made a
fair Federal incomc tax possible was finally secured by the
people after a generation of cxcited and expensive agitation
and effort.
The prcsent Fcderal income tax law is incorporatcd in the
REVENUES IN THE UNITED STATES 487
Reyenue Act of 1921. The Act distinguishes two classes of
incomes; those of individuals and those of corporations. A
normal tax of 8 per cent is laid upon the net incomes of indi-
yiduab; but in the case of residents of the United States,
the rate on the first 8-1000 of taxable income is -1 per cent.
On the net incomes of corporations, a tax of 12t per cent
is laid.
Exemption. - It is usual to cxempt a certain minimum of
income from taxation, for the reason that possessors of small
and modcrate incomes already pay a disproportionate share
of other taxes, and for the further \"Cry practical reason that
the cxpense of collecting the tax Oil such incomes bears too
high a proportioll to the return to render such taxation eco-
nomical. The present income tax law allows exemptions as
follows: To individuals, if unmarried, $1000; if the head of
a family, or married and liying with husband or wife, $2000,
but if the nct income is not more than $5000, the exemption
is increased to S2.j()(); an additional exemption of $400 is
allowed for cach dependent other than husband or wife.
To corporatiul1s, whose net incomes are less than $25,000 an
exemption of S2000 is allowed.
Surtax on Individual Incomes.- In addition to the normal
tax, a progressive surtax is imposed as follows:
UPON ANY INCREMENT OF Nr:T INCOME
SURT_U RATE
Between $ 6,000 and $10,000 . . . . . . . . . . 1%
Between 10,000 and 12,000 . . . . . . . . . . 2
The rate then incrcases re!(ularly by 1 % for each addi-
tional $2000 until we reach incomes
Between $18,000 and $20,000 . . . . . . . . . . 6
Between 20,000 and 22,000 . . . . . . . . . . 8
The rate again increases regularly as above until wc reach
incomes
Between $30,000 and $32,000
Between 32,000 and 36,000
13
15
488 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
UPON ANY INCREMENT OF NET I:s-cOME SURTAX RATE
Again the rate increases regularly until we reach incomes
Between $ 98,000 and $100.000 47%
Between 100,000 and 150.000 48
Between 150,000 and 200,000 49
Between 200,000 and Over 50
Calculation of Income Tax. - An illustration may aid the
student in understanding the operation of the tax. Let us
suppose a married man with three children under 18 years
of age has a net income of S3i,iOO a year. In calculating
his income tax, hc is allowed to exempt 8:]200; the balance
834,500 is his net taxable income. The Norm.al Tax is levied,
on $ 4,000 at 4
0
;' $ HiD
on 30,500 at 8% 2440 ~ 2 6 0 0
The Surtax is levied on $31,700, -his
. .
cxcess of Income III
$6000 as follows:
4,000 ( 6,000-10,000) at
1 ~
g 40
2,000 (10,000-12,000) at 2 40
2.000
(12,000-14,000) at 3 60
2,000 (14,000-16.000) at 4 80
2.000 (16,000-18,000) at 5 100
2,000 (18,000-20,000) at
(i
120
2,000 (20.000-22,000) at 8
160
2,000 (22,000-24,000) at 9 180
2,000 (24,OO0-2G ,0(0) at 10
200
2,000 (2tl,000-28,000) at 11
220
2,000 (28,000-30,000) at 12
240
2,000 (30,000-32,000) at 13
260
4,000 (32,000-36,000) at 15 liOO
1,700 (36,000-38,000) at. 16 272 2572
The Total Income Tax $5172
The student will find that in this instance the net tax rate,
obtained by dividing the whole tax by the net income, is
about 13.i%.
The income tax calculations are much simpler for corpon:
tions. Suppose corporation A has a net income of $22,000;
of this amount :1)2000 is exempt ami the balance is taxed at
REVENUES IN THE UNITED STATES 489
12tSo or $2500. Corporation B with a net income of
550,000 has no exemption, but pays 12t% on the entire
amount, or 80250.
The Income Tax in Practice. - In considering the claims
for and against income taxation, we are aided by the wide
and \aried experience of other nations in the use of this tax.
First of all, it is to be noted that in Australasia, England,
Italy, Germany, and other countries in which the income
tax has been given a trial, (1) e:rpericnce has justified this
form of ta:ration, according to the majority opinion of those
who have considered the matter. l\Ioreover, it is especially
noteworthy that income taxation (2) gains in economy and
productiveness, and lcins increasing approbation as the years
go by.
Furthermore there is a little question that an income
tax, assuming it to be fairly enforceable, (3) conforms almost
perfectly to the w.eal of taxation, that men should pay the ex-
penses of the state in proportion to their "faculty" or ability,
since income is by all means the best single mark of such
ability. Where the tax is applied uniformly upon all kinds
of income, (4) it cannot be shifted easily, and the tax on rent
and on monopoly privileges of all sorts cannot be shifted at all ;
this itself is a strong recommendation of the tax. Moreover,
(5) income taxation lends itself eaBily to the use of the prin-
ciple of progression, by which the regressive character of other
taxes may be offset. (6) Finally, the ineome tax is elastic;
rates can be raised or lowered from year to vcar without in-
. .
justice to any group of taxpayers. Thus it lends itself well
to the budget ideal of keeping receipts adjusted to expendi-
tures.
On the other hand, we must not fail to note that the merits
of the income tax, as of all other taxes, diminish rapidly as
the rates are raised. It is generally conceded that the rates
imposed by the Federal government during the W orld War
490 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
were excessive, and in large degree nullified the merits of
the tax as set forth in the preceding paragraph. Further-
more, we should note that the suggestion sometimes made.
that the income tax alone might be relied on to produce
sufficient revenue for the government, is an impracticable
suggestion; for reasons already explained, not only would
it be intolerable to those called upon to pay it, but from the
broader economic point of view, it would be nationally
disastrous.
Tax Exemption. - In the United States we have a
great and growing mass of property that is exempt from
income taxation. This is due in part to our constitutional
system which makes it impossible for the United States
to tax bonds or income from bonds issued by states, cities,
and other local political units, while the states may not
tax the bonds of the United States. In addition legislation
has added to the volume of securities exempt from income
taxation, until now the value of this property, the income
of which is not taxed, is estimated to amount to thirty
billions of dollars or cven more. The result is to increase
the tax on non-exempt property, to disarrange our system
of taxation, and to encourage the development of appar-
ently favored classes. The subject is too complex for fur-
ther discussion in this place; but it should be emphasized
that in the opinion of economists tax exemption has become
so great an evil that they very generally favor constitutional
changes, making it possible to abolish or greatly lessen the
issuancc of tax exempt securitics.
The Federal Estate, or Inheritance, Tax. - During the
Civil and Spanish-American Wars, we had short-lived Fed-
eral inheritance taxes as emergency measures. Estate
taxation was enacted as a part of the Revenue Act of 1916;
and while there have been revisions of rates since, the taxa-
tion of inheritances is likely to be a permanent source of
REVENUES IN THE UNITED STATES 491
Federal revenues. Once enacted, this tax should not only
be permanent, but the rates should be stable; otherwise the
tax burden will not be equitably distributed over all estates.
This tax is imposed upon the transfer of the entire net
estate of every decedent, whether a resident or a non-resi-
dent of the l'nited States. The" net estate" upon which
the tax is imposed is the gross estate of the decedent, less
deductions for the expenses of administration, debts, and
losses, and an exemption in all cases of $50,000, except in
estates of nonresidents. The rates as revised in 1921 are
as follows:
AI\WUNT OF" NET ESTATE"
(GROSS El'lTATE L E ~ S FEn- TAX PER CENT
r.nTTED DEDUCTION AND A,N'
EXEMPTION OF 850,000)
Up to $50,000 . . . 1
50,000- 150,000 2
150,000- 250,000 3
250,000- 450,000 4
450,00(}- 750,000 6
750,000- 1,000,000 8
1,000,000- 1,.500.000 lO
1,500,000- 2,000,000 12
2,000.000- 3,000,000 14
3,000,000- 4,000,000 16
4,000,000- 5,000,000 18
5,000,000- 8,000,000 20
8,000,000-lO,000,000 22
lO,OOO,OOO-and up . . 25
A progressive Federal estate tax has merits which we can-
not enter upon here, further than to observe that it is quite
productive, having yielded over ;'139,000,000 in 1922;
and that many people look upon it as a valuable agency in
breaking up the large individual fortunes which they believe
to be socially undesirable.
II. STA.TE REVENUES
We come nell:t to taxation by the states. In the be-
ginning it may be well to study the following table adapted
492 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
from the report of the New York State comptroller and show-
ing the revenues of that state for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1920:
General Property Taxes . . . . $15,058,317.01
Special Taxes. . . . . . . 93,018,032.15
Corporations . 33,729,407.08
Personal income 16,500,000.00
Inheritance 21,259,540.81
Stock transfer 10,648,993.01
Motor vehicles 4,214,235.03
Other receipts 6,665,756.22
Other Revenues (from sales, fees, fines, etc.) . 7,515,257.83
Total Revenues. . . . . . . . . . . . $115,591,606.99
General Property Tax. - A general property tax is a lax
1chich is levied - in theory - upon nearly all property. real
and personal, on a uniform basis of assessment and at a uni-
form raie. The importance of this tax appears in the fact
that revenue derived from it in the commonwealths of the
United States constitutes more than one-half of the state and
local revenues, and approximately one-third of the total
revenues of the country, - national, state, and local. And
yet all economists who have written upon the subject, and
nearly all state officers who have to do with the administra-
tion of the tax, have not been able to speak of it otherwise
than in terms of severe condemnation. Naturally, then,
there is now a strong tendency to work away from this form
of taxation. Some of the many serious faults which the gen-
eral property tax has everywhere shown call for comment
and explanation.
