Brown. — Phenomena of Variation. 519 



Since E = P — p, the effect of increasing P is to increase E 

 without increasing the wages, as the latter are included in^- 

 Therefore to increase to we must increase (1 — m) — that is, 

 decrease m. Or we may put it that since P is directly pro- 

 portional to s we must increase the ratio of N/n, which may 

 be done by either increasing N or decreasing n. Let us 

 examine these ways more in detail. 



The diminishing of n has in the past been the most com- 

 mon way of increasing wages, but it has been far from suc- 

 cessful, having been brought about by wars, pestilences, &c, 

 which tend to diminish P at the same time ; also, the destruc- 

 tion of property and ruin of the country generally is so great 

 that the increase of wages is negligible. 



The increasing of N has been tried — relief-works, for 

 example — but is expensive, wasteful, and not lasting, for as 

 soon as the artificial stimulant is removed the wages must 

 revert to their former state. 



The decreasing of m is what the single-taxers aim at doing, 

 and what the rating on unimproved values aims at effecting. 

 We have seen in II. that rent is the natural outcome of 

 variable productivity and cannot be done away with, but it 

 might be collected by the Government and distributed in the 

 form of efficacious and lasting public works. 



Art. LIII. — On the Phenomena of Variation and their 

 Symbolic Expression. 



By E. G. Brown. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 11th March, 1902.] 



Plates XXXVI., XXXVII. 



" A person who uses an imperfect theory with the confidence due 

 only to a pet feet one will naturally fall into abundance of mistakes ; his 

 predictions will be crossed by disturbing circunn-tanneH of which his 

 theory is not able to take account, and his credit will be lowered by the 

 failure. And inwsmuch as more theories are imperfect than are perfect, 

 and of those who attend to anything the number who acquire very sound 

 habits of judging is small compared with that of those who do not get so 

 far, it must have happet e i, as it has happened, that a great quantity of 

 mistake has been made by those who do not understand the true use of 

 an imperfect theory. Hence much discredit has been brought upon 

 theory iu g< neral, and the schism of theoretical and practical men has 

 arisen." — (De Morgan, "Penny Cyclopaedia," Art. "Tneory.") 



Introduction. 

 The present writer proceeds upon the assumption that the 

 means of comparing those theories which are used to predict 



