124 PRESIDENTS ADDRESS—SECTION’ F. 
clearness these may be restricted to that minimum of each great 
want necessary to maintain the life of each person. The exact 
minimum of these, whatever their form may be, depends upon 
the energy destroyed by work, and upon the physical condition 
of the labourers environment, and may be stated thus :— 
The minimum to maintain existence of — 
Food. 
Shelter. 
Rest. 
Without a certain minimum of these, man, like all lving 
organisms, must perish inevitably. 
Division oF LABOUR—ADVANTAGES AND DEFECTS. 
Division of labour necessary to produce necessary satisfactions, 
and to distribute them in large civilised communities, undoubtedly 
ensures greater skill, and prevents unnecessary waste of the 
aggregate time and energy of the individuals. Were it not for 
this provision, no country could sustain the life of large numbers. 
This division of labour, however, rests upon the tacit under- 
standing that energies in other directions than that of actually 
producing food may constantly be exchanged for food and other 
primary satisfactions. Individual societies, communities, and 
nations are alike in this respect ; for no matter the skill, time, 
and labour proffered or applied for or in the production of other 
than primary satisfactions, it is necessary that they be constantly 
exchangeable in sufficient amount to obtain at least that minimum 
of primary needs from other persons or communities, who, under 
this system, are supposed to produce a sufficient surplus for the 
satisfaction of all other members of society not immediately 
engaged in the production of primary wants. Were it not for 
this understood assurance, the present civilisation—with special 
centres of manufactures for the world at large, its defined local 
division of labour and individual rights in large areas of land— 
would be altogether impossible. 
Among the conflicting opinions of Political Economists, 
Socialists, and Communists, there is at any rate this one 
fundamental point of agreement, viz., that by a proper division of 
labour or services the sum total of human satisfactions are greatly 
superior, and are enjoyed by vastly greater numbers than would 
be possible to men were each to work in a state of isolation, and 
each one obliged to attempt to create the whole round of his own 
requirements. Let us take it for granted, then, that division of 
services is a necessity ; but while so doing, let us bear in mind 
that the greater satisfaction of wants in the aggregate may be 
attained, and yet, owing to an imperfect scheme of distribution, 
a sufficiency, nay, even the minimum of primary satisfaction 
necessary to maintain life, may fail to reach many ; and hence it 