Though the method of assessment and apportionment
differs in many details among the states, it is the usual cus-
tom for assessors in each community to prepare complete
statements of all or nearly all kinds of taxable property owned
by the people of the community. In some states the asses-
sors receive from all residents sworn "lists" of property
REVENUES IN THE UNITED STATES 493
owned and subject to tax. By the terms of the law, the
property is supposed to be rated at its true, full value, though
by the acknowledged practice of assessors and courts of re-
view, the real rates vary widely from state to state, and
even from community to community. On the basis of the
property valuations thus made, the state and local govern-
ments, - country and town, -levy direct taxes at a rate
fixed from ~ ' e a r to year according to the fiscal needs. The
tax is then collected by local officers, and of the whole amount
the portion levied by the county and state is passed on to
the designated officers after each minor political division
has set aside its share.
1. U njuBt A pportiol!ment. - The first of the defects of
the tax appears in the apportionment of the state's share
of the tax. Each community has a narrow, selfish interest
in reducing its valuation in order that it may escape its just
share of the tax. In this sordid struggle of community
against community, assessments are made to vary all the
way from 40 to 90, or even 100, per cent of the true values.
The same mean struggle is especially frequent between city
and country districts. To correct the evil, state boards of
equalization or state tax commissions have usually been
appointed. Wisconsin is among the states that seem to
have succeeded by this method in lessening greatly the in-
equities of assessment in the general property tax system.
2. Inequity a . ~ between Realty and Personalty. - In
the second place, the general property tax has proved grossly
inequitable in laying an undue proportion of its burden upon
real property, allowing various forms of personal property
to escape with a slight tax or with no tax at all. A secondary
result of this inequity is that the rural districts bear a dis-
proportionate burden, since the greater part of the tax-
escaping personalty is owned by the wealthy citizens of our
cities.
494 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
3. Ineqnalities of City Assessments. - Very similar to
the preceding evils is the further injustice wrought by the
tax through the disproportionate assessment of the pieces of
real estate in cities. Several state tax commissions have
found and reported that in the case of city properties the pro-
portion between the assessed value and the real value quite
regularly varies inversely as the value of the property.
Thus in one case it was found that some of the most valuable
properties were assessed at only about one-tenth of the real
value, while properties of little value were regularly assessed
at from five to eight-tenths of their value. This evil has
been greatly lessened in recent years.
4. Temptation to Dishonesty. - It follows from the evils
already described that the general property tax leads to a
shocking amount of dishonesty, perjury, bribery, and other
forms of corruption. Indeed, as one writer has expressed it,
" The general property tax has gone far toward making per-
jury respectable and even virtuous."
Some of the evils of the general property tax are due to
the inclusion of personal property. Various devices are
being evolved to meet these evils, such as the special treat-
ment of intangibles.
Corporation Taxes. - Partly owing to the proved injustice
of the general property tax, but partly also owing to the
recent great growth of the corporate form of business en-
terprise, there has been in the last quarter of a century a
considerable development along the line of taxation of
corporations. In some cases, as in New York, there are
two taxes thus laid, one upon the organization of such cor-
porations, and another upon their annual business. It has
been found much easier to reach the revenues of such busi-
nesses directly than to reach them through the taxation of
the stocks and bonds of the corporations in the hands of in-
dividualowners. New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wis-
REVENUES IN THE UNITED STATES 495
consin, and lVlassachusetts are among the states that have
come nearest to abandoning the general property tax for
purposes of state revenue, and developing in its stead taxa-
tion of corporations.
License Taxes. - Another form of state taxation that has
undergone a considerable development in recent years is
that of business licenses. When, as is the case in our
Southern states, licenses are required for many different
kinds of business, serious disturbance to business may result.
But much may be said in favor of a system of taxing by
license a few industries which it is generally believed the
state should regulate.
Inheritance Taxation. - Still another form of taxation to
which states ha vc resorted in recent years is the tax on inheri-
tances, collatcral and dircct. In the levying of inheritance
taxes, or " succession duties," there are many and wide dif-
ferences of detail which we cannot stop to consider. In
many cases such taxes are progressive or graduated on a
twofold basis, according to remoteness of relationship and ac-
cording to size of bequest. Thus, a small property inherited
by a wife or son or daughter would be taxed at the lowest rate,
while thc inheritance of a large fortune by distant relatives or
strangers in blood would bear the heaviest burden. This
form of taxation is winning increasing favor from economists
and from statesmen, both on account of its conformity to
the "faculty" theory of taxation, and because of its prac-
tical ease and certainty of collection. The large part which
the tax already plays in the finances of New York State is
shown in the table. All except two of thc commonwealths
now raise a part of their revenue from a tax on inheritances,
collateral or direct. It is to be noted further that a ma-
jority of the states have adopted the principle of progression
in levying the tax.
Other Sources of State Revenue. - Within the last
496 ELEMENTARY PRlNClPLES OF ECONOMlCS
decade, about one-fourth of the states have adopted some
form of income tax, either on persons or on corporations.
Another source of state revenue of increasing importance is
the tax on motor vehicles. The table of revenues of
York State shows several other important taxes.
Poll Taxes. - One antiquated source of revenue which
does not appear in the table is the poll tax. l\Iany states
levy poll or capitation taxes, to be paid into the state or
local treasury. Poll taxes are taxes usually levied at a uni-
form rate uIJon IJractically all male citizens, They are difficult
of collection, in the highest degree inequitable, and are gradu-
ally disappearing from the financial systems of advanced
governments.
III. LOCAL REVEXUES
Local areas of administration in the rnited States have
usually rclied in the main upon the same taxes which are
levied by the state governments. Thus, as has been explained
above, the general property tax is levied at a rate which rep-
resents the contribution of the taxed property to tOWIl,
county, and state gO\'ernments. the local govern-
ments in the past were usually allowed a share of the revenue
from liquor license taxation. Municipalities also at times
have their independent license system for hucksters, etc.,
though this system usually has for its main purpose the
regula tion of such business.
Analysis of Local Revenues. - The following table shows
the revenues in 1918, classified by sources, of 227 cities with
population of :30,000 or more. The total population of these
cities was in excess of 34 millions.
It will be observed that of the total receipts, taxes ac-
count for nearly 790 millions - about 70 per cent; and of
Adapted from studies published in the Annals of the American
Academy, May, 1921.
REVltNUES IN THE UNITED STATES 497
-
I
TOTAl,
PER CENT
AMOrJ'NT
SOURCE OF REVENUE
AMOCNT
OF TOT.-\.L P};R
AMOUNT
CAPITA
Taxes:
General Property . $
705, n3, 158 )
Special Property
16,269,058
Business-Liquor and Other
59.645,759 70.3
23.03
)<on-business License.
6,924,560
Poll Taxes . 2,014,952
Special Assessments
i2,673,785 6.5 2.12
Gifts, Subventions, and Grants 46,487,478 4.1
1.35
Rents and Interest 46,785,850 4.2 1.36
Highway Privileges 15,796,393 1.4 .46
Earnings of General Departments 29,526,180 2.6
0.86
Fines, Forfeits, and Escheats 5,753,081 0.5
0.17
Earnings of Public Service Enter-
prises:
Water Supply Systems
90,139,705l
Electric Light &Power 8,315,960
10.4 3.39
Docks, 'Wharves and Landings. 7,786,509
All other . 10,252,471
Total Revenues from all Sources $1,124,0!J4,899 100.0 32.75
this amount, more than nine-tenths came from taxes on prop-
erty. Other summary conclusions from these studies are:
(1) The largest cities find that their more important sources
of revenue are taxes, highway privileges, rents, and interest;
the smaller cities find theirs, aside from taxes, to be special
assessments, subventions, and earnings from public service
enterprises. (2) The general property tax is the main
source of revenue in the municipal tax systems; the water
supply system is the most productive of the municipal
utilities. The next most productive source of revenue is
special assessments. A large source of revenue is subven-
tions and grants from state and county governments, of
which more than 87 per cent is for education.
498 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Revenue from Franchises. - One form of revenue which.
American cities have been too prone to neglect is now re-
ceiving increasing attention. Private municipal service
corporations often enjoy valuable pri \ileges under their mu-
nicipal franchises, and they should be made to pay for these
franchises all that they are worth; that is, the capitalization
of their earning power, less the actual capital invested, with
an extra allowance for the regular risks of the business.
Some cities have been able to manage such municipal enter-
prises for themselves with profit, and it is not improbable
that this method will be adopted more generally as Amer-
ican municipalities become more honest and business-like.
IV. A BALA.'<CED REYE:-'TE SYSTEM
In all countries to-day, and particularly in those most
heavily in debt as a result of the World War, the uppermost
question is that of public finance. To procure the immense
revenues required,. and yet not lay unjust and repressive
taxes on individuals and business, is indeed a difficult prob-
lem. New ways of raising funds are being devised, and
old ones arc being modified. A moment's reflection should
convince the student that no revenue measure can be finally
judged apart from other measures; it must be considered
in relation to the system as a whole. To emphasize this
fact, it may be well to suggest a balanced revenue system,
in which Federal, state, and local revenues will be placed in
the right relation one to another. vVhat follows is a mere
outline which needs to be filled in with many details for
which this book does not furnish space.
Federal Revenues. - In the first place, it is to be noted
that the Federal Constitution itself prescribes the place
of customs duties in the system. Again, excise taxation
could not be practiced by the state governments, since any
REVENUES IN THE UNITED STATES 400
state that should impose an excise tax would promptly dri'-e
the taxed production into the jurisdiction of other common-
wealths. Income taxation, now firmly established, is also
preferably a source of Federal reyenuc. To these sources of
Federal revenue may be added the taxes on transactions,
though these should be levied; and perhaps a
light taxation of interstate commerce, which would be a
peculiarly appropriate source of Federal reyenue, and
might offer an opportunity for the regulation of interstate
business. The national Budget seems to indicate that in
coming years income taxation will play relatiwly a larger
part, and customs and excises a smaller part in our Federal
system than in the period preceding the World War.
State Taxation. - We have already pointed out the mani-
fold inequities of the general property tax_ There is no
longer any question that it would be well for our common-
wealths to rely less than heretofore upon this source of rev-
enue, and to leave to the local goyernments the great bulk of
the revenues from the taxation of rcal property. The state
can easily develop corporation, franchise, and inheritance tax-
ation until they will prove sufficient for the greater part of
state needs. Already several commonwealths ha\'e made
the change, and many others seem prepared to follow them.
