ECONOMIC ORTHODOXY 247 



equilibrium of physical forces and like analogies, instead of squaring 

 their theories with the facts. This gives Professor Carver his chance to 

 question the sanity of those who reject his favorite doctrines. 



At first thought, scientists may favor a settlement of economic prob- 

 lems by the use of familiar ideas involving no economic knowledge, but 

 in the end it will prove a mistake to appeal from adverse economic 

 opinion to those versed in physical science. The orthodox economists 

 were city people who let their imagination have free play in agriculture. 

 One of their pictures was that of a vast plain of identical soil and 

 climate. After picturing this world, they asked what motive can any 

 one have to move from one part to another? To this Professor Carver 

 replies, " whenever agricultural populations tend to spread, it is either a 

 sign of insanity on their part or of diminishing returns on land." 



To deny this, an economist does not have to pump water up hill. 

 He questions the picture on which the law of diminishing returns is 

 based. The principal that Professor Carver overlooks is the localization 

 of soils, climates and products. The various geological deposits are ir- 

 regularly placed and the climates found in different localities are even 

 more diverse. Animal and plant life have been localized so that each 

 locality yields different products or the same product at varying costs. 

 No acre can yield as much return to labor as if it were spent on many 

 acres or in many localities. Conversely, no race living on one article of 

 food or using one kind of clothing or shelter can be as vigorous as those 

 who supply themselves with a greater variety. The spread of popula- 

 tion is due to this fact. The more climates, soils, animals and plants 

 utilized, the better the living and the lower the costs. 



A primitive community does not, as Professor Carver assumes, use 

 a single soil and some one food. It is as complex as a modern state. 

 The bottom land is used for plowing, the upland for grazing. There are 

 wood lots, fishing places and an open region where wild game roams. 

 Men go farther for goods in the modern than in a primitive world, but 

 this does not imply diminishing return. When they herded sheep in an 

 adjacent mountain valley, the effort then needed to get a pound of wool 

 was greater than it now is to bring it from Australia. "We have in- 

 creased the distance traveled, but we have reduced the cost. Every 

 spread of population has brought increasing returns because it has 

 helped men to utilize the natural resources of the various localities. Is 

 a community wise or foolish which uses different soils and climates in- 

 stead of confining itself to one? Can two communities with different 

 soils and climates exchange commodities to mutual advantage ? If they 

 can, there is a valid reason for the spread of population. Such a move- 

 ment is not as insane as it seems to those who do not appreciate the 

 localization of resources. 



Professor Carver asks why England should not get all her agricul- 