U noer these forms of taxation, personal property will be
taxed more certainly and more equitably than it has an'y-
where been taxed under the general tax.
There are those also who would tax incomes for state pur-
poses. In some states the income tax has been a failure;
but in recent years Xew York and Wisconsin have met
with a considerable degree of success in levying a state in-
come tax, ano it is probable that other states in the future
will achieve at least an equal success.
Local Taxation. - The system thus far outlined would
leave to the local governments the most convenient and
500 ELEMENTARY PRINClPLES OF ECONOMICS
most appropriate sources for their revenues. First of all,
the greater part of local expenditure could be cared for by
a tax on land and buildings and on forms of personal prop-
erty that cannot easily evade the assessor, such as luxurious
consumer's goods. Various forms of business taxation may
be employed to add to local revenues; but what can be
done in this direction will depend on varying conditions of
time and place. Municipal ownership, for example, of
water works, may be made to yield a revenue, and fran-
chises for the operation of public utilities at times yield
large revenues.
Such a balanced system as has been here suggested would
insure a greater degree of equity, elasticity, cer-
tainty, and harmony than now obtains in our unsystematic
hit-anci-miss forms of taxation. That we have made at least
some progress toward the ideal here set forth may be seen
in recent years: The Federal system seems to rely increas-
ingly on income taxation; the states to rely on prop-
erty taxes, and more on business, corporation, and automo-
bile taxes; while the cities seem to be placing relatively
more emphasis on the general property tax.
SUMMARY
1. The revenues of the Federal government are derived in great part
from customs duties, excise taxes, and the income tax.
2. Customs duties are regressive, inelastic, and uncertain, and disturb
business; but their productiveness gives them a strong place in
the financial system.
3. Excise taxes on tobacco and other articles are also regressive, but
they are less objectionable in other respects, and they are conven-
iently collected.
4. The income tax has become an important part of the Federal revenue
system.
5. States are relying less than formerly on the general property tax,
which is unwieldy, unscientific, and inequitable, and leads to
many sorts of corruption.
REVENUES IN THE UNITED STATES 501
6. Poll taxes no longer play any considerable role in taxation.
7. Taxes on corporations, license taxes, and inheritance taxes are m
many states taking the place of other forms of taxation.
8. Local governments now rely mainly on the general property tax.
9. A balanced revenue system would have the Federal government
supported chicfly by taxation of incomes and by customs and ex-
cise taxes; the state government, by corporation, franchise,
and inheritance taxes; the local government by a t.ax on land
and buildings, and by franchise taxes or by revenues from muni-
cipal operation of public services.
QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION
1. What part of the Federal revenues comes from customs duties i
from excise taxes?
2. What are specific duties i ad valorem duties?
3. State and explain the objections to customs duties i to excIse
taxes. Compare the two.
4. Describe the method of collecting excise taxes.
5. Discuss the advantages of income taxation.
6. Describe the main features of the Federal income tax.
7. What is the objection to taxing transactions?
8. Describe the evils of the general property tax. How is the general
property tax levied?
9. What has caused the recent great development of corporation
taxation?
10. What are the advantages of inheritance taxation?
11. Frame a balanced system of taxation for town, state, and nation,
and explain why each tax is placed where it is.
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION
1. Is the general property tax a chief source of revenue in your state?
Docs your state constitution make it rufficult or impossible to
give up t.his form of taxation?
2. Does a mortgage on land represent wealth distinct from the value
of the mortgaged land?
3. Who bears the tax laid on houses i on the rent of land?
4. Study carefully the financial reports of your own state and commu-
nity.
502 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
5. Study the geographical distribution of the incomes reported for the
Federal Income Tax.
6. Is there a poll tax in your state? Is it generally collected? How
is it regarded?
7. Does your state impose an income tax? Is it proportional or pro-
gressive?
8. Should an excess-profits tax be made a permanent source of revenue
in the Federal System?
9. What is a sales tax? What are arguments for and against it?
LITERATURE
Adams, H. C.: The Science of Finance, Part II, Book II, Chapter VI,
especially paragraph 73.
Annals of the American Academy, May, 1921; two articles: "Sources of
Revenue in American Cities," by Lancaster; "Trend of Federal,
State, and Local Revenues in the United States," by Watson.
National Tax Association, Proceedings of Twelfth National Conference,
1919, pp. 426-70: "Model System of State and Local Taxation."
Seligman, E. R. A.: Income Taxation.
See also references at close of precedini: chapter.
APPENDIX I
SUBJECTS FOR ESSAYS, DISCUSSIONS, AND
DEBATES
THE following list is intended simply to be suggestive.
Students are advised first of all to choose such subjects for
study as are best suited to the local emironment. Thus,
if the student lives in a rural district, let him first stud v
local land values, agricultural rent, the proportion of ten-
ants to farm-owners, farming methods and their changes,
mortgage indebtedness, the size of farms, the business char-
acter of farmers, the use of machinery, transportation of
produce, farmers' organizations, etc., all "'ith refercncc to his
own neighborhood. If he liyes in a manufacturing town,
let him study in the same way the factory problem, - the ex-
tent to which women and children are employed, wages and
hours of labor, the extent and causes of unemployment,
means of preventing or adjusting disputes bctween employ-
ers and employed, social insurance, etc.; or let him inyes-
tigate the local railway problem, freight rates, safety pre-
cautions, accidents, etc.
It hardly needs to be said that in selecting subjects for
debate from the following list, care should be exercised to
choose only such topics as offer a real affirmative and nega-
tive, and to frame the question in such a way as to have the
two sides well balanced.
BIOGRAPHICAL A!l.1> HISTORICAL
(Especially for Essays)
Sketch of the Life of Adam Smith.
The Life Work of Robert Owen.
503
504 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Benjamin Franklin as a Practical Economist.
Arnold Toynbee.
Karl Marx and His Theories.
Henry George and the Single Tax.
LABOR AND LABOR ORGANIZATIONS
Economic Causes of the Rise and Fall of Slavery in the United
States.
Economic Bearings of Free Land in the United States.
Indentured Servitude in the American Colonies.
The Sweating System in Our Great Cities.
The Value and Cost of Child Labor.
Convict Labor.
The Economy of High Wages.
Hours of Labor.
The History and Prospects of Profit-sharmg ,
Voluntary Cooperation in the United States.
Workingmen's Family Budgets.
Old Age Pensions.
Labor Organizations in the United States.
Employers' Associations in the United States.
Compulsory Incorporation of Trade-unions.
The American Federation of Labor, its Organization and Aims.
Compulsory Arbitration in New Zealand.
Health Insurance in Great Britain and Other Countries.
Industrial Education and Vocational Guidanee.
Workmen's Compensation and Industrial Safety in the United
States.
The Inequality of Men's and Women's Wages.
Minimum Wage Legislation in the United States and Great
Britain.
Systems of Industrial Conciliation.
Powers and Duties of State Industrial Commissions.
Restriction of Immigration into the United States.
Methods for Dealing with Unemployment.
Strikes, Lockouts, and Boycotts.
APPENDIX I
505
Recent Important Strikes: e.g., The Steel Strike, 1919; Coal
Strike, 1922; Railroad Strike, 1922.
West Virginia Coal War.
National, Regional, and Local Trade Agreements.
The National Consumers' League.
Trade-union Labels.
The National Civic Federation.
Chinese Labor and the American Standard of Life.
The Power of Consumers over Conditions of Employment.
Combinations of Employers and Employees against the Pub-
lic.
Government by Injunction.
LAND A ~ ~ FOOD SUPPLY
Agricultural Rents in England during the Nineteenth Century.
Tenant Farming in Texas.
Is Tenancy in Farming Desirable?
Extensive and Intensive Farming in the United States.
The Relation between Small Farms and Democracy.
Forest Culture in New York, Massachusetts, or Other States.
What Has Been Done with Our Public Domain?
Irrigation in Our Arid States.
The Possibilities of Dry Farming.
How Great Cities Are Fed.
l\,fONEY, BANKS, AND BANKING
l\'loney in Various Places and Times.
The Demonetization of Silver in the United States.
National and International Bimetallism.
Fiat Money in an Ideal State.
Thc English and American Banking Systems Compared.
Our National Banking System.
Postal Savings Banks.
A Visit to the New York Clearing-house.
Credit in Modern Industry.
Usury and Usury Laws.
506 ELEMENTARY PRINCiPLES OF ECONOMICS
Financial Panic of 1907.
The Business Depression of 1921.
Agricultural Credit, Long-time and Short-time.
The Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916.
The Federal Reserve Board, - its Powers and Functions.)
The Work of the War Finance Corporation.
COM.'I1ERCE, MONOPOLIES, ETC.
The Advance, Decline, and Present Problems of American
Shipping.
Ship Subsidies.
The Stock Market and its Relation to Industry.
The Use and Abuse of Speculation.
The So-called" Money Trust."
Economic Crises.
Monopolies, Old and Xew.
Trusts, 'What They Are and What They Do.
Municipal Lighting and Other Municipal Services.
The Regulation of Public l'tilities.
The Social Economy and the Waste of Advertising.
The Federal Trade Commission and Its Powers.
Necessary and Unnecessary :':Iiddlemen.
TRANSPORTATION
The Farmer's Interest in Good Roads.
Federal, Statp, and Local Activitips in Highway Improvement.
The Economics of l\lotor Transport.
The Prussian Railway System.
Railway Combinations in the United States.
The Interstate Commerce Commission and its Powers.
Federal Operation of the Railways.
The Plumb Plan.
River and Harbor Bills.
How Railway Rates Should Be Determined.
The Physical Valuation of Railways.
Public vs. Private Ownership of Public Utilities.
APPENDIX T
The Effects of the Panama Canal.
Inland Dccp Sea Waterways.
SOCIAL PROBLEMS
The Influence of Luxury upon Rich and Poor.
Tenement-house Life in Large Cities.
Working-girls' Clubs.
The Economic and Moral Causes of Poverty.
The Charity That Pauperizes.
Immigration and Social Standards.
Child Labor.
Economic Effects of Prohibition.
Housing Problems Since the World War.
TAXATION AND THE TARIFF
Adam Smith on Taxation.
Taxes That Can Be Shifted.
Taxation and Perjury.
The Internal Revenue System.
The English Corn Laws.
The Protective Tariff on Sugar.
The Taxation of Inheritances.
Reciprocity and Reciprocity Treaties.
The Wisconsin Tax Commission and Its Powers.
The Federal Income Tax.
Experience of States with Income Taxation.
507
Should the Tariff Be Based on the Difference in Labor Cost
Here and Abroad '!
Does the Protective Tariff Bcnefit American Labor?
John Stuart Mill on the Taxation of Land Values.
The Sales Tax.
THE STATE IN INDUSTRY
Four Views of the Economic Functions of Government: An-
archism, Extreme Individualism, Moderate Individual-
ism, Socialism.
508 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
The Relation of the State to Industry in the United States.
Fiscal Monopolies in France.
The Telegraph in England and America.
National Workshops in France in 1848.
Ideal Commonwealths.
Christian Socialism.
The Fabian Socialists.
Socialistic Experiments in the United States.
The Social Democratic Party in Germany.
Effect of the War on the American Socialist Party and Policy.
Socialism or Social Reform, Which Shall It Be?
Excess Conuemnation.
Socialism VB. Imperialism.
The Brotherhood of Labor.
Liberty of the Press in the Socialistic State.
Syndicalism anu the Industrial Workers of the World.
Communism in Russia Since 1917.
GENERAL THEORY
The Theory of Value in Marshall and Bohm-Bawerk.
The Malthusian Theory of Population.
The Theory of a Wage-fund.
The" Lump of Labor" Theory, or the Theory of a Work-fund.
Money and the Balance of Trade: An Exploded Theory.
A Study of Human Wants.
Possible Substitutes for Competition.
Intcresting Cases of Conjunctural Gains.
\Vhut arc Economic Laws?
The Influence of Climate upon Civilization.
The Quantity Theory of the Value of Money.
MISCELLANEOUS
The Economic Importance of Housekeeping.
The Economic Results of the Great Plague of 1348.
The Irish Famine of 1848.
What Bad Cooking Is, and What It Costs.
APPENDIX 1
The Economic Functions of the Church.
Changes of Fashion in Women's Clothing.
509
A Study in Division of Labor. (To be drawn from the stu-
dent's observation.)
Our National Ash-heap. (The cost to the nation of inflam-
mable construction of building.)
An Expensive Luxury. (A careful statistical study of the
cost of tobacco to individuals and nations.)
The Cost of War. (A comparative study of the items in va-
rious national budgets that are due to wars past or to
preparation for future wars.)
APPENDIX II
BmLIOGRAPHY
A CAREFULLY selected sct of references under the caption
"Literature" has been added at the end of cach chapter.
The following lists include these chapter references together
with other works which the student will find useful in the
various fields of economics. The more elementary and less
technical works are designated by a star (*).
All the works are of American or English publication.
The name of the publisher, if American, is briefly indicated.
The copyright date - in some cases the date of publi-
cation - is also given.
BOOKS ON GENERAL AND SPECIAL PHASES OF ECONo:.ncs
*ADAMS, H. C.: Description of Industry, Holt, 1918.
ADAltIS, H. C.: Relation of the State to I nduslrial J!cton. (In
Publications of American Economic Association, Volume
I, No.6, 1887.)
ADAMS, H. C.: Science of Finance, Holt, 1898.
ASHLEY, PERCY: Modern Tariff History, Third edition, Lon-
don, Murray, 1920.
ASHLEY, \"1. J.: The Adjustment of Wages, Longmans, 1903.
ASHLEY, W. J.: Introduction to English Economic History
and Theory, Two volumes, Longmans, 1913-14.
ASHLEY, W. J.: The Tariff Problem, Third edition, London,
1911-
*BAGEHOT, \"1ALTER: Lombard Street, Revised edition, Lon-
don, 1915.
BASTABLE, C. F.: Public Finance, Third edition, Macmillan,
1903.
510
APPENDIX II 511
C. F.: Theory of International Trade, Fourth edi-
tion, Macmillan, 1903.
*BASTIAT, FREDERIC: Economic Sophisms, Putnam, 1922.
BEMIS, E. W.: ltfunicipal Monopolies, Crowell, 1899.
BERNSTEIN, E.: Evolutionary Socialism, Huebsch, 1911.
*BLOOMFIELD, D.: Selected Articles on Modern Industrial
M ot'emenfs, vVilson, 1919.
*BLOOMFIELD, D.: Selected Articles on Problems of Labor,
Wilson, 1920.
*BLomIFIELD, JYI.: ltfanagement and Mm, Century, 1919.
*BWOMFIELD, M. : Readings in Vocational Guidance, Ginn, 1915.
BLomIFIELD, M.: Youth, School and Vocation, Houghton, 1915.
*BOGART, E. L.: Economic History of the United States, Third
edition, Longmans, 1917.
*BOGART, E. L., and C. M.: Readings in the Eco-
nomic History of the United States, Longmans, 1919.
BOHM-BAWERK, E. VON: Capital and Interest, Macmillan, 1890.
BOHM-BAWERK, E. VON: Positive Theory of Capital, Mac-
millan, 1891.
BRASSEY, T.: Work and Wages, Three volumes, edited by
Chapman, Longmans, 1909.
*BROOKS, J. G.: Labor's Challenge to the Social Order, Mac-
millan, 1920.
*BROOKS, J. G.: The Social Unrest, Macmillan, 1903.
*BRUERE, M. B. and R. W.: Increasing Home EfficienC1J, Mac-
millan, 1912.
BUCHER, CARL: Industrial Evo/ution, Holt, 1901.
*BULLOCK, C. J.: An Introduction to the Study of Economics,
Silver, Burdett and Company, 1913.
*BuLLOcK, C. J.: Selected Readings in Publ'ic Finance, Second
edition, Ginn, 1920.
BURDICK, F, l'r!.: E8senl'ials of Bu;;iness Law, Appleton, 1902.
CALLENDER, S.: Selections from the Economic History of the
United Eitates, Ginn, 1909.
CAN"fON, J. G.: Clearing Houses, Appleton, 1900.
CA"fNON, J. G.: The Currr'ncy Problem and the Present Finan-
cial Situation, Columbia University Press, 1908.
512 ELEMENTA.RY PRLVCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
CAREY, H. C.: Harmony of Inlcrests (In Jfi.'JcelianeoU8 Works),
Philadelphia, 1872.
CAREY, H. c.: Manual of Social Science, Philadelphia, 1872.
*CARLTON, F. T.: History and Problems of Organized Labor,
Heath, 1920.
CARVER, T. N.: Principles of Political Economy, Ginn, 1919.
*CHEYNEY, E. P.: Industrial and Social History of England,
Macmillan, 1920.
Chicago Conference on Trusts: Speeches, Debates, Resolutions,
cic., Chicago Civic Federation, 1899.
*CLARE, G.: The ABC of Foreign Exchanges, .Macmillan, 1911.
CL\RK, J. B.: The Distribution of Wealth, 1899.
*CLAY, HENRY: Economics for the General Reader, American
edition, Macmillan, 1918.
*CLEVELAND, F. A.: Funds and Their eses, Appleton, 1914.
COII:-I, G.: Science of Finance, l:niwrsity of Chicago Press, 1895.
COLE, G. D. H.: Guild Socialism, Stokes, 1921.
*COMAN, KATHARINE: Industrial History of the United Stal<s,
Macmillan, 1920.
J. R.: The Distribution of Wealth, Macmillan, 180::.
COIllIllO:-lS, J. R., and others (editors): A Documentary History (j
American Industrial Society, Ten volumes, A. H. Clar!:,
1910.
COMMONS, J. R., and others: History of Labor in the [;nittd
States, Two volumes, 1\Iacmillan, 1918.
*COIllMONS, J. R., and others: Industrial G01'ernment, 1\lac-
millan, 1921.
J. R., and AKDREWS, J. B.: Prhleiples of La/;cr
LegiBlation, Harpers, 1920.
*COMMONS, J. R.: Trade Unionism and Labor Problems, Ginn,
First series 1905; Second series 1921. .
CONANT, C. A.: History of jfodern BaIlA'S of Issue, Fourth
edition, Putnam, 1909.
'VIII.: Growth of English Industry and Commerce,
Two volumes, Cambridge University Press,
CUNYNGHAME, H.: Geometrical Political Economy, Clarendon
Press, 1904.
APPENDIX II 513
*CURTLER, 'v. H. R.: Short History of English Agriculture,
Clarendon Press, 1909.
DALTON, HUGH: Some Aspects of the Inequality of Incomes in
Modern Communities, Dutton, 1920.
DA.'IIELS, W. M.: Elements of Public Finance, Holt, 1899.
DAYENPORT, H. J.: Outlines of Economic Theory, Macmillan,
1896.
*DEVINE, E. T.: Economics, Macmillan, 1898.
*DEWEY, D. R.: Financial History of the United States, Eighth
edition, Longmans, 1922.
*DE\YEY, D. R. and SHUGRUE, M. J.: Banking and Credit,
Ronald, 1922.
DIXO.'l, F. H.: TV ar Administration of the Railways of the United
States and Great Britain, Oxford Uni,ersity Press, 1918.
DmGHTY, C. M.: Wanderings in Arabia, Two volumes,
Scribner, 1908.
DV.'IBAR, C. F.: Theory and History of Banking, Third edition,
Putnam, 1917.
DeN.'I, S. 0.: Regulation of Railways, Appleton, 1918.
*ELY, R. T.: Evolution of Industrial Society, Macmillan, H103.
*ELY, R. T.: Monopolies and Trusts, Macmillan, 1(1)0.
*ELY, R. T.: Outlines of Economics, Macmillan, 19W.
ELY, R. T.: Outlines of Land Economics, Three volumes,
Edwards Bros., Ann Arbor, Mich., 1922. /
ELY, R. T.: Property and Contract in Their Relations to the
Distribution of Wealth, Two volumes, Macmillan, 1914.
*ELY, R. T.: Socialism and Social Reform, Crowell, 1894.
EMERY, H. C.: Speculation on the Stock and Produce Exchanges
of the United States, Columbia University Press, 1896.
*EscHER, FRANKLIN: Foreign Exchange Explained, Mac-
millan, 1917.
1i' ARRER, T. H.: The State in Its Relation to Trade, London, 1902.
~ c d c r a t e d American Engineering Societies: Waste in Industry,
McGraw-Hill, 1921.
rETTER, F. A.: Economics, Two volumes, Century, 1915-1922.
l'rLLEHROW.'l, C. B.: The ABC of Taxation, Second edition,
Dvu;'ieday-Page, 1909.
514 ELEJIENTARY PRINCIl'LE8 ()F ECONOMICS
FISHER, IRVING: Elemcninry Princ'ipll's of Economic8, Mac-
millan, 1912.
FISHER, IRVI:-IG: Purchasing 1'01l'Cr of Money, :\IacmiIlan, 1911,
FISKE, A. K.: The Modern Bank, Hevised edition, ,-\ppleton,
1920.
FRIDAY, DAVID: Profits, Wages and Prim" Harcourt, 192(}.
GANTT, H. L.: Organizing for Work, Harcourt, 1919.
*GEORGE, HEr>RY: Progress and P01!eriy, Doubleday,Page, 1920.
GIBSON, TnOlIAS: Simple Principles of In tcsimen I, Double-
day,Page, 1920.
*GIDE, CHARLES: Principles of Political Economy, Heath, 1913.
GIDE, C. and RIST, C.: II of f:C01wmic Doctrines (Trans-
lated from 1913 edition), Ht'ath, 1915.
GREE:-.iE, T. L.: Corporation Finance, Third edition, Putnam,
1904.
*GREGORY, H. E. and others: and COli/ mercial Geog-
raphy, Ginn, 1910.
*GROAT, G. G.: OrganiZl'd L"bor in AII/l'Ticll, 1916.
HADLEY, A. T.: Economics, Putnam, 189U.
HAlIIILTON, J. H.: Smings and Sal:illgll I nslillltion8,
millan, 1902.
W. H.: Currellt Economic Problems, Cniversity
of Chicago Press. 1!119.
HANEY, L. H. : Orgnnization, :Macmillan, 1!l14.
*H.>l.NEY, L. H.: IIistor!1 of Economic Thought, :\Iacmillan, 1920.
HOBSON, J. A.: Emll/tion of Modern Capitalism, Revised
('dition, Scribners, 1!l13.
HOBSON, J. A.: The Economics of Disfrilmlioll, l\Iacmillan, 1900.
HOBSON, J. A.: The New Protectionism, Putnam, 1916.
HOLDSWORTH, .J. T.: MOlley and Banking, Appleton, 1917.
HUNTER, 1\1. H.: Outlincs of Public Fil/I/I/ef, Harper, 1921.
Indianapolis Monetary Report of COl/venti on, 1898.
INGRAM, J. K.: History of Political Economy, Edited by W. A.
Scott, London, 1915.
INGRAM, J. K.: History of Slavery and Serfdom, London, 1895.
INNES, A. D.: England's Industrial Development" Macmillan,
1912.
APPENDIX II 515
*JAURES, J. L.: Studies in Socialism, Putnam, 1906.
*JENKS, J. W.: The Trust Problem, Fourth edition, Double-
day,Page, 1917.
*JEVONfi, W. S.: },!oney, and the .Mechanism of Exchange,
Appleton, 1894.
*JOHNSO:>1, E. R.: American Railway Transportation, Apple-
ton, 1908.
JOlINSON E. R. and others: History of Domestic and Foreign
Commerce of the United States, Carnegie Institute, 1915.
JOHNSON, E. R.: Inland Waterways (Supplement to Annals
of American Academy of Political and Social Science, Sep-
tember, 1893).
JOHNSON, E. R. and VAN METRE, T. W. : Principles of Railroad
Transportation, Appleton, 1916.
JOHNSON, E. R. and HUEBNER, G. G.: Railroad Traffic and
Rates, Two volumes, Appleton, 1911.
JOHNSON, J. F.: Money and Currency, Ginn, 1905.
JONES, E. D.: Investment, Kew York, Alexander Hamilton
Institute, 1917.
KEMMERER, E. W.: High Prices and Deflation, Princeton
Lniversity Press, 1921.
KEMMERER, E. W.: Moncy and Credit Instruments in Their
Relation to General Priccs, Holt, 1907.
KEMMERER, E. W.: Postal Savings: an IIi.'Jtorieal and Critical
Study of the Postal Sa.vings BanI., System of the United
Statcs, Princeton Uniwrsity Press, 1917.
*KING, W. I.: W"alth and Income of the People of the United
States, Macmillan, 1917.
*KINLEY, DAVID: " ~ ! o n e y - a Study of the Theory of the lvIedium
of Exchange, Macmillan, 1904.
*LAIDLER, H. W.: Socialism in Thought and Action, Mac-
millan, 1920.
LAUGHLIN, J. L.: Principles of Money, Scribner, 1903.
LE ROSSIGNOL, J. E.: State Socialism in New Zealand, Crowell,
1910.
*LIPPINCOTT, ISAAC: Ecorwmic Development of the United States,
Appleton, 1921.
5Hi ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF ECO:VOMICS
LIST, FREDERIC: A'ational of I'o/itiral l:conomy, Edited
by,J. S. Nicholson, Longmans, 1904.
LLOYD, H. D.: Wealth against Comm011U'ealth, Harper, 1894.
*LOl'GH, W. H.: BWliness Finance, Ronald, 1917.
*LYo:-l, W. H.: Principles of Taxation, Houghton, 1914.
LUBBOCK, SIR JOliN: Origin of Cirilization, Longmans,
LUBBOCK, SIR JOliN: Prehistoric Times, Seventh edition, Holt,
1913.
MAINE, SIR H.: On Early Lau's and Customs, London, 1890.
l\IARSIHLL, ALFRED: Principll's of Economics, :'IIacmillan, 1910.
*M.>l.RSHALL, L. c.: Readings in Industrial Society, ('niver-
sity of Chicago Press, H1I8.
*MARSHALL and LYON: Our Economic Organizal!:on, l\iac-
millan, 1921.
*l\iARSIULL, WRIGHT, and FIELD: for the Study of
Elrmentary Economics, Cninrsity of Chicago Press, 1913.
MARX, KARL: Ca]yitnl, Kerr, 1909.
*:'I1EADE, E. S.: Corporation Finance, Appleton, 1910.
*MEADE, E. S.: Trust Finance, Applpton, 190:3.
MEYER, B. H.: Railaay Legislation in the ['nited States, Mac-
millan, 1903.
MILL, J. S.: Principles of Political Economy, Edited by Laugh-
lin, Appleton, 1891.
MOORE, H. L.: Lau's of Wnges, Macmillan, 1911.
lVIoRLEY, HEN'RY: Ideal CommolllCealths, London, 1885.
MOULTO:-l, H. G.: The Financial Organization of Society,
l'niversity of Chicago Press, 1921.
National Bureau of Economic Research: Income in the ['nited
States, - Its Amount and Distribution, 1.90.9-1.91.9, Pub-
lished by the Bureau, N"ew York, 1921.
N"ational Tax Association: Proceedings of Annual Conferences,
1.907 to dale (Published by the Association).
NICHOLSON', J. S.: Elements of Political Economy, Macmillan,
1903.
NOYES, A. D.: Forty Years of American Finance, Putnam, 1910.
PATTEN, S. N.: Dynamic Economics, University of Pennsyl-
vania, 1892.
APPENDIX II
517
PATTEN, S. N.; Premises of Political Economy, Lippincott,
1885.
PATTEN, S. N.: The Economic Basis of Proiection, Lippincott,
1890.
PEARRO:-l, KARL: Grammar of Science, London, 1911.
*PERms, G. H.: Industrial IIistory of .iI!Iodern England, Holt,
1914.
"PLEH:-I, C. C.; Introduction to Public Finance, Fourth edition,
Macmillan, 1920.
*PRATT, S. S.: Thc Wor!, of Wall Street, Revised edition,
Appleton, 1912.
*PmcE, L. L.; History of English Commerce and Industry,
London, 1904.
*PmcE, L. L.; Short IIistory of Political Economy in England,
London, 1896.
PROTHERO, R. E.: English Farming, Past and Present, Long-
mans, 1912.
R . ~ E , J.; Contemporary Socialism, Scribner, 1910.
RAPER, C. L.: Railway Transportation, Putnam, 1912.
*REDWAY, J. W.: New Basis of Geogrqphy, 11acmillan, 1901.
*REEVES, W. P.; State Experiments in Australia and New
Zealand, Two volumes, London, 1902.
RICARDO, DAVID; Principles of Political Economy and Taxation,
Edited by Gonner, London, 1919.
RIPLEY, ,Yo Z.: Railroads: Rates and Regulation, Longmans,
1912.
*RIPLEY, W. Z.; Railway Problems, Ginn, 1913.
*HIPLEY, W. Z.: Trusts, Pools and Corporations, Revised
edition, Ginn, 1916.
RITCHIE, D. G.; Natural Rights, Macmillan, 1895.
[lOGERS, J., E. T.: Six Centuries of Work and Wages, Putnam,
1884.
HOSCllER, W-,,!.; Principles of Political Economy, Two volumes,
Callaghan, 1878.
Hoss, E. A.: Princ'iplcs of Sociology, Century, 1920.
ROWNTREE, B. S.: Poverty: A Study of Town Life, Macmillan,
1902.
518 ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF E(,OJVOolf[CS
RUBINOW, I. M.: 80cial InauTancr 16th 8pecial Reference to
American Conditions, Holt,
RYAN, J. A. and HUSSLEIN, ,J.: Thl' Church and Labor, l\lac-
millan, 1920.
*RYAN, J. A.: A Limng Wage, - Its I,'thical and Economic
Aspects, Macmillan, 1906.
RYAN, J. A.: Social Reconstruction, Macmillan, 1920.
*SARGENT, A. J.: Seaways of the Empire, London, 1918.
SCHAFFLE, A. E. F.: The Quintessence of SocialilJln, London,
1892.
*SCOTT, \Y. A.: Money and Banking, Holt, 191G.
*SEAGER, H. R.: Principles of F:cOllom irs, Holt, 1917.
E. R. A.: Interprctation of lIistory,
Columhia Uni\'ersity Press, 1907.
E. R. A.: Essays ill Taxation, J\"inth edition, l\lac-
millan, 1921.
*SELIGM.\N, E. R. A.: Prillciples of Economics, J\"inth edition,
Longmans, 1921.
SELImIAN, E. H. A.: The II/come Tax, Macmillan, 1914.
SEMPLE, E. C.: Influences of Geographic Holt, 1911.
*SuARnIAN, 1. L.: The ... Jmcricall Railroad Problem, Century,
1921.
SIDGWICK, H.: Principles of Po/itiml Economy, Macmillan, 1887.
SKELTON, O. D.: Socialism: A Critical Analysis, Houghton,
1911.
SMART, Wr.r.: Economic Annal . of the lYine/eenth Century,
Two \"olumes, Macmillan, 1910 and 1917.
SMART, "M.: Introduction to the Theory of Value, Macmillan,
1920.
SMART, The Distribution of Income, Second edition,
Macmillan, 1912.
SMITH, ADA),I: Wealth of Nati(lns (In Enryman's Library),
Dutton, 1920.
*SMITH, J. R.: Industrial and Commercial Geography, Holt,
1913.
SMITH, J. R.: The World's Food Resources, Holt, 1919.
SOMBART, W.: Socialism and the Social Dutton, 1909.
APPENDIX II
519
*SPARGO, JOHN and ARNER, G. B. L.: Elements of Socialism,
Macmillan, 1912.
SPARGO, JOHN: Karl Marx: His Life and Work, Huebsch,
1910.
*STEVENS, W. S.: Industrial Combinations and Trusts, Mac-
millan, 1913.
SUMNER, W. G.: Protectionism - The" Ism" Which Teaches
That WrLStc Malecs Wealth, Holt, 1888.
*TAt:SSIG, F. W.: Principlcs of Economics, Third edition,
::\lacmillan, 1921.
*TAUSSIG, F. W.: Some Aspects of the Tariff Question, Har-
vard Fnivcrsity Press, 1915.
*TAlTSSIG, F. W.: Tariff History of the Unitcd Statcs, Si.xth
edition, Putnam, 1914.
*TAYLOR, F. W.: Principles of Scientific .Management, Har-
per, 1911.
*TAYLOR, H. C.: Agriculturnl Economics, Macmillan, 1919.
TOYNBEE, ARNOLD: Industrial Revolution, Longrnans, 1912.
*TROTTER, SPENCER: The Geography of Commerce, Macmillan,
1903.
VAN ANTWERP, W. C.: The Stock Exchangc from Within,
Doubleday,Page, 1913.
VANDERVELDE, E.: Collectivism and Industrial Evolution,
Kerr, 1901.
*V AN HISE, C. R.: Concentrntion and Control, Revised edition,
Macmillan, 1914.
*VON HALLE, E.: Trusts or Industrial Combinations and Co-
alitions in the United States, Macmillan, 1895.
WALKER, F. A.: Money, Trade and Industry, Holt, 1889.
*WALKER, F. A.: Land and its Rent, Little, 1883.
WALKER, F. A.: Political Economy, Advanced Course, Holt,
1887.
WALLING, 'V. E.: Progressivism and After, Macmillan, 1914.
WALLING, W. E.: Socialism as It Is, Macmillan, 1912.
WALLING, W. E.: Socialism of Today, Holt, 1916.
*WALLING, W. E.: State Socialism, Pro and Con, Holt, 1917.
WARNER, G. T.: Landmarks of English Industrial History,
London. 1911.
520 ELEMENTARY PRJ NCJPLES OF ECONOMICS
WEBB, BEATRICE (editor): The Case for the Factory Acts,
London, 1902.
WEBB, SIDKEY and BEATRICE: A Constitution for the Socialist
Commonwealth of Great Britain, Lonp;mans, 1920.
WEBB, SID:>IEY and BEATRICE: The CoruJumers' Cooperatire
Moument, Longmans, 1921.
WEBB, SIDKEY and BEATRICE: of Trade Unionism,
Lonp;mans, 1911.
WEBB, SIDNEY and BEATRICE: Industrial Democracy, New
edition, Longmans, 1920.
*WERTHNER, W. B.: Ilow Man Makes Markets, l\lacmillan,
1917.
*V\'HITE, HORACE: Money and Banking, Ginn, 1911.
WILLIS, H. P.: American Banking, Chicago, LaSalle Exten-
sion Fniversity, 1916.
\YILLIS, H. P.: History of Latin Monetary Union, Chicago
Uniwrsity Press, 1901.
WRIGHT, C. D.: Industrial Emlution of the United States,
Meadville, Pennsylvania, Chautauqua Press, 1897.
REFERENCE BOOKS
In addition to the books mentionpd in the preceding para-
graphs, students will find certain p;eneral works of reference
of great value. These may be conveniently listed as: -
1. Fncyc/oprdias and Yearbool,s.
*Thc American Year Book: A Record of Events and Progress,
New York, D. Appleton (Annual).
BLISS, W. D. P. (editor): Cyclopedia of Social Reform, Funk
and Wagnalls, 1908.
LALOR, J. J. (editor): Cyclopedia of Political Science, Politi-
cal Economy, and Political Ilistory of the United StatL's,
Three volumes, Chicago, Rand :'lcXally, 1881-84.
l\IcLAUGHLIN, A. C. and HART, A. B.: Cyclopedia of American
Government, Three volumes, D. Appleton, 1914.
*PALGRAVE, R. H. 1. (editor): Victimwry of Political Economy,
Three volumes, Macmillan, H)10.
APPENDIX II
521
*Statesman's Year Book: Statistical and Historical .lnnuat
of till' Sfatl's of the World, Macmillan.
*Statistical Abstract of the Unifl'd States (Annual): Washing-
ton, Government Printing Office.
United States Census Bureau: Reports, especially Fourteenth
Census, 1920, Washington, Government Printing Office.
The Standard encyclopedias will also he found to contain
special articles on very many economic topics.
I I.
* American };corlOmie Rem'ew (Quarterly), Published by Ameri-
can Economic Association.
American Journal of Sociology (Bi-monthly), Chicago eni-
versity Press.
*The Annali.'lt (Weekly), The Times Company, New York.
Amw.[.'l of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,
Philadelphia.
Ban/wr's Magazine (Monthly), Xew York.
Bradstreet's (Weekly), r-;ew York.
Dun's Review ('Yt'ekly), New York.
Journal oj Political Economy (Monthly), Chicago University
Press.
Political Scilmee Quarterly, Columbia University Press.
Quarterly Journal of Economics, Harvard University Press,
* The Survey (Weekly), New York.
INDEX
,Ability to pay, 472-473
Absolute scarcity, 237
Abstinence theory of interest, 415-
416
Acceptances, 297
Adulteration of goods, 92
Ad valorp-m duties, 483
Agio theory of interest, 418
Agricultural revolution, England,
54, 57-59
Agricultural stage, 24-25; density
of population in, 34; property
relationships in, 35; commerce
in, 35; conditions of labor in,
35; customs and ideals of, 35-
36; duration of, 36, 37
Agriculture, under feudalism, 53-
57; recent improvements in, 100
Anarchism, 450
Arbitration, industrial, 393-394.
See also Kansas Court of Indus-
trial Relations
Austrian theory of interest, 418
Automobiles, 102
Aviation, 103
Balance of trade, 323-324
Balanced revenue system, 498-500
Bank checks and notes, 293-297
Bank reserves, 302-305, 307
Bank statement, 300
Banking, and credit, origin of, 49;
system of the United States,
301 If.
Bills of exchange, 294, 296-297;
domestic and foreign, 294, 320;
supply of and demand for, 323
Bimetallism, defined, 281; al-
leged advantages of, 282; ef-
forts to maintain, 283; national
and international, 285
Birth rates, 172-173
Blacklist, 392
Bland-Allison Act, 286
Blast furnace, 65
"Blue sky laws," 146
Bolshevism, 456-457
Book credit, 297
Boycott, 391-392
Branch banks, 309
Brassage, 272
British cooperative societies, 403
British Industrial Court, 394
British labor unions, membership
of,75
Business morality, 50
BUl:iiness organization, forms of,
192-194
By-products, 241-242
Capital, accumulation of, in Eng-
land, 144; as factor of produc-
tion, 181-18G; defined, 181,
410; functions of, in production,
182; goods, classes of, 182;
origin of, 183; formation, meth-
ods of, 183-184; advantages of
use of, 184-185; fixed and cir-
culating, 185; free and special-
ized, 185-186; growth of and
Banks, 297-299; functions of, 299
Barter, difficulties of, 39
Bibliography, 51(}-521 organization of production, 209
523
524
INDEX
Capitalistic monopolies, 248-249
Capitalization, various meanings
of, 435,437
"Captain of Industry," 191-192
Child Labor Laws, 88. See also
Labor legislation
Christian socialism, 452
Cities, growth of, 40, 68
Class relations in industrial stage,
45-46
Clearing houses, 313-314
Coinage of money, 271-272
Collective bargaining, 385
Collectivism, 451-452
Commerce, development of, III
handicraft stage, 38-39
Commercial paper, 305
ComInunication, improvements in,
102-103
Communism, 451
Communist party, 455
Comparative costs, 332-334
Compensatory action, 282, 283
Competition, extension of, 47-
48; elIed of, on employers, 82-
83; regulation of, 86-87; at-
tcmpts to enforce, 93; frictional
clements in, 240-242
Compulsory arbitration, 393-394
Compulsory investigation, 395
Concentration of industry, 4'1, 82-
85
Conciliation, industrial, 393
Confederate currency, 2S0
Conjunctural gains, 4:>1-432
Consumption, 7; defined, 112;
productive and final, 113; rela-
tion of, to production, 113;
economic order of, 121-123;
economy of right choice in, 141;
economy of right use in, 142;
limited by production, 143-146;
relation of, to socialism, 447-
448.
Continental currency, 280
Contract, a fundamental institu-
tion, 17; regulation of, 17
Cooperation, 402-404; strength
and weakness of, 404
Cooperative business, 194
Cooperative credit, 313
Copyrights, 16, 246-247
Corporation taxes, 487, 494-495
Corporations, 193-194
Cost scarcity, 238-239
Cotton gin, 65
Cotton manufacturing, growth of,
65
Craft unions, 387-:,88
Credit, defined, 292-293; founda-
tions of, 293; instruments of,
293-297; institutions of, 293,
297-300; advantages of, 314-
31.5; dangers of, 315-316
Currency Act of 1900, 286-288
Custom, 241
Customs duties, 482-484; objec-
tions to, 483-484
Cut-throat competition, 83-84
Debates, subjects for, 503-509
Demand, 121-133; nature of, 126;
intensity of, 126; laws of, 127-
130; elasticity of, 128, 231;
and normal price, 230-231
Demesne, 55
Depreciation charge, 430
Differential profits. See Pure
profits
Diminishing returns from land,
162-167; influence of price, 165;
influence of inventions and im-
provements, 165-166; law of,
166; diminishing returns in pro-
duction, 238-239
Diminishing utilitv, law of, 115-
118; defined, lis
Direct taxes, 473-474
Discussions, subjects for, 503-
509
INDEX
525
Distribution, 7; economic meaning Elasticity of money and credit,
of, 353-354; factors condition- 305--307
ing, 353-354; shares in, 355-- Eminent domain, 12
356; and socialism, 440---441, Employers' associations, 389-390;
446-147 methods of, 392
Distrihutive cooperation, 403 Engel's Law, 130-133
Distributive justice, 442-443 Entrepreneur, function of, 191-192
Division of labor, 195-200; In Escbeats, 13
needle making, 197-198; ad- Essays, subjects for, 503-:;09
vantages of, 198-199; rlisad- Estate tax, 490-491 See alsu In-
vantages of, 199-200; and ma- heritance tax
chinery, 201-202 Excbange, 7; stages in evolution
Division of occupations, 195 of, 24-25; necessity for, 217;
Drafts, 294-295, 323-3U nature of, 217; agencies of, 217,
Economic conferences, 105
Economic evolution, stages in, 23-
27; survivals in, 26; continuity
of and recent developments in, 99
Economic goods, characteristics of,
110
Economic history, 22-106; de-
fined, 22. See also Economic
evolution; Industrial develop-
ment; IndlL,trial stage
Economic importance of goods,
how determined, 124-125
Economic legislation, general char-
actcr of, in eighteenth century,
61-63; changes in, 66-67; pres-
ent necessity for, 75-77
Economic thought of eighteenth
century, 63-64
Economic unit, 3; stages in evolu-
tion of, 24-25, 105
Economic value, defined, 223-224
Economics, defined, 2-3; principal
divisions of, 6-8; relation of, to
other social sciences, 1; reasons
for study of, 3-4
Economy, defined, 2; in consump-
tion, 141-142
Edge Act, 331
Effective utility, 117
Elastic demand, 128, 231
220; kinds oi, 218; advantages
of, 218-219; and socialism, 44'7-
448
Exchange value, defined, 225
Excise taxes, 485-486
Exemptions in taxation, 487, 490
Extensive margin in land utiliza-
tion, 366-369
Extra-personal gains, 431
Fabian socialism, 453
Factories, rise of, 46; location of,
65,68
Factors of production, 161-1Rfl;
primary and secondary, 161;
organization of, 189-194
Factory inspection, 404-405
Faculty theory of taxation, 472-
473
Family budgets, 130-133
Fascisti, 455, 457
Favorable balance of trade, mlS-
conceptions as to, 328
Federal Child Labor Law, 90-91;
constitutionality of, 91-92
Federal Civil Service Retirement
Law, 90
Federal Farm Loan Act, 309-313;
difficulties in inaugurating, 311-
312
Federal Farm Loan Board, 310
526
INDEX
Federal Industrial Relations Com-
mission, 39.1
Federal Land Bank, 310
Federal Reserve Act, 30311.
Federal Reserve Advisory Council,
304
Federal Reserve Age-nt, 304
Federal Reserve Bank Notes, 307-
308
Federal Reserve Banking System,
303-309
Federal Reserve Banks, summary
of functions, 308-309
Federal Reserve Board, 304
Federal Reserve Notes, 30&-307
Federal revenues, 482-491; 498-
499
Federal Trade Commission, 94--95
Fees,471
Final utility, 117
Fines, 13
Fiscal monopolies, 247
Fishing tribes, 31
Fixed expenses, 250
Foreign exchange. See Bill of ex-
change; International exchange;
International trade
Forfeits, 13
Franchise taxes, 497--498
Free coinage, 272
Free land, influence of, on working
class, 81-82
Free trade. See Protective tariff
Freedom. See Personal liberty;
Political freeuom
French budget, 461
Frictional clements in competition,
240-242
Fundamental institutions, changing
character of, 19
General property tax, 492--494 ;
defects of, 493--494
General wages, 378-382
George, Henry, 474
Gild system, 40
Gold points, 324
Gold production, 288-289
Gold shipments, 327
Goods, free and econonllc, 109;
perishable and durable, 112
Government business, 461
Government enterprise, 194
Government, influence of, on or-
ganization of production, 210
"Grangers." See" Patrons of Hus-
bandry"
Gratuitous coinage, 272
Greenback Parly, 281
Greenbacks, 278, 280
Gresham's Law, 279
Guild socialism, 452
Handicraft stage, 24-25, 37--41;
labor and capital in, 37
Health insurance, 405--406
High wages, economy of, 380
Hoarding, 136
Hours of labor, 169-170
Household production, 154
Housekeeping, econOilllC impor-
tance of, 142
Hudson Trades Dispute Act, 75
Hunting stage, and fishing stage,
23, 25, 29-31; density of popu-
lation during, 30
Hunting tribes, 30
Immigrants, urhan preference of,
178; literacy t.est for, 179
Immigration, 174-180; restric-
tions on, 178-180; percentage
law of, 179-180
Immobility of factors of produc-
tion, 241
Inclosures, 57-58; evils of, 58-59
Income tax, 486-490; individual,
487; corporation, 487; exemp-
tions from, 487; surtax, 487-
488; calculation of, 488--489;
merits of, 489--490
INDEX
527
Inromes, irregularity of, 145
Increment tax, 47&-477
Independent economy, 29
Indired taxes, 473-.\74
Individual income tax, 487
Industrial arcidents, incidence of,
405
Industrial democracy, 403
Industrial depressions, 157
Industrial disputes, 390 fr.
Industrial rehabilitation. See Vo-
cational retraining
Industrial Revolution, in England,
53-77; in the United States,
80ff.
Industrial stage, 24-25, 44-50;
in England, 53-77; in United
8tat"_,, 80 ff.
Industrial type and organization
of production, 209-210
Industrial Workers of the World,
454
Inheritance taxes, 495. See also
Estate tax
Initial utility, 117
Injllnl'tion, 392
Insurance, 430-431
Integration of industry, 44-45, 85
Intensive margin in land utiliza-
tion, :368-372
Interest, how determined, 410-
411; fallacious views of, 411-
413; theories of, 414-421
Interest rate, and quantity of
money, 413; causes of variation
of, 423; recent rise in, 424
Internal revenues, 485-486
International exchangE', lLnd war,
329-330. Sec Bills of exchange;
International payments; Inter-
national trade; Rate of exchange
International payments, how made,
320-321
International trade, nature of, 319-
320; peculiarities of, 3:31-332;
equilibrium of values in, 335,
336; gains from, 336; restric-
tions on, 337-338
Interstate Commerce Commission,
94-95
In vestments, 136; prudence in,
146-148; sources of information
concerning, 147; forms of, 148
Iron law of wages, 381
Iron manufacturing, GO
Jevons's criteria, 262-264
Joint-Rtock Land Banks, 312
Juri,dietional disputes, 399
Justice, in distribution, 442-443;
in taxation, 472
J{ansas Court of Industrial Rela-
tions, 393-394
Labor, and utility, relation he-
tween, 153, 157-158; defined,
168; as factor of production,
168-180; demand for, 380-381;
peculiar characteristics of, 386
Labor efficiency, factors determin-
ing, 169-170
Lahor force, 168-169
Labor leaders, 399
Labor legislation, 67-92, 404-405;
in modern England, 71-72; com-
prehensiveness of, 72; nece:o;sity
for, 86; by states, 87-90; in the
South, 88-90; by Federal Gov-
ernment, 90-92
Labor organizations, 385-400;
forms of, 387-389; territorial
expansion of, 388-389; mem-
bership of, 389; methods of,
390-392; incidental benefits of,
396-397; weaknesses of, 397-
400
Labor, stages in evolution of, 24-
25; productive organization of,
194-200
528
INDEX
Laissez faiTe, 19, 63--{)4; break-
down of, 69; in United States,
79-80
Land, as factor of production, 160-
162; funct.ions oi, 162; rent,
360-375; differences in quality
of, 360-364; differences in sit-
uation of, 364-366
Large-scale production, growth of,
202-203; advantages of, 203-
204
Latin l\lonetary Lnion, 283, 285
Law of Settlement., 61
Legal tender, 282
Liberty. See Personal liberty ; Po-
litical freedom
License taxes, 495
Living wage, 385
Loan and trust companies, 299
Loan markets, 421--422
Local revenues, 496--498; analysis
of,496-497
Local taxation, 499-500
Localiza tion of industries, 206 ;
causes of, 207
Lockout, 322
Luxury, defined, 139
Machinery, and division of lahor,
201-202
Marginal utility, 117
Market, defined, 226
Market price, how
226-230
Market ratio, 282
}"larket supply, 232
determined,
Markets, expansion of, 59, 67,
104
Mineral resources, improved utili
zation of, 100
Minimum wages. See Standard of
life
Mint ratio, 282
!\lobility of American people, 81
:'vlonctary conferences, 286
:'vloney, origin of, 39--40; functions
of, 267-269; materials used for,
269-270; qualities desirable in,
270-271; relation of govern-
ments to, 273
Monometallism, 282
Monopolies, public control
of, 93-95; classification of, 245-
See also Natural mo-
nopolies
Monopoly, scarcity, 237; defined,
245; gains from, 431
Monopoly price, laws governing,
249-255; effect of tax on, 253-
254; limitations on laws govern-
ing, 255-256 Maintenance charges, 430
Make-work fallacy, 137
l\Ialthusian theory, 170-174. See ational Bank Act, 301-303;
also Population
Manorial system of land tenure,

Manufacturing, in handicraft stage,
46; importance of, in industrial
evolution, 45; transition in, 59-
65; recent improvements in, 100
Manufacturing establishments,
classification as to size, 84
Marginal producer, 239
Marginal productivity theory of
interest, 414--415
weaknesses of, 302
National budget, 465-467
National Civic Federation, 395
N alional Consumers' League, 395
N ahonal Farm Loan Association,
310-311
National income, size of, 144;
difficulty of estimating, 155
Natural monopolies, 86, 248; of
class two, 256-257; regulation
of, 257-259
;\ at,,!'e. SfC Land
INDEX
529
Neighbor versll.' stranger, 36, 50
Net profits. See Pure profits
N ow industries, 101
N oncornpeting groups, 383
"Norfolk husbandry," 58
Normal price, and demand, 230--
and supply, 231-239; of
absolutely scarce goods, 237;
of mOl1opolized goods, 237; of
com pet itively produced goods,
237-2:38; and cost of production,
239--240
Objective value. Sec Exchange
value
Occupations, choice of, 383-384
Old-age pensions, 406
Open fields, 56
Organization of production, com-
plexity of, 190-191; determining
conditions of, 209-210
Overproduction and lUldercon-
sumption, 155--157
Paper money, 277; kinds of, 277-
278; irredeemable, 278-279; in
Europe, 279-280; in United
States, 280-281
Par of exchange, 322
Partnership, 193
Pastoral stage, 23, 25, 31-34; den-
sity of population in, 32; slavery
in, 32-33; property relation-
ships in, 33; migratory cbar-
acter of, 33; commerce in, 33-
34
Patent laws, 246-247
Patents, 16
"Patrons of Husbandry," 94
Personal I ibcrt:.' , 18
Physiological balance, 169--170
Picketing, 392
Piecework wages, 400
Pittman Act, 288
Place, Francis, 74
Plumb plan, 452 and note
Political freedom, growth of, in
handicraft stage, 41. See also
Personal liberty
Political socialists, 453
Poll taxes, 496
Population, growth of, 170--180;
and standard of living, 17.3;
of increase, 174; increase
in Cnited States, 174-178; na-
t ural increase, 175-176 ; posi-
tive and preventive checks, 1 il ;
and organization of production,
209
Poverty, 382
Power loom, 64
Power resources, utilization of, 101
Prehistoric economy, 23
Present and future goods, 418-421
Price, 225
Prices, and value of money, 273;
and quantity of money, 27
0
1;
general and specific, 276-277
PriYate enterprises, right to estab-
lish, 17
Private property, 9-14; defined,
9; nature of, 10; origin and de-
velopment of, 10--11; limitations
on, 11-14
Privileges, and public welfare, 16;
as affecting production and dis-
tribution, 16
Production, 7; nature of, 151;
general types of, 152; defined,
1.5:1; and sacrifice, 157-158; of
goods and services, 158; and
prices during the World War,
233-236; and socialism, 445-
446
Productive cooperat.ion, 403
Productivity, of various groups of
workers, 152-153; theory of
int.erest, 414
Profit seeking, criticisms of, 437
Profit 401
530
lNDEX
Profits, defined, 429; and interest,
rent, and wages of management,
429-430
Progressive taxes, 473
Promissory notes, 294, 296
Promotion, speculation, and In-
vestment, 146
Property, defined, 9, 15-16. See
also Private property; Publie
property
Proportional taxes, 473
Protective tariff, arguments for,
338-341 ; arguments against,
341-346; general considerations
of,346-348
Prudential restraint, 172-173
Public consumption monopolies,
247
Public expenditures, 461-470; mag-
nitude of, 461-462; causes for
growth of, 462-467; classifica-
tion of, 467-469; objects of,
469-470
Puhlic favoritism, 247
Public finance, defined, 460
Public industries, and socialism,
444-445
Public inspection of goods, 70-71
Public loans, 471
Public ownership, 2 5 ~ 2 6 0 ; of
natural monopolies, 95; advan-
tages of, 260-262; Jevons's Cfl-
teria, 262-264
Public property, defined, 9, 15;
an agency in distribution, 15
Public revenues, classification of,
470-471
Public Service Commissions, 94
Public versus private property, fac-
tors determining, 1.5
Public welfare and property, 12-13
Pure profits, how determined, 432-
433 ; compared to rent, 433-
434; and monopoly gains, 434-
435
Quantity theory of money, 274-276
Railway Labor Board, 394
Railway rate regulation, 259
Rate of exchange, 321-323; effect
of direction of tradc on, 325-
326; safety valve, 326-327 ;
effect of war on, 3 2 ~ 3 3 0
Real wages, 384-385
Rediscounting, 305-307
Regressive taxes, 473
Relative wages, 3 8 2 ~ 3 8 5
Religion, function of, 14
Rent, defined, 360, 374-375; forces
determining, 361-365; of agri-
cultural land, 366-372; meas-
urement of, 370-372; of urban
land, 372-373; and prices, 373-
374; and land values, 374
Replacement fund, 430
Representative goods, 154, 185
Requisition, as limitation on pn-
vate property, 12
Restriction of output, 397-398
Revisionists, 454
Rights, basis of, 18; fundamental,
9-19; relative character of, 18
Saints' Days, 2
Sales tax, 480
Saving, economy of, 135-136; na-
ture of, 137
Scientific socialism, 453-454
Seigniorage, 272
Shares in distribution, 355; rela-
tion of individuals to, 356
Sherman Notes, 278, 286, 288
Sberman Silver Purchase Act, 28B
Silver, limitations on coinage of
283-284; results of limitations
on coinage of, 284; recent his-
tory of, 288
Single entrepreneur, 193
Single tax, 474-476
Sliding scale of wages, 401
INDEX
531
Small-scale production, advantages
of,204-205
Smith, Adam, 63, 67, 69, 384
Social income, 354--355; Size of,
357-358
Social insurance, 405-406; in Eng-
land,73
Social monopolies, 246-247
Social wealth, 354--355
Socialism, and distribution, 44(}-
441, 446-447; general features
of, 441-442; and public indus-
tries, 444--445; and production,
445-446; relation of, to exchange
and consumption, 447-448;
weaknesses of, 448-450; present
status of, 454-456
Socialists, influence of, 450; divi-
sions among, 452-454
Socialized production, 443-445
Sources of revenue, 477-479, 495
Specie points, 324
Specific duties, 483
Speculation, investment, and pro-
motion, 146
Speculative production, 211
Spending, right choice in, 138;
economy of, 138-142
Spinning jenny, 64
Standard of life, 173, 379-380,
396
State revenues, 491-496
Statue of Apprenticeship, 62; re-
peal of, 67
State socialism, 452
State taxation, 499
Sterling excbange, 321
Strikes, 390-391; efficacy of, 391
Subjective value, 224; and utility,
224--225
Subjects for essays, discussions, and
debates, 503-509
Substitution, law of, 123-124
Supply and normal price, 231-239
Syndicalists, 454
Tariff commission, 348
Task and bonus system of wage
payment, 401-402
Tax-paying capacity, 479
Taxation, as a limitation on private
property, 12
Taxes, 472-479; a necessity, 477-
478
Teaching, function of, 14
Territorial division of labor, 205-
208
"Tbird International," 456
Three-field system, 56
Thrift during tbe World War, 142-
143
Total utility, 117
Trade agreement, 390
Trade fluctuations, 68
Trade-marks, 247
Trade-unionism, origin of, 38&-387
Trade-unir'ls, beginnings of, in
England, 73-74; early hostility
towards, 74; legalization of, 74--
75. See also Craft unions
Trades, origin of, 38
Transaction taxes, 486
Transfers, 7; of goods, See Ex-
cbange
Transportation, early, 49; depend-
ence on, 49; eigbteenth cen-
tury, 61; recent improvements
in, 102, 104
Transportation Act, 1920,213-214,
259
Treasury Noles, 278, 287
Trmt companies. See Loan and
trust companies
Trusts, four views of relation of
society to, 210-213; post-war
attitude towards, 213-214
Underconsumption and overpro-
duction, 15S--157
U nemployrnent insurance, 406
Union label, 394-395
532
INDEX
United States Industrial Commis-
sion, 395
United States Notes. See Green-
backs
Urban land, rent of, 372-373
Usury, 425-426
Utility, defined, 109; varieties of,
111; of money, 118; and cost,
121
Utopian socialism, 4.52
Value, importance of, 222-223;
various meanings of, 223
Value of money, and prices, 273-
274; and its cost of production,
276
Variable expenses, 250
Vocational retraining, 90
Wage bargain, pee uliari ties of, 8&-
87
Wage differences, 384
Wage earners, 379
Wage legislation, 62
Wagcs, system, origin of, 47; how
determined, 378-385; methods
of payment of, 4()(}--406
Wants, primary, 107; habitual and
cultural, 108; expansion of, 108;
a moving force in economic activ-
ity, 108
War, and international exchange,
329-330
War Finam'e Corporation, 331
Waste, of luxury, 139; of harmful
consumption, 140
Watt, James, 64
Wealth, individual and social, 154
Webb E"'PDrt Act, 213, 331
Whitney, Eli, 65
Wireless communication, 103
Woolen manufacturing, 60
Workmen's compensation, 88, 90
World 105
Yeomen, 57; disappearance of, 58

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